The Foreign Service Journal, April 2011

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 7 A Pool of Talent I read with great interest AFSA President Susan Johnson’s article, “Time for the Foreign Service Reserve Corps,” that appeared in the January issue of the Foreign Service Journal. I have long felt that we have a gi- gantic waste of talent in this country be- cause of not using the professional skills of people who are retired — often all too early. I once made a proposal to rectify this that would operate on a gov- ernmentwide basis, but I would heartily subscribe to something that dealt only with the State Department. George P. Shultz Former Secretary of State Hoover Institution Stanford, Calif. Remembering Selden Chapin I thoroughly enjoyed your feature about my grandfather, “Selden Chapin: Father of the 1946 Foreign Service Act,” in your February issue. Sixty-five years after that legislation was enacted, it is wonderful to know that history has not relegated events tomere family leg- end. Thank you also for noting the family service of my grandfather, my father, my great-uncle and his son. Among them, they heldmore than a dozen am- bassadorial posts. They were proud public servants; proud to share family and the Foreign Service. I would add that my grandfather and father may well be the only father- son team to be declared persona non grata, a distinction often referred to as the Order of the Raspberry — at least in Chapin family dinner-table conver- sation! Edith C. Chapin Washington, D.C. Justly Complimentary I just read your FS Heritage profile of my grandfather, Selden Chapin, and am thrilled by it. Jack Binns’ article was complete, well-written and justly com- plimentary. Thank you so much for doing it. Roger Kirk Ambassador, retired Washington, D.C. Don’t Trust Anyone Over 31 Every serious analysis of the current turmoil in the Middle East points out that there are some 100 million people (to use Thomas Friedman’s figure) in the Arab world between the ages of 15 and 29. All Foreign Service Journal readers understand how challenging it is for our embassies to work with this demographic. The two issues are related. Twenty- nine years ago, compelled by then- Representative Claude Pepper, D-Fla., the State Department raised the maxi- mum entry age for new Foreign Serv- ice officers from 31 to 59. The result is embassy staffs with few or no diplomats even close to the ages of this fast-rising “successor generation” in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and much of Asia. The Foreign Service should be a ca- reer service, as is the military, with offi- cers entering in their 20s and gaining, by the time they are 45 to 50, the breadth of geographic and professional experience required of our senior diplomats. Officers who are already middle-aged when entering the For- eign Service will only rarely gain com- parable experience. We have long had an astute com- mitment to greater diversity in our diplomatic corps. But a Foreign Serv- ice with few men and women younger than 30, or even 35, is not diverse. Nor is it likely to be able to cultivate frank, productive (or enjoyable) relationships with this rising tide of youth worldwide. It will take years to correct this prob- lem. But a maximum entry age of 31 for career Foreign Service officers should be restored immediately. C. Robert Dickerman FSO, retired Swoope, Va. Giving Locally Employed Staff Their Due In both my overseas Foreign Serv- ice assignments, I have seen firsthand L ETTERS

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