The Foreign Service Journal, April 2012

A P R I L 2 0 1 2 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 59 I ama federal bureaucrat. Aprofessional government employee. And guess what? I’m damn proud of it. It seems that all I hear these days are the once and future leaders of our coun- try tripping over themselves to denigrate the work we do. I’m tired of it, and I’m fed up. I don’t claim to represent anyone other than myself, but I would bet that a fair number of federal employees feel as I do. We are lawyers, doctors, Ph.D. stu- dents, economists, writers, electricians, constructionworkers, security officers and technology specialists. We are not a drain on the national economy; rather, we are a primary reason why the United States remains as great as it is. Likemany federal workers, I have sac- rificed: a high-paying job in the private sec- tor; a year of my life (and the first six months of my daughter’s life) spent in Iraq; long hours; high stress; pay freezes. I’mnot complaining; in fact, I quite enjoy my career and my life in the Foreign Service. Yet when I hear our politicians talking about “fixing”Washington, I oftenwon- der to myself: whom would they like to “fix?” Is it the guy I see on theMetro every day, heading to work at the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that our food is safe? Is it the woman going into Commerce Department headquarters to support U.S. companies abroad? Or do they mean the thousands of people who support our troops overseas? How about my fellowForeignService officers, whoput themselves in harm’s way in Baghdad, Kabul, Damascus and hundreds of other places around the world? I have no doubt that some within the federal bureaucracy simply showup each day to collect a paycheck. I also have no doubt that this happens within any num- ber of multinational corporations, small businesses and law firms. But I know for a fact that most of us do this job not because we want to make a lot of money but because, simply put, we want to serve our country. There was a time, not long ago, when government service was seen as a higher calling. That’s the reason I decided to join the State Department in 2005 — not because I wanted job security or good health benefits, but because I wanted to devote my life to making this country stronger, making the world a better, safer place and pursuing a career I was proud of. Seven years later, I still get excited to come to work every morning. I still get a thrill when I enter the StateDepartment and see the flags of every nationwithwhich we have diplomatic relations. And I cer- tainly get chills each and every time I see theU.S. flag on one of our embassies. I’m fairly sure I am not the only federal employee who feels this way. So to all our politicians, I implore you: stop using the government work force as a political football. Just stop. It demeans you, it demoralizes us, and it is counter- productive to drive away the best and brightest fromworking for the betterment of this country. We don’t do our jobs for glory, or money or power. We do them—and do themwell—because we take pride in our work and pride in representing the United States of America. This commentary originally appeared on the Washington Post’ s Opinion page on Feb. 26 and is reprinted with the author’s permission. A F S A N E W S I Work for Uncle Sam, and I’m Proud of It BY JASON ULLNER Like many federal workers, I have sacrificed: a high-paying job in the private sector; a year of my life (and the first six months of my daughter’s life) spent in Iraq; long hours; high stress; pay freezes. I n 1982, retired Foreign Service officer Mathilda W. Sinclaire provided AFSA with a generous bequest to honor ForeignService employeeswhoexcel in the study of hard languages and their associ- ated cultures. Since then, AFSA has hon- ored more than 100 individuals for their language-learning abilities. AFSA is pleased to announce the eight winners of the 2011MathildaW. Sinclaire Language Award. They are: NancyAbella –Dari; EricCollings –Uzbek; SarahGrow –Persian/Farsi; JamesHallock–Mandarin; Rebecca Hunter – Albanian; Theresa Mangione – Vietnamese; E. Jerome Ryan Jr. – Japanese; David Vincent Salvo – Serbian/Croatian. Eachwinner receives a $1,000prize and certificate. AFSA thanks the Foreign Ser- vice Institute’s School of Language Studies and itsmany language instructors for their dedicationandassistance in identifyingcan- didates for the award. Nominations are also received fromteachers at regional language schools. For more information on the award, guidelines and nominating procedures, please visit www.afsa.org/sinclaire_lang uage_awards.aspx, or contact Perri Green at green@afsa.org or (202) 719-9700. AFSA Announces 2011 Sinclaire Award Winners BY PERRI GREEN, AFSA SPECIAL AWARDS AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR