The Foreign Service Journal, September 2003

20 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 3 s some of you know, I was a Foreign Service officer from 1985 to 1997. A callow youth fresh out of graduate school, I was never overly concerned with status. From my first post (Mexico City) on, I tried to treat all my colleagues, whatever their rank, cone or specialization, as professionals worthy of respect and courtesy. But I also have to admit that during my 12-year FS career, I never learned much about what Foreign Service specialists actually do, or even gave them much thought — except when I needed assistance, of course. And once my voucher had been processed, my cable had gone out, or my computer was fixed, I quickly returned to my com- fortable cocoon of ignorance. Reading the responses of specialists to our call for con- tributions to this issue leads me to conclude that I was far from unique in that regard. Indeed, it seems that many FSOs today could offer similar “true confessions” about their own relations with specialists (or FSNs or Civil Service employees, for that matter). So perhaps it should not come as a surprise that, to the best of my knowledge, the Foreign Service Journal has never before devoted an entire issue to consideration of the wide-ranging professional and personal issues that affect Foreign Service specialists. In fact, when I went through the past decade’s worth of the Journal looking for articles and columns by, or about, specialists as part of our research for this issue, I was dismayed by how little I found. It is our hope, therefore, that this month’s FSJ will shed light on the world of FS specialists and facilitate an ongoing dialogue with generalists, both within these pages and throughout the Foreign Service itself. Bob Guldin (my predecessor as Journal editor) leads off our coverage with an overview of the main personal and professional issues FS specialists face, beginning on the facing page. We follow that with a set of articles high- lighting some of the less well-known FS specializations. William Ancker tells us how Regional English Language Officers are “Public Diplomacy’s Secret Weapon” (p. 28), and Diplomatic Courier Barbara Jacquin gives us an insider’s account of what it takes to keep those all-impor- tant pouches moving (“That’s Classified!” p. 31). Then Shawn Dorman, our AFSA News editor, profiles Regional Medical Officer Dr. Brooks Taylor (p. 32). Craig Cloud offers us “A Security Engineering Officer’s Point of View” (p. 34), and veterinarian Karen Sliter recalls how she and her colleagues in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (the Department of Agriculture’s quarantine agency) responded to an out- break of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain two years ago (p. 36). Next, we feature three articles contributed by Office Management Specialists. Linda O’Brien shows us “Office Management Specialists: On the Move” (p. 38); Llywelyn C. Graeme details “The Evolution of the OMS Function” (p. 40); and Linda Ingalls shares her enthusi- asm for Foreign Service life (“Give Me Technicolor … Any Day!” p. 42). We then turn to a set of articles focusing on some of the many facets of Information Management work. Brian Coen leads off with thoughts on “The Life of Foreign Service Specialists” (p. 43), which Brian Chamberlain describes as “Separate and Unequal” (p. 46). Ruth Mara, Cynthia Borys and Marge Melun tell us what Information Resource Officers do (p. 47). William Potter urges his fel- low Information Management Specialists overseas to “Stand Up and Be Counted” (p. 49), and Joe Cole recounts an on-the-job adventure, “Assisting Anti- Poaching Efforts in Chad” (p. 53). Last, but certainly not least, we are pleased to present a roundup of vignettes and short commentaries (p. 55) contributed in response to our appeal for insights into the life of Foreign Service specialists. These run the gamut from positive and not-so-positive memories to lessons learned (and not) and proposals for change. In fact, we received so many responses that we will run more next month. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor F O C U S O N F S S P E C I A L I S T S F OREIGN S ERVICE S PECIALISTS : E DITOR ’ S I NTRODUCTION A