The Foreign Service Journal, March 2011

M A R C H 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 7 Keep Pushing the Reserve Corps … Having read Susan Johnson’s Janu- ary President’s Views column, “Time for the Foreign Service Reserve Corps,” I agree with her points 100 per- cent. When you look at the benefits of utilizing a Foreign Service reserve corps — bottom-line cost and the ex- perience it brings to State — it is a no- brainer. I encourage AFSA to continue highlighting this subject. It is good for State and it is good for those who served. Monte Marchant FSS, retired Canberra, Australia … And Don’t Forget about FSNs I agree with Susan Johnson’s pro- posal in her January President’s Views column to establish a reserve corps, uniting all the current When Actually Employed staff under one roof. Hav- ing been a WAE employee myself, I think this is a step in the right direction. However, there is a missing element that should be considered. Every year the State Department loses a knowledgeable cadre of staff who are invaluable yet overlooked. By this I mean the retired Foreign Service Nationals (now called Locally Em- ployed Staff), particularly those who have received special immigrant status. Since the vast majority of these indi- viduals have in excess of 20 years of dedicated service, they could helpmeet critical needs of the department. I was employed in the Foreign Serv- ice for almost 20 years as a financial management officer. During this time I became acquainted with several hun- dred FSNs employed in financial man- agement sections, many of whom could have performed my own job better than I did, and definitely better than many of the newly hired FMOs. When the department faces a critical situa- tion, such as the establishment of a new embassy, these retired FSNs could be mobilized to assist in the training of new employees. And this expertise is not unique to the financial manage- ment area. I realize that AFSA’s mission does not actually extend to the FSN com- munity, but is there any Foreign Serv- ice employee—generalist or specialist — who has not depended heavily on FSNs for help doing their jobs? AFSA should welcome FSNs as associate members, and include them in the de- velopment of the reserve corps. Jim Maher FSS, retired Royal Palm Beach, Fla. Women in the Foreign Service As someone who entered the For- eign Service as an FSS-13 secretary in 1955, and later served as an FSO-7 economic officer in 1966, I read with interest Ronald Spiers’ letter in the December Journal about the improved attitudes toward women within the Foreign Service (“Letting Women Lead”). However, he failed to note that the commitment of FS women themselves contributed to this trend. My own heroines include the feisty Sofia Kearney, consul at my first post (Lima) and among the earliest female Foreign Service officers; and AnnMer- riam Claudius, chief of the visa section in Mexico City in the early 1960s, who fought the rules and persuaded the State Department to allow her to re- main in the Service following her mar- riage to a foreign national. They may not have reached the pinnacle of the hi- erarchy, but they showedme that it was possible to succeed as an FSO despite the manmade obstacles. I am, of course, greatly pleased by the growing acceptance of women in leadership roles in the Foreign Service and the recognition that women have strengths of their own to contribute. But we should not forget our fore- mothers, who had a much harder road to travel and who, by their example, taught us that “Yes, we can.” Bonnie Lincoln FSO, retired Fort Myers, Fla. L ETTERS