The Foreign Service Journal, May 2022

28 MAY 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Having second thoughts about leaving government service? Here’s a candid and authoritative look at returning to work for the government. BY JOHN K . NALAND A n Insider’s Guide to the Re-Employed Annuitant Program Retired Foreign Service Officer John K. Naland is in his third term as AFSA retiree vice president. He has also served as AFSA State vice president and twice as AFSA president. He was the director of the State Department Office of Retirement from 2011 to 2015. FOCUS ON LIFE AFTER THE FOREIGN SERVICE F rom 2015 to 2021, I worked as a re-employed For- eign Service annuitant at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. One of my duties was to give presentations at retirement planning seminars on post-retirement federal employment opportunities. Several thousand readers of this article no doubt watched one of those presenta- tions. Below is an updated overview of the topic, accompanied by more candid commentary than I was able to give while speak- ing in an official capacity. Employment after Retirement If early- and mid-career employees think at all about life after the Foreign Service, they most probably envision happily turning in their badge and going on to pursue other interests. But as retirement nears, many of us have second thoughts about completely leaving government service. The topics and tasks that we worked on during our careers still interest and energize us. The knowledge, skills and abilities that we acquired over many