The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2007

No Longer Sleep-Inducing I have subscribed to the Foreign Service Journal for 46 years. For most of that period, it tied with State magazine as dull reading, amounting to little more than another cheer- leader for the Department of State. The most interesting section to me was the obituaries. However, in the past several years, the magazine has started to focus on substantive issues, presenting dissent- ing views as well as coverage of State Department policies. I have particu- larly appreciated the recent articles by Dennis Jett, who consistently presents the contrarian view. It takes courage for an organiza- tion as conformist as the Foreign Service to dissent. I applaud the Journal and hope it will continue to provoke thoughtful debate of foreign policy issues. Thomas J. O’Donnell FSO, retired Tucson, Ariz. A “Volunteer” Assignment Given the level of interest in the State Department’s evolving assign- ment process, allow me to share my experience with the summer 2007 bidding cycle. I returned from Tokyo with my family less than two years ago, having determined that our preteen chil- dren’s educational needs could be best met in the Washington area. With that in mind, I bid only on domestic positions, and in November 2006 I accepted an offer of “bureau leading candidate status” for a position in the East Asia and Pacific Bureau. EAP’s offer came with a reminder that, “as far as EAP is concerned, the BLC is a firm commitment by both you and the bureau… [However,] HR/CDA does not recognize BLC status as a formal, binding job offer or acceptance.” In January, I was informed by my career development officer that I was on a list of FS-2 officers who would not be paneled until the department had filled a number of most-difficult- to-fill, high-priority assignments. She said I was being actively considered for positions in Khartoum and Afghanistan, and should know very shortly whether I would be asked to volunteer for one of them. While Afghanistan, like Iraq and an expanding number of other posts, is a one-year unaccompanied tour, Khartoum is a two-year “limited- accompanied” tour (i.e., no children). In my case, the only difference be- tween an unaccompanied post and a limited-accompanied post is the length of the assignment. I talked this over with my wife, and we decided that if I were to take an overseas assignment now, I should go to an Afghanistan Provincial Recon- struction Team. It looks like useful and interesting work, the benefits package is not unsubstantial, and I’d be home a year earlier than if I went to Khartoum. I confirmed with my CDO that volunteering for a one-year assign- ment in Afghanistan would get me off the hook for Khartoum. Then, a few days later she told me that, “despite ongoing efforts, the department has been unable to find a volunteer to fill the 02 position in Khartoum. The time has come to consider volunteer- ing for this assignment. We respect- fully urge you to consider the Khar- toum position, and provide a response by COB Wednesday, Feb. 21.” My response? I volunteered for Afghanistan. That is how the assign- ment process works today. John Wecker FSO Washington, D.C. Preserve Diplomatic History AFSA President Tony Holmes was spot on in his column on the Ameri- can Diplomacy Center in the May FSJ . I also applaud Under Secretary Nicholas Burns’ initiative to incorpo- rate a module on diplomatic history into future A-100 curricula. The diplomatic museum concept has been around for at least 12 years, yet very little has happened. In the meantime, the Marine Corps built a snazzy museum at Quantico and, I hear, the Army is about to break ground on a new museum at Fort Belvoir. What is it that prevents the State Department from making this happen? A museum at State is a great idea and long overdue, particularly for an institution that suffers a lack of public support. Coincidentally, the Military Assist- ance Command–Vietnam/Civil Opera- tions for Revolutionary Development Support program, known as MACV/ L ETTERS 6 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