The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2022 63 for the radio technicians: It was an effective domestic application of my consular skills. But it also accomplished something more. Most of the commu- nity where I’m living has never heard of the State Department or the U.S. Foreign Service. When I tell people what I do for a living, it is often confused with the “Forest Service” or the “Oregon Depart- ment of State.” When a little girl at my son’s two-room schoolhouse toldme she wanted to be president one day, I told her about my work in the executive branch—that brought her closer to D.C. than she or her family had ever been. I’ve also been able to attend academic presentations for graduates of the local university and mentor students who are interested in joining the Foreign Service, all of which leads to a diversity of ideas in Foreign Service. Shopping at the local co-op, supporting local agriculture and businesses, is good for my local community and an extended benefit of my assignment here. I’m also exposed to different ideas by working in southern Oregon as opposed to D.C. I listen to a different set of ideas and concerns frommy neighbors, often on topics of foreign policy. I practice my diplomacy skills constantly, because I’m regularly asked to explain what the State Department does and, of course, fielding questions about consular services. Among other benefits of working remotely fromOregon for the State Department are expanding Americans’ awareness and understanding of the Foreign Service, helping create new pipelines of interested candidates, supporting the FS family of the officer, and making for easy access to colleagues working around the world in different time zones. As a March 2021 report from the Truman Center pointed out, the State Department can and should do more to broaden engagement across America because of these benefits. A Valuable Program I’m grateful that I can do my job remotely, that the depart- ment created this opportunity and that it took the leap to trial remote work agreements; and I sincerely hope that the program continues. My experiences have shown that remote work can be extremely beneficial for our team. One of my colleagues is work- ing remotely from Southeast Asia; with my location in Oregon, we are in closer time zones. Being on Pacific Standard Time, I also help to extend the workday, closing out tasks that were started earlier in the day by other teammembers, and I’ve been able to facilitate events from Porto Alegre, Brazil, to Accra, Ghana. Remote work has also been a true gift for my family, one for which I am forever grateful. I’ve met former Foreign Service officers from the Pacific Northwest who resigned because they needed some time back here, and the department couldn’t offer this before. Remote work is also a retention tool. During this pandemic, it has been especially necessary to rely on family and neighbors to help us out. And in case you’re wondering, while we are thrilled to be living back on the West Coast, we’re already dreaming of where we want to go on our next overseas assignment. For those of us who are from towns far away fromWashington, D.C., remote work back home can be a meaningful, productive way to continue to serve while building bridges to local commu- nities and building morale for Foreign Service members and our families. n Sarah Wardwell (front right) with the Greensprings Emergency Network (GEN) during their first radio training, July 2021. I suggested we set up a system like the citizen liaison volunteer networks that consular sections coordinate overseas. COURTESYOFSARAHWARDWELL