The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2020

50 JULY-AUGUST 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL COVID-19 FOCUS ON PANDEMIC DIPLOMACY Dispatches from the field show how the U.S. Foreign Service works for the American people. THE FOREIGNSERVICE Responds to T he novel coronavirus has presented a unique challenge to the U.S. For- eign Service. The virus spread widely before being officially recognized as a global threat and pandemic. As Washington scrambled to develop guidance and manage the response, U.S. embassies around the world had to improvise and come up with appropriate plans of action. Foreign Service personnel posted overseas and in Washington, D.C., worked on an emergency basis to bring stranded American citizens back to the United States safely, while at the same time deal- ing with the need to protect themselves and their families. We reached out to the field to ask how the Foreign Service is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and what impact it is having on individuals, posts and work. Here is a selection of the stories and photos we received. —Shawn Dorman, Editor-in-Chief One Long Day Alan Eaton ■ Chengdu My husband and I heard the call for consular volunteers to assist with evacuating American citizens out of Wuhan. We were already in Chengdu and hopped on a plane to Seoul to meet the evacuation team and plane. In the first and only planning meeting we attended, Dr. William Walters of State’s Office of Operational Medicine said: “It is a privilege to get to do the hard things.” For the next 96 hours, we transited from Seoul to Wuhan and on to Travis Air Force Base, California, and then back to Seoul; to Wuhan again, and on to Vancouver and Miramar Joint Base in San Diego. We crossed the international date line three times in just 30 hours, effectively experiencing the longest Feb. 4 of anyone on the planet. We assisted in repatriating more than 800 people, including 40 Canadians. During the flight, we had to be consular officers, Chinese-language translators, customs negotiators, baggage handlers, flight attendants and medical assistants. On landing in the United States, we entered quarantine for two weeks and were grateful for the time to catch up on sleep. Interestingly, of the 10 consular officers on the Wuhan rescue mission, four were from the 196th A-100 and on first tours as ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/SERGIOLACUEVA