The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2022 35 der-to-shoulder withmy State Department colleagues andmilitary brethren for that awful, beautiful, heartbreaking ceremony. Time stopped as their coffins, one by one, passed us slowly on the shoulders of their friends and comrades. The last ramp cer- emony in Kabul. And then, forever changed, we went back to work. Jayne Howell is the consul general and country consular coordina- tor in Ankara. She previously served as the consular section chief in Kabul, Accra and Harare. Domestically, she has worked in the Bureau of Consular Affairs as the deputy executive director, the supervisory regional consular officer and as the inaugural director of 1CA, the bureau’s leadership and management excellence program. Consular Officers on the Line in Kabul Jean Akers I left Kabul on Aug. 30, 2021, alongside 20 other U.S. diplomats and 300 Marines jammed into a C-17. Two hours earlier, I had crouched under a desk as C-RAMs intercepted incoming rocket fire. Now, as we lifted off, I was sleep-deprived, emotionally raw and tremendously proud of all we had accomplished. I lamented that we couldn’t do more. I still do. For 11 days and nights in late August, I helped lead the con- sular team on the ground. Our team’s primary role was to deter- mine whether people who made it to Hamid Karzai International Airport met the criteria—as defined by the White House and State Department leadership—for evacuation on a U.S. flight. We didn’t have access to systems or databases, but we did have the good judgment and decision-making skills consular officers exercise every day around the world. Each shift change, either I or my co–team leader briefed the team before they headed out for 12 hours to interview prospec- tive evacuees in the heat or the dark, wearing full PPE, accom- panied by heavily armed security personnel and Marines. We repeated certain phrases each time: “We trust your judgment. We support you. Ask for help when you need it.” And always: “Remember: every life matters.” Thinking of the thousands massed outside the airport led to despair. We stayed grounded by focusing on each individual. From the command center, we passed information to our officers on specific cases we were tracking—such as unaccom- panied minors, infants with medical needs or other especially vulnerable Afghans—and updated senior leadership on progress or roadblocks. Every couple of hours we checked “the board” for the latest evacuation numbers to update the task force. We collaborated with military partners to solve all manner of problems: everything from “How do we get more Americans out?” to “How did this random plane from country X just land without anyone knowing?” Calls, texts and emails from NGOs, congressional staffers, colleagues, friends and total strangers poured in, begging for help for this person or that group. Some- times our team could help get someone onto the compound; other times they made it through on their own. Each success warranted a high five, or a “yay, team!” on our group chat. Other times, we couldn’t make it happen. Each of those still haunts me. The night of the Abbey Gate bombing, we hunkered down. I texted the team: “Tell your family you’re safe.” Some of them BOBSHIM Near the gates at Hamid Karzai International Airport consular officers conduct interviews with Afghans seeking to leave, a difficult and often heart-wrenching task. A consular officer reviews documents at HKIA, August 2021. BOBSHIM