The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2016 67 ted barely a minute of it). But at the same time, start building your own team, those you want to lead when opportunity permits. Leave previous experience behind. Your former academic, professional study or work will likely be irrelevant. A decade of East Asia study never resulted in a Far East assignment for one spouse; native Mandarin was never used professionally by the other. Tandem status helps. The end of prohibition for married women as FSOs in the 1970s created “tandems”—with minuses as well as pluses. Now we must address the bitter spouses who couldn’t pass the FS entry exam. But “tandem” status is finan- cially invaluable, especially in retirement. Keep your original spouse. Divorce is expensive; multiple divorces even more so, especially when significant percentages of your pension goes to the spouse. Preparing for retirement: Assess your circumstances. Consider a final assignment to make you a Spanish-speaker if you do not already have that lan- guage. Obtain “While Actually Employed” (now REA) status. It is easier to arrange before retirement and opens paths for short- term assignments as an inspector, “gap” replacement or regular State work (e.g., Freedom of Information Act declassification). Review your physical health. Do you need to diet? Do you have an exercise regime? After retirement: Do nothing dramatic for a year. Don’t plunge into a new job or a volunteer commitment (those are easier to get into than out of). Remember: Volunteers are welcome, but not honored. You get real respect by being paid. Don’t sell your house and move “home.” You may quickly find that Centerville, USA, is Dullsville, with beloved relatives in cemeteries and “old school friends” passé. Moreover, it takes at least a year to move, reorganize and create new “trap lines.” Do you really have a year to spare for that? Expand your social circle. This may seem obvious, but it is important to find younger friends (less likely to die on you). Most important of all, enjoy every day! You have fewer ahead than behind. David T. Jones entered the Foreign Service in 1968 and retired in 1998. He served mostly in politico-military positions overseas and in Washington, D.C.; his final assignment was as political minister- counselor in Ottawa. Teresa C. Jones entered the Foreign Service in 1974 and retired in 1998. A science officer, her final assignment was as science counselor in Ottawa. Picking Up Again in Academia BY AL KEAL I ’ I CHOCK O n my retirement from the Foreign Service, my wife and I moved to a nonprofit retirement community, Pohai Nani, which is a month-to-month rental in Hawaii with a $250,000 entrance fee. We enjoy regular meals, many social activities, as well as bus service to shopping areas, theaters and concerts. Fortunately, I had previously taught ethnobotany at the Uni- versity of Hawai’i at Manoa as a lecturer, a paid position. After retiring, I was appointed to the adjunct faculty (unpaid). And after a decade and a half, I got an office (which I share with a post-doctoral student) that contains my technical and Hawaiian library—the equivalent of three wall-to-floor bookcases. Warning: Once the word gets out that you’re retired, you will have numerous groups recruiting you. My first decade was filled with voluntary community boards and organizations (as many as six!), including two years as president of a master community association. Be prepared: As a senior, you will soon find that there are numerous body parts that will fail, and you need to be close to major medical facilities. Forget that dream of living in a forest or rural setting! Since my retirement in 1992, I have had two complete knee replacements, as well as back (laminectomy) and right shoulder (rotator cuff) surgeries. I wish I had today’s annuity, with locality pay, and double what I had in 1992! Al Keali’i Chock was the plant quarantine officer for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at its Rome headquarters from 1975 to 1978. He joined the Foreign Agricultural Service in 1982, and served as regional director for Europe, Near East and Africa, based in The Hague, Netherlands, until 1988. He then returned to Washington, D.C., to serve as regional director for Asia and the Pacific from 1988 to 1992. He served on the AFSA Governing Board as FAS vice president from 1989 to 1990.