The Foreign Service Journal, March 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2023 31 Learning the Ropes Through Rotations FOCUS ON FS REFORM: OUTLOOK AND CONSIDERATIONS T he American Diplomacy Project (Phase II) released Blueprints for a More Modern U.S. Diplomatic Service in September 2022 designed to produce significant changes in the lives and careers of our diplomats and in the ways the United States executes its diplomacy. The project combines specific recom- mendations to support the creation of a more modern U.S. diplomacy with the legislative and regulatory language required to turn these ideas into realities. The second of the four “blueprints” focuses on State Depart- ment professional education and training, with Ambassadors Joyce Barr and Daniel Smith as team leaders and principal authors. While there are many parts to this section, I was caught by one suggestion: “Overseas, there should also be more rotational job opportuni- ties to enable all entry-level Foreign Service Generalists to spend extended periods of time in different sections of amission.” Beatrice Camp’s Foreign Service career took her to China, Thailand, Sweden, and Hungary, in addition to Washington, D.C., assignments at USIA, the State Department, and the Smithsonian Institution. Entry-level diplomats can gain valuable experience with rotational job opportunities. BY BEATR I CE CAMP A Practical Proposal The introduction, which argues for a training complement, aka training float, reads: State Department leadership of American diplomacy in an increasingly complex and dangerous world depends on several factors, crucially including having personnel with the right skills, knowledge, and experience in the right places at the right time to advance American national security interests. This Blueprint makes specific proposals to enable the Department to make strategic and operationally relevant long-term invest- ments in its people. This is essential if the Department expects to secure its role as the foreign policy lead for the U.S. Government. • While there may be a need to augment entry-level training, including with additional leadership training that FSI has iden- tified, we believe the most constructive use of a training comple- ment in this area would be to also provide greater opportunities for rotational assignments early in a career, whether Foreign Service or Civil Service. • Domestically, this should include short-term assignments for Foreign Service personnel in various Department bureaus, especially functional bureaus, prior to their first overseas assign- ments. In addition, new Civil Service personnel need opportuni- ties to spend time in other parts of the Department outside of their hiring bureau. Maria Carluccio/Theispot