The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

10 JULY-AUGUST 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Foreign Service History Your May issue was first-rate, espe- cially the excellent article by Larry Cohen and James Lamont on the Rogers Act, “In the Beginning: The Rogers Act of 1924.” Regarding other May content, I have two comments. First, the article by Robert Hunter, “Getting State and the Foreign Service Back in the Game,” is a bit unrealistic. Foreign policy is going to be made by the president, who will receive advice from a lot of people, including the Secretary of State as the principal, but not the only, adviser. The top priority of the State Department and the Foreign Service is to implement the policy. Second, I was surprised that you did not include the whole timeline of impor- tant events in the history of AFSA and the Foreign Service, which includes the policy changes in the early 1970s initiated by Under Secretary for Management WilliamMacomber concerning the role of wives of Foreign Service employees, and the 1976 establishment of grievance procedures. I think your readers would enjoy, as you suggest, reading the more compre- hensive chronology at www.afsa.org/ timeline. I hope that you will add recently established policies regarding LGBT issues to that timeline. Ted Eliot FSO, retired Sonoma, Calif. n Share your thoughts about this month’s issue. Send your letters to journal@afsa.org . My son can now join the class of 2018 at his college of choice. AFSA does work for us! Patricia J. Howlett Office Management Specialist Embassy The Hague Technology and the QDDR AFSA’s Quadrennial Diplomacy & Development Review statement on technology is the most progressive and forward-leaning assessment of the Bureau of Information Resource Man- agement and its people that I can ever recall hearing from the association—an organization traditionally more focused on the FS generalist corps. While we can only speculate about any actual reforms that might come out of the QDDR exercise, the broad scope of AFSA’s statement on technology was intriguing: “It is time to fundamentally rethink our platforms and people and focus on IT personnel as enablers and multipliers, and not just as the ‘computer, pouch or radio’ people.” This could be quite promising. To all you “computer, pouch and radio people” out there on the front lines, good luck. Keep enabling and keep multiplying the power of diplomacy. Timothy C. Lawson Senior FSO, retired Hua Hin, Thailand