for local hires is that the individual may not receive lodging expenses as part of per diem if they have a permanent residence in the Washington, D.C., area, and do not vacate such residence during orientation and/or other training. The struggle for fairness in the treatment of new Foreign Service hires has been long and challenging. With the passage of the 2025 NDAA, however, our perseverance has paid off, ensuring that all newly hired Foreign Service members will now receive the pay and benefits they deserve, regardless of their geographic origin. n THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2025 59 final discrepancy: per diem for new local hires during orientation and training expected to last less than 6 months. Legislative Fix and the 2025 NDAA In 2019 AFSA began advocating for a change to allow parity among the new local from day one of their employment, beginning with orientation training. AFSA crafted suggested legislative text to ensure new Foreign Service members hired locally received per diem during their first six months of orientation, or until eligible for locality pay. We met with members of Congress and their staff, explaining this inequity between local and nonlocal hires and urging them to provide parity. Our hard work and persistent effort finally bore fruit with the passage of the 2025 NDAA, which establishes in Section 7109 that “any newly hired Foreign Service employee who is in initial orientation training, or any other training expected to last less than 6 months … shall, for the duration of such training, receive a per diem allowance.” The reasonable caveat 2025 NDAA A-100 Orientation FSI Training 0-6 months FSI Training 6-12 months FSI Training 12+ months Local Per diem* OCP + per diem* Locality pay Locality pay Nonlocal Per diem OCP + per diem Locality pay Locality pay AFSA Welcomes Incoming USAID FSOs On Jan. 24, 2025, AFSA hosted a welcome lunch at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the 47 members of USAID’s Career Candidate Corps (C3) Class 45. This cohort includes participants specializing across 13 backstops, including health science, economics, and agriculture. The AFSA president and AFSA USAID vice president welcomed the class with remarks about AFSA’s role and fielded questions about the resources AFSA offers, including guidance about legal representation and the recent wave of presidential executive orders. The new officers bring a breadth of experiences, having worked or studied in 93 countries and humanitarian assistance, and economic development. Notable achievements include trekking through the Congo basin to track gorillas, rafting the Zambezi, AFSA Vice President Randy Chester fields audience questions at AFSA HQ. AFSA/MARK PARKHOMENKO speaking 30 languages, from Albanian to Yoruba. Members of the class have contributed to projects across sectors such as countertrafficking, environmental sustainability, and leading initiatives with organizations such as the International Rescue Committee and the UN World Food Program. n
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