The Foreign Service Journal, June 2005

also need clear operational guidance. Operational/crisis response. I am not sure I understand this one. It seems the intent behind it is to encourage everyone to pitch in when a critical event occurs, but don’t we all do that anyway? If a plane crash- es in your country, you are very like- ly going to be involved in the after- math. There are also practical diffi- culties: It is going to be very difficult to measure “crisis time” and accu- mulate the required six months. There may be a real run on jobs in the Operations Center to get credit for this one. Service at a 15-percent or greater differential post; service in an officially designated critical needs position; service at an unac- companied post. These three (the first mandatory, the other two elec- tives) are the real trick to the exercise. While I recognize that we have a sig- nificant number of these positions to fill and want to encourage everyone to do his or her part, it is very difficult for me to see myself (without my wife) in many of these places. How does ser- vice in these posts mesh with State being a family-friendly place to work? The military can do this, but it offers a great support network. Foreign Service officers traditional- ly take their families to post, except under highly unusual circumstances and for relatively short periods of time. Are we aiming to change that element of our Service? And how will this requirement work with two-care e r couples? Won’t tandems have all the advantage? They will certainly spend more time together at “unaccompa- nied” posts, after all. Still, there is no doubt we need to fill these jobs; the question remains how best to do so. Overall, while acknowledging that there are some details that need to be worked out, I support the Career Development Program’s goals. By stating clearly what is needed at the senior level, the department is sending a helpful message to the corps as a whole about the skills needed throughout a Foreign Service career. Will we all take the same path? No more than currently, but the road we take will be the more scenic for fol- lowing theprogram’s guideposts. There is more information avail- able on the program at: http://hrweb. hr.state.gov/cda/fscdp/. ■ Josh Glazeroff is currently serving in the Bureau of Human Resources as a career development officer for entry- level Foreign Service officers. He has served overseas in Santo Domingo and Durban. J U N E 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 S P E A K I N G O U T u