The Foreign Service Journal, April 2013

28 April 2013 | the foreign Service journal Ever since the 1970s, AFSA has been ready to fight for the Service. Thanks to the efforts of about 20 AFSA presidents and Governing Boards over the past four decades, the organization today has enormous capacity to fight any McCar- thyist effort. It has millions of dollars in an operational reserve and a strong balance sheet on which to borrow even more if necessary; well-developed mechanisms for reaching out to the media, Congress and the public at large; and more than 16,000 dues-paying members willing to fight, if necessary, to vouchsafe AFSA’s power. So I pity any future McCarthy who goes after our Service. The most he or she could hope for would be a bloody political and/ or legal standoff. The more likely outcome would be the demagogue’s defeat. “Never Again” is not an idle boast. We should think about that, as well, as we celebrate our 40th anniversary—and look ahead. Thomas D. Boyatt, an FSO from 1959 until 1985, served as ambassador to Colombia and to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and chargé d’affaires in Chile, among many other post- ings. Currently the treasurer of AFSA’s political action committee, AFSA-PAC, Ambassador Boyatt was AFSA’s presi- dent in 1975, and has also served as its State vice president, treasurer and as a retiree representative. He is currently president of the Foreign Affairs Council, chairs the Academy of Ameri- can Diplomacy’s “Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future” project, and lectures, teaches and consults. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight one dimension of that era which did not emerge fully in the earlier coverage, but ties together past, present and future. I call it: “Never Again.” Don’t Tread on Us It’s worth keeping in mind that virtu- ally all of us “Young Turks” who led the struggle to reform the Foreign Service during the 1960s and 1970s had been junior officers, or college students con- templating a diplomatic career, during the 1950s. That decade began with the destruction of the lives and careers of the “China hands,” and continued with the ram- page of Senator Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., against the State Department and the Foreign Service. We’d also witnessed the dam- age done to the careers of excellent officers by the efficiency reports of politically appointed ambassadors. It seemed that the State Department and Foreign Service were convenient punching bags for whoever came along with a complaint. We were committed to changing those terms of reference. Experi- ence had proved that the concept of a benign political leadership of the State Department protecting career officers was a myth, so we were determined to make AFSA so strong that we could protect ourselves with- out reliance on others. My wife, Maxine, captured our sentiments when she made me a needlepoint battle flag. It depicted a coiled snake ready to strike, with the letters AFSA on its coils. Below was a legend stating, “Don’t Tread On Me.” “Thanks to the efforts of about 20 AFSA presidents and Governing Boards over the past four decades, the organization today has enormous capacity.” —Retired Ambassador Thomas D. Boyatt (AFSA President, 1975) FSJ Archives Ambassador Boyatt testifying on behalf of AFSA on Capitol Hill in 2007.