The Foreign Service Journal, June 2009

F our years as AFSA vice president for State have left me with decidedly mixed emotions. On the one hand, this has been one of the most fulfilling assignments of my career. It has been an honor to stand up and defend the Foreign Service at a time when it has come under fire from all sides. It has been a learning experience to see how our system really works —and doesn’t work. It has been a priv- ilege to fight for the things that matter in this diplomatic life we have chosen: fairness and equity in assignments, the ability to manage our personal and family lives honorably while moving from one overseas post to another, and the opportunity to serve our country and make a difference in the world of foreign policy. By far, the most satisfying as- pects of this job have been having the chance to get to know so many Foreign Service colleagues person- ally and working with AFSA’s su- perb professional staff to help the hundreds of members who come to us every year for assistance when the “system” wreaks havoc with their lives and their careers. The bureaucratic horror stories I have witnessed firsthand are endless. But there is an un- paralleled feeling of gratification when AFSA can help re- solve an injustice that threatens the well-being or career advancement of someone you admire. And I have come to admire the vast majority of the men and women of the For- eign Service who — despite all the hardships, the disloca- tions and the nonsense they have to put up with — courageously perform a vital task for our nation in some of the most difficult and dangerous places on earth. That said, my tenure at AFSA has been intensely frus- trating at times. There was no pleasure in struggling for three years with an administration that, let’s face it, made little secret of its disdain for the Foreign Service and its un- willingness to devote the resources necessary for diplomacy. There was no joy in watching helplessly as many of the “quality of life” benefits that the Foreign Service had earned over decades were eroded by neglect and budget cuts. AFSA shared the anguish throughout the ranks when one single overseas mission became the exclusive obsession of department leaders, to the detriment of every other em- bassy and consulate and every other aspect of the work of the Foreign Service. Perhaps most importantly, I leave AFSA baffled and dis- mayed by two of our most pervasive failures, one internal and one exter- nal. On the internal front, AFSA proved unable to soften the hard-line attitudes and lack of sympathy for employee con- cerns among certain of our senior officers. Although these individuals rose through the ranks, once they ascend to top management positions they seem to forget that many of their colleagues sometimes face difficult personal circum- stances that require just a bit of compassion, or flexibility, from department management. It remains difficult for me to understand this unwillingness to allow for humanitarian considerations and this insistence on applying the most rigid inter- pretation of the regulations, which drives most of the grievances and employee discontent that AFSA deals with. On the external front, despite vigorous public outreach efforts — and despite our repeatedly publicizing the story of thousands of members who have served in combat zones —we never seem to make much headway in dispelling the pre-World War II public perception of the Foreign Service as a club for spoiled Ivy League brats who spend their time swilling champagne at black-tie receptions in London and Paris. We hope Sec- retary Clinton will do a better job than her predecessor in defending the real Foreign Service. This ludicrous image of the pampered diplomat con- trasts with the harsh reality of today’s Foreign Service, whose members spend most of their lives in the dusty cap- itals of the developing world, dealing with the thorniest problems and crises confronting our nation. Yet this derogatory perception damages our quest to secure public and congressional support for so many of the things we need, including greater resources and staffing, legislation to fix the overseas pay gap, domestic partner benefits and paid maternity/paternity leave. The next AFSA Governing Board will take up these bat- tles where we left off. I hope they will come to understand, as I have, that this is important, necessary work for which we need an effective union. At least the next AFSA leaders will start out with an administration and a Secretary of State that appear favorably predisposed toward the Foreign Service. I wish them well. The ludicrous image of the pampered diplomat contrasts with the harsh reality of today’s Foreign Service, whose members spend most of their lives in the dusty capitals of the developing world. J U N E 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 A F S A N E W S A Bittersweet Farewell V.P. VOICE: STATE BY STEVE KASHKETT