The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2007

FSJ: Since retiring from the For- eign Service in 1989, you’ve been heav- ily involved with the Senior Living Foundation. How did that come about? JC: The American Foreign Service Protective Association started getting inquiries from various people who had hit hard times, but there wasn’t any- thing that could be done for them. Salaries and pensions were relatively low for a long time, especially for spouses of deceased annuitants. So John Shumate, who was and still is the executive vice president of the organi- zation, talked to Findley Burns and rounded up some other people, in- cluding me, to set up the Senior Living Foundation. I became the chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Direct- ors in 1994, a position I still hold. FSJ: What kinds of services does the foundation provide for retired Foreign Service personnel? JC: The Senior Living Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization established to assist retired members of the American Foreign Service, including secretaries, communicators, widows and divorced spouses, who are physically and/or emotionally unable to cope with the changes that occur with aging. Some examples of the aid that the founda- tion offers include: hearing aids, home health care, transportation to medical appointments, groceries, prescription drug costs, durable medical equip- ment such as wheelchairs, basic living expenses and senior living facilities. We also provide information and guid- ance about how to draw on communi- ty, State, federal and private resources. A growing number of colleagues need more extensive support, such as home health care, medications and basic living expenses. The foundation provides temporary and one-time assistance grants as they are needed, in addition to accepting each case for a lifetime commitment. FSJ: How often do you do fund- raising for the foundation? JC: We send out appeals twice a year, but if someone contributes in the spring, we don’t ask them for more money in the fall. If there’s one thing that drives me up the wall, it’s organizations that hit you up for more money a week after you send them a check! FSJ: How would you say diploma- cy has changed since your days in the Foreign Service? Are you optimistic about the future of the profession? JC: We’re getting a group of really fine young people these days with a lot more work experience in various orga- nizations, including NGOs, before they come into the Service. Quite a few of them have studied, worked or lived abroad with various organizations. Of course, that means retention now is an even greater problem than before, because private industry is much more remunerative. For married couples, especially those with children, a lot depends on their family situation. Some Foreign Service children take to life overseas like ducks to water, while others have real problems. With the growing number of unaccompanied posts, more families are being separat- ed for long periods of time. FSJ: Whenever you talk to bright young people today, college graduates, do you recommend the Foreign Service to them as a career? JC: I don’t have many opportuni- ties to do that these days; but yes, I’ve always recommended a diplomatic career. FSJ: What changes do you think are needed to the FS personnel system to ensure that the Service has the abil- ities, outlooks and organizational structure to effectively discharge its role in the active promotion of U.S. interests abroad? JC: An ongoing problem is that some Foreign Service personnel have the view that if they take a couple of years out for hard-language study or other long-term training, it may slow their promotion to the next grade. I believe there is some truth to that fear, because job performance is what selection boards look at. I don’t have a solution to offer for that problem, but it is a dilemma that needs to be addressed. We clearly need lots more officers to take total-immersion cours- es in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and so forth. FSJ: What are your thoughts about the “transformational diploma- cy” concept? JC: I really don’t know enough about the details to comment. But one aspect of it that doesn’t seem to have gotten much attention is the idea of posting more officers outside the embassy in these countries. That’s all well and good, but if they’re based out in the boondocks, are they really going to contribute to Washington’s under- standing of how the host government, which is centrally located, operates? And will they have any effect back in the capital? FSJ: Any final thoughts? JC: I feel very highly honored to accept this award. However, in all hon- esty, I would not be standing here today if it were not for all the support I received throughout the years from the various supervisors, staffs and offices, both Foreign Service and Civil Service personnel, who served with me. FSJ: Thank you very much. 54 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 Coming in September … Look for profiles of the AFSA Dissent Award winners and the AFSA Perfor- mance Award winners in the next issue of the Foreign Service Journal . Honorees include: Ronald Capps , who challenged U.S. policy on peacekeeping in Darfur and proposed more active U.S. involvement in preventing genocide there in 2006; and Michael Zorick , who questioned U.S. policy toward Somalia. His astute analy- sis of the complex socio-political situa- tion there has proven prescient. And more...