The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2023 27 For anyone serving abroad, it is important to be vigilant and not to make assumptions about security, no matter where one is stationed. —Ambassador John E. Lange On security, we knew that U.S. Embassy Dar es Salaam had vulnerabilities, including an antiquated building with a 30-foot setback. But it was considered a low-threat post, and we had no advance warning of the devastating attack. Many new, and much more secure, embassies have been built since 1998. But for any- one serving abroad, it is important to be vigilant and not to make assumptions about security, no matter where one is stationed. And one needs to be willing to take on responsibilities that were never anticipated. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing in Dar, Foreign Service personnel and their family members valiantly took on roles they were never expected or trained to do: arranging hospital visits and medical evacuations for those who were badly injured; running the airport operation for the planeloads of people and assistance that arrived; finding hotel rooms for hundreds of temporary duty personnel; giving up their residence so we could establish a temporary embassy; organizing a commemorative ceremony for our colleagues who had died; working with the Tanzanian government to help the FBI pursue its investigation; and much, much more. Finally, I have my own message for deputy chiefs of mission: Do not assume when you serve as chargé d’affaires that you are just a caretaker until the ambassador is present in-country. I was a mid-level officer assigned to be DCM, but I served as chargé in Dar es Salaam frommy arrival in December 1997 until the arrival of the new ambassador in mid-September 1998. I never antici- pated having to lead an embassy following a devastating and deadly bombing, but that leadership role fell upon me—and the American and Tanzanian staff and family members responded heroically. DCMs need to be well trained and well prepared. n