The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2015 27 To rectify this situation, we are recommending a variety of steps, from restoring proper respect for commissioned Foreign Service officers and returning several matters to proper negotia- tion with AFSA to limiting certain powers of the DG. Physician, Heal Thyself If the Foreign Service is to play the role established by law, which we believe it should play, it needs also to improve itself. We are enthusiastic about the quality and diversity of entry- level officers. However, we have found that many have great gaps in their basic knowledge and understanding of the profes- sion they are entering and its role. Diversity does bring benefits, but State has a responsibility to furnish all officers with foun- dational education to bring them to a minimum common level of knowledge. The Foreign Service Institute has developed new programs to improve professional education, but it lacks the resources for the scale of change necessary. Our report has numerous recommendations in this area. These include university-level distance education that would begin with entry and need to be completed for promotion to the Senior Foreign Service. Another is a six-month “practicum” after the introductory orientation A-100 course, which would combine working four days a week in the department with one day in a structured program at FSI. At the mid-level, the report recommends an expanded role for the Bureau of Human Resources to balance long-term career development with the short-term considerations that now dominate the interaction between officers and bureaus. The report notes the difficulty of creating enough senior officers with the breadth of experience to lead in the inter- agency system. It laments the long-term drift of positions in State functional bureaus from FS to CS designation. Foreign Service expertise is a necessary ingredient to policymaking and implementation, just as such service is necessary to broaden the understanding of FSOs for future leadership responsibili- ties. The Foreign Service needs to serve in these positions and promotion boards to recognize the merit of such work. To rectify this, ADAR recommends a requirement to serve at least one tour in a functional bureau or other agency as a basis for promotion to senior ranks. It also recommends reinstate- ment of multifunctional promotions and the removal of cone designations at the senior level, all to fix the problem of forming officers with the breadth of experience needed at the most senior levels. We recognize that many related problems affect Foreign Service specialists, a group essential to the department’s proper