The Foreign Service Journal, April 2005

A FSAwonderswhether a parallel ForeignService is being created at USAID. It is in our job description toworry about such matters, but read on to see if you agree. Legislation passed over the last two years allowsUSAIDman- agement to hire Foreign ServiceNon-Career Limited officers (called FSLs) on five-year limited appointments, using pro- gram funds. This authority means USAID can hire people without dipping into the precious operating expense budget. Already, 85 FSLs have been identified and are being brought on board — all at overseas missions. The Fiscal Year 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act calls for up to 175 FSLs to be hired for each of the next three years. Therefore, the total for all four years could reach 610, which is over 50 percent of the current total number of USAID FSOs. Howdo the original plan and intentions of the FSLprogramtrackwith and/or devi- ate from the reality, and what are the potential pitfalls for the career Foreign Service? History has shown that good intentions often pave the way to unexpected places. The primary rationale was that the initial 85 FSLs hired in 2004 would fill new, critical pri- ority positions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In actuality, management converted person- al services contractors in place at the overseasmissions where they were already work- ing; hardly any were assigned to critical priority postings. As the underpinning for one rationale slipped, secondary goals came into focus. One goal is purportedly to “homogenize” the Foreign Service workforce under one umbrella. Indeed, USAID has a cornucopia of hiring authorities — contractors, fel- lows and details of many stripes. To standardize themwould be a worthy cause, but in any case, AFSA does not see them going away anytime soon. More to the point, AFSA sees the FSL as yet another category of personnel that will need to be managed. Whilemost FSLs cannot bidon assignments anddonot compete for promotions, trans- parent procedures will nevertheless need to be developed for reassignments, bonuses and selection out and a slew of other issues. Will a parallel personnel system need to be created? Another stated goal is to save operating expenses. AFSA concedes that some OE moneymight be saved in the near term, but would argue that total long-termexpens- es will go up, especially when one considers recurring expenses and benefits streams, which continue, in some cases, far into the future. A third goal being touted is to reduce overhead costs. Remember that famous Jack Nicholson line from the movie “As Good As It Gets,” when he tells the lady knock- ing at his door: “Go sell crazy somewhere else, ‘causewe’re all stocked up here.” Ditto! Administrative burdens that were housed outside of USAID inother agencies andwith contractorsmust nowbe handled internally, with all the expensive burdens that entails. Finally, as many as 225 FSLs could be allowed to serve inWashington. Given that these are five-year limited appointments, it is clear that some will spend their entire stints on U.S. soil. Where is the truth in advertising? And, why the “Foreign Service” label? Those familiarwith this columnknowthatweoftenuse the roadanalogy. Weoveruse it again here, because despite all the good intentions, this road may be paved to you- know-where. ▫ V.P. VOICE: USAID ■ BY BILL CARTER Where Does the Road Paved with Good Intentions Lead? 6 AFSA NEWS • APRIL 2005 Continued from page 5 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS USAA Update AFSA is pleased to report progress on the USAA front. As you know, AFSA has long been urging USAA to reopen its insurance rolls to all Foreign Service members, not just those from State. The company has previously held firm on refusing to reevaluate the policy exclud- ing new insurance policy applications from non-State Foreign Service employ- ees. Following AFSA Governing Board member TedWilkinson’s attendance at the November 2004 USAA Annual Meeting of Members and his conversa- tion with the company’s general counsel, AFSA has been informed that USAA is currently re-evaluating the policy. This is, of course, no guarantee that they will end the restrictions, but AFSA is pleased to report that they are at least thinking about it. As always, we will keep you posted. AFSA Answers Another Cheap Shot Many members were outraged by Lawrence Kaplan’s attack on the Foreign Service (“State’s Rights”) in The New Republic of Dec. 2. AFSA President John Limbert responded with a letter, which was published in the magazine’s Feb. 7 edition. The letter reads (in part): “Does Kaplan prefer a Foreign Service of cheerleaders who never offer advice, never ask questions, and never suggest alternative courses of action? ... Kaplan urges Condoleezza Rice to ‘tame’ the Foreign Service and to ‘crack the whip.’ She knows better. She knows that, in the Foreign Service, she has the com- plete support of a unique group of high- ly qualified, dedicated professionals who have repeatedly shown themselves will- ing to serve their country in the most difficult and dangerous places, often at great personal cost and sacrifice.” The full text is available on the AFSA Web site www.afsa.org. Briefs • Continued on page 8