The Foreign Service Journal, April 2005

R eaders may not know that while I have been in the Foreign Service 40 years, I am new to the Department of State. Iworked for theU.S. InformationAgencyuntil Oct. 1, 1999, when it merged with State. Sowhat do I see as the biggest difference betweenUSIAand State? The assignment system. At USIA, we knew that management would make the assignment, and there was a 50-50 chance we’d be assigned to a place not on our bid list. I recall being assigned only once to a post that was actually on my bid list. State is amuch bigger enterprise thanUSIA. Withmore than 7,000 Foreign Service members overseas and about 3,000 transferring every year, the assignment rules have to be detailed, and commendable efforts aremade to craft the rules tomake the process as transparent as possible. However, here at State, I have come up against a nasty, nefarious assignment practice that still persists, despite all my attempts to snuff it out. It starts with a bureau that wants a particular candidate for a job. The candidate may be a “fair share” bidder and thus ineligible for a non-hardship post. Or he may not have the necessary rank. Noproblem. Management simplywaits for “stretch” sea- son when it can assign fair-share candidates to non-hardship posts and stretch people into high-level jobs. But what about the qualified bidders? What fate awaits their bids on the same jobs? Management uses the trick of “chair holds” to keep certain assignments open for these fair-share bidders. TheheadofCDA is allowed topostpone the assignment process indefinitely by placing “holds” on particular assignments. If the chair holds an assign- ment long enough, it slides over to “stretch” season, when those who were not eligible for the assignment earlier suddenly become eligible for a non-hardship post or for a double stretch. Bingo! When a political appointee actively bids for his protégé,management caves. Several years ago, a 7th-floor resident lobbied successfully for a stretchassignment to aEuropean post for oneof his staffers, a fair-sharebidder. Last year, AFSAtried to limit “chair holds.” We were rebuffed. Once again, this year, the “chair hold” has been used to hold up an assignment long enough to take it to stretch season. Perchance this happened because three presidential appointees lobbiedHR strenuously to keep the job open for the fair- share candidate? The result of those “chair holds”? The fair-share bidder was assigned to a West- European-style senior positionover an equally qualifiedbidder (same cone, same rank) who was not a fair-share bidder. Sowhat makesme reallymad? Hypocrisy. Management preaches fair share, tight- ens fair-share rules, urges people to volunteer for Baghdad, Kabul, Riyadh, Islamabad, Tripoli, etc. Then it caves to political appointees. The appointees do not have a stake in the integrity of the assignment process. They’re outta here once the administration changes. But theOffice of theDirector General should have a stake inmaintaining the assignment process as free from political influence as it can. You cannot ask employ- ees to separate from their families and volunteer for dangerous assignments, and then sit back and award a fair-share bidder a plum post because a political appointee asks you to. Shame on you! ▫ V.P. VOICE: STATE ■ BY LOUISE CRANE What Makes Louise Really Mad? 4 AFSA NEWS • APRIL 2005 A MESSAGE FROM STATE MANAGEMENT New Retiree Opportunities F oreign Service and Civil Service retirees of the State Department should keep their eyes out for announcements about innovativeways to stay engaged with the department. A full package of informationwill bemade avail- able on May 6 at Foreign Affairs Day. All active-duty and retired employees are valuable resources that constitute the department’s Diplomatic Readiness Reserve. Secretary Condoleezza Rice has stressed the importance of this reserve to the department’s current transformation- al diplomacy mission. All retirees who are interested in par- ticipating in department activities after retirementwill soonhave simple and inno- vative ways to convey that interest. The director general will seek your expression of interest in three areas: • receivingdepartment news and infor- mation updates via personal e-mail addresses; • engaging in part-time, temporary work in the department and overseas via the existing “While Actually Employed,” or WAE, hiring system; or • participating in the department’s “Standby Response Corps.” The third opportunity is centered around the department’s new Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization. S/CRS is developinga “ResponseCorps”of active- duty State Department employees and retirees to be available to deploy as first responders to undertake reconstruction and stabilization efforts crucial to starting a transitiontopeace, democracyandamar- ket economy in fragile, failing and failed Secretary Rice has stressed the importance of this reserve to the department’s current transformational diplomacy mission.