The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2006

V.P. VOICE: USAID BY BILL CARTER “Adios,” Sports Fans A fter serving as the AFSA/USAID vice president for three satisfying years, I amretiring. This is my swan- song column. I have been trying to come up with something appropriately sage and profound to say as I exit, like: “Beware of the military-industrial complex,” or “Remember to use sunscreen, floss and recycle,” but I would be borrowing those from others. Instead, indulge me in a few reflections. I come away from this experience with a much deeper appreciation for AFSA, and what it does, than I had when first elected. Bureaucratic systems are not always benign. They need checks and balances; they need vigilant watchdogs against the arrogance of power; they need employee advocacy organizations tominimize abus- es. At other times, employees need third-party interventions to resolve individual issues or to correct systemic flaws flowing from specific cases. AFSA serves these functions for all five foreign affairs agencies — and serves them well. It tookmy entire tenure to get the unjust dismissal of twoUSAIDofficers reversed. If common sense had prevailed at the outset, there would have been tremendous savings in time and money, and avoidance of the loss of some trust and good will. But, common sense was on an extended vacation, and it took the Foreign Service Grievance Board and, finally, federal court action before it returned. At last, these two Foreign Service officers are back and fully reinstated. AFSA- sponsored litigation in court and before the Foreign Service Grievance Board helped bring about this just ending. These cases against two untenured officers had a broad impact. They led to successful negotiations for revising tenure procedures so that what happened to these two employees will not happen to anyone else. AFSA played an important role in reversing a “reblocking” decision that would have reconfigured the office space within the RonaldReaganBuilding at great expense. Given the subsequent agency changes and reorganization, this would have proven to be very wasteful. AFSAwas instrumental in convincingmanagement to staff crit- ical-priority countries on a volunteer basis, as opposed to the use of directed assign- ments, which was the initial intent. So far, this voluntary system has worked well. The Student Loan Repayment Program for USAID employees was implement- ed before budgetary shortfalls put it temporarily on hold. I knowmy successor will be working hard to get it restarted. No, it was not all sweetness and light. AFSA was not successful in gaining eligi- bility to joinUSAA for newUSAID, FAS and FCS officers. We fought a valiant fight but lost, for now. I predict that somewhere down the road, this, too, will be reversed in our members’ favor. And, AFSA continues to believe that converting Personal Services Contractors and others to Foreign Service positions and creating the quick- fix Foreign Service Limited personnel category were serious errors that will haunt the agency’s human resources function for many years to come. I cannot go without thanking my sidekicks at the AFSA/USAID office, Doug Broome and Asgeir Sigfusson, for their patience, support and wise counsel. I will miss this job at AFSA, and I will miss being an activemember of the Foreign Service. I wish you all the best in life. 68 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / J U L Y - A UGU S T 2 0 0 6 A F S A N E W S Award for Lifetime Contributions Morton Abramowitz D uring the June 22 AFSA Award ceremony, James Schlesinger presented the 2006 AFSA Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy to Ambassador Morton Abramowitz. Previous recipients of this prestigious award include U. Alexis Johnson, Frank Carlucci, George H.W. Bush, Lawrence Eagleburger, Cyrus Vance, David Newsom, Lee Hamilton, Tom Pickering, George Shultz, Richard Parker and Richard Lugar. The lifetime contributions award honors Amb. Abramowitz for his dedi- cated public service of more than 46 years. (See profile and interview, p. 30.) His 31-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service included ambassadorships to Turkey, Thailand and the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Negotiations in Vienna. He also served as assistant secretary of State for Intelligence and Research and deputy assistant secretary of Defense, among many other assign- ments. Upon retirement from the Foreign Service as a career ambassador in 1991, Amb. Abramowitz continued his distin- guished service to the American people as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for six years. He has also been acting presi- dent of the International Crisis Group and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation. He has published numer- ous books, articles and essays on a wide range of foreign policy issues. Amb. Abramowitz continues to be actively engaged in the critical issues facing U.S. diplomacy today and to work toward the achievement of peace and better relations between America and the rest of the world. AFSA is proud to honor Amb. Abramowitz for his important and significant contribu- tions to U.S. foreign policy.