The Foreign Service Journal, March 2012

M A R C H 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 ANNUAL REPORT American Foreign Service Association 2011 A F S A N E W S T his past year was full of challenges, distrac- tions, frustrations, delays, changes and small victories. The Arab Spring, a horrendous earthquake and tsunami (and questions of nuclear safety) in Japan, terror attacks inNor- way and Moscow, flooding in Thailand and other events proved, yet again, that even traditionally safe and pleasant posts can become dangerous or difficult overnight. The departure of the military from Iraq and ramp-up of military action in Afghanistan added new layers of danger to those already-difficult posts. WikiLeaks and a theft of computer equipment by a contractor of the Office of Med- ical Services caused concerns about the security of sensitive personal information. In Washington, the Foreign Service faced what I con- sider to be the worst antigovernment sentiment I have seen in my career —much of it unfairly directed against federal employees. Bipartisan efforts to reduce the federal budget were derailed by partisan brinksmanship, which threat- ened, twice, to shut down the government. New members of Congress brought new agendas, differing foreign policy views and a number of misconceptions about who we are and what we do. Against this backdrop, the State Department unveiled the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, a “new way of doing business,” with broad implications for the department’s organization, human resources practices and expectations of employees. The ongoing implemen- tation of QDDR recommendations subsumed a number of AFSA initiatives, some of which will be incorporated as new procedures and organizational structures are devel- oped. Important among these, we hope, will be improve- ments to the career paths of certain specialists and greater opportunities for training for all FS employees. Responding to outside factors, the department also cre- ated new Limited Non-Career Appointment categories, bringing different kinds of temporary FS employees into our service. AFSA sought to define and limit these cate- gories, and ensure that they do not become back-door hir- ing mechanisms into Foreign Service careers. A significant amount of AFSA’s time was spent on the Hill, educating new lawmakers about the Foreign Service, defending past gains in implementing Overseas Compara- bility Pay, and expressing our support for budget elements related to our salaries, our safety and our ability to perform our mission worldwide. With State interlocutors, we discussed the safety of over- seas housing; the security of posts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan; creation of an alternative dispute resolution pro- gram; changes to federal travel regulations; opportunities for employees with disabilities; standardized operating pro- cedures for suspension and restoration of special agent cre- dentials; the elimination of time-in-class for diplomatic couriers; the career path for security technical specialists; training and out-of-cone opportunities for specialists; in- stituting per diem for career rovers; and defining emer- gency action procedures for pets, among other items. Some of these discussions have yielded results, while oth- ers are still pending, such as completion of reviews related to the implementation of the QDDR. A list of AFSA’s accomplishments for the year would have to begin with the fact that we managed to preserve the 16 percent of OCP that had been implemented earlier. While not ideal, this was a significant feat under the cir- cumstances. Many AFSA members helped in this effort by contributing their ideas and writing to their representatives in Congress. I would like to think that AFSA’s “Rally to Serve” played State Department: Challenges, Distractions And Achievements B Y D ANIEL H IRSCH , AFSA S TATE D EPARTMENT VP A crowd of federal employees gather to support AFSA’s “Rally to Serve,” protesting a possible government shutdown, which gar- nered heavy media coverage. DONNA AYERST