The Foreign Service Journal, March 2009

Awards and Plaques T hrough the Fund for American Diplomacy, AFSAbestowed awards this year inseveral different categories: lifetime contributions to American diplo- macy, constructive dissent, exemplary performance andoutstanding profession- al contributions, as well as the AFSA Rep of the Year award. AFSA award winners arenominatedby colleagues. The fundalso sponsors the Sinclaire Award, which rec- ognizes outstandingaccomplishment in the studyof difficult foreign languages and their associated cultures. The winners of this award are nominatedby language instruc- tors at the FSI School of Language Studies. For a complete list of the 2008 awardwin- ners please visit AFSA on the Web at www.afsa.org. AFSA honored two fallen diplomats in 2008, Steven Thomas Stefani IV and John Michael Granville, adding their names to the AFSA Memorial Plaques. Foreign Service Journal T he Journal welcomed Alicia J. Campi as its new busi- nessmanager inMarch, replacingAndrewKidd, and Francesca Kelly became AFSA News editor in September. ShawnDorman, whohadheld that position for eight years, remains the Journal ’s associate editor, but is focused on putting together the new, expanded edi- tionof AFSA’s best-selling book, Inside aU.S. Embassy , slated for publication in late 2009. More than 850 people, three-quarters of them active-duty AFSA members, took an online reader survey betweenMay 1 and June 25. Amajority of respondents (53 percent) were very satisfied with the Journal overall, andanother 39percent said they were somewhat satisfied. Participants also provided hundreds of written comments on the magazine’s coverage, format and other matters. BPAWorldwide’s audit of the Journal ’s circulation found that it has topped the 15,000 mark for the first time, a figure that should make the magazine even more attractive to potential advertisers. Sixty percent of subscribers are active-duty employees of the five for- eign affairs agencies. The remaining subscribers are Foreign Service retirees, Civil Service employees andmembers of the public; libraries, universities and other institutions; and all members of Congress and various senior foreign affairs officials. —Steven Alan Honley, Editor 58 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / MA R CH 2 0 0 9 A F S A N E W S AFSA Annual Report 2008 Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2008 Constructive Dissent and Performance Awardwinners, June 19. Fromright: Amb. Jeffrey Feltman, Rachel Schneller, Luke Zahner, Victor Williams, Virginia Gregory, Craig Gerard and Megan Myers (for Julie Eadeh). MIKKELA THOMPSON AFSA President John Naland, with Deputy Secretary John Negro- ponte, Diana Negroponte and Director General Harry Thomas, opening the Plaque Ceremony on May 2. Retiree Task Force Targets Re-employment I n 2008, the AFSA Retiree Task Force began developing a proposal for legis- lation to waive both the salary limita- tions and the hours limitations on re-em- ployment of ForeignService annuitants for one- and two-year assignments of critical importance to the department’s mission. There is a15-percent shortfall intheper- manent work force of 11,300 Foreign Servicepersonnel. Althoughthiswork force is augmented by 1,300 to 1,500 re- employed annuitants, they are only per- mitted to work on a short-term basis. Despite the fact that re-employed annui- tants have critically needed training, skills and experience, they currently cannot be used to fill thepersistent andcritical longer- term,mid-level staffinggapsof one and two years that the department now faces. —Bonnie Brown, Retiree Coordinator MIKKELA THOMPSON