The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

and Iraq — as happened when its predecessor, the Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support program, was terminated immediate- ly after the Vietnam War. Service in cross-agency positions should also be stressed. Currently, the military rewards soldiers who have served in such positions with promotions. The office of the For- eign Policy Director should create similar incentives for aspiring State Department officials. As part of that effort, advanced training should be given to a diverse student body that includes both For- eign Service and military officers. Promoting interagency cooperation in the academic environment will cre- ate a climate of information sharing and understanding that will pay divi- dends when these individuals work together in the field. The Defense Department has al- ready envisioned a plan to greatly increase the size of the armed forces. The Foreign Policy Director should similarly stress expansion of the State Department and other civilian agen- cies to meet the demand of future operations. Defense Secretary Rob- ert Gates has repeatedly backed this goal in public addresses. Hopefully, in the near future we will see the military and the State Department working even more closely at lower echelons, where poli- cy meets reality. But that will only happen if the current bureaucratic infighting in Washington ceases. 50 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 8 Service in cross-agency positions should also be stressed.