The Foreign Service Journal, May 2006

F O C U S M A Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 29 ees. A recent requirement for acquisition certification for all domestic contracting officers (usually Civil Service) has been waived for GSO specialists and is not included in the CDP. What this means is that GSO specialists who bid on Civil Service jobs in the Procurement Executive later in their careers will not have the required certification for domestic contracting. This leaves them completely unable to compete for domestic procurement positions. I personally requested authorization to attend certifi- cation training at Defense Acquisition University (where Civil Service contracting officers now go), but was told that it is not a requirement and therefore I could not be allotted time or funding to attend. Furthermore, I was informed that while my FSI acquisitions training is recog- nized for a standard overseas contracting warrant, none of the same courses would be recognized for the certification and that I would have to retake the courses at DAU. My first question is why, for the same warrant, the same train- ing is not recognized by the department? Again, if certi- fication is required for domestic contracting, then FSI training that is equivalent should be considered valid. I strongly believe that the required contracting certifi- cation should be a part of the CDP so that HR will sup- port the required classes when we are between tours. Another issue I have as a GSO is that we are required to have six years of specialized related training and a college degree when applying for the position. It is frustrating to compete for many jobs at the FS-3 level against first- and second-tour generalists who have no related experience, yet at times seem to actually receive preference. For instance, I replaced a fresh-out-of- college JO for my current position even though I have 10 years of experience. By assigning such positions to inexperienced, entry-level generalists, the department effectively devalues them. The Career Development Program should address the fact that GSO specialists are coming into the Service with a higher degree of education and experience than their generalist man- agement-cone counterparts, and in some way reflect that we are coming from that higher level.