The Foreign Service Journal, September 2003

director general of the FS tells the Journal , many specialists have taken the Foreign Service exam “and are now serving as successful Foreign Service officers at all grade levels and in all cones.” Promotion possibilities for special- ists vary a great deal from one special- ization to the next. Office Manage- ment Specialists usually enter at grade FP-6, while Financial Management Officers enter at FP-3. Twelve of the 20 specialist groups have the possibility of promotion to the Senior Foreign Service. A number of the specialists who spoke with or wrote to the Foreign Service Journal for this article identified themselves as members of the Administrative and Technical (commonly known as “A&T”) staff within the Foreign Service. Similarly, an Office Management Specialist wrote the Journal to say that “the department refuses to delink the FS office managers from the Civil Service clerical field, which is the excuse they give us on why we cannot move up the promotion ladder.” But career development officers at State assure us that no such categories exist — an indication of how the spe- cialists’ view from the field often differs radically from the department’s official perspective. Proud to Serve While FS specialists have plenty of gripes, many also feel very pleased with aspects of the job. In particular, several cite the opportunity to serve their country. Many specialists also love living in other countries. Others mentioned the extensive benefits of the Foreign Service: no housing costs when overseas; college loans repaid; generous leave (including home leave); and, of course, a good retirement system. Lisa Harshbarger, a Regional English Language Officer in Tashkent, says, “Overall, this position is ideally suited to my background.” (She’s taught abroad for years.) “I’m having a great time, and look forward to working all over the world in this type of job.” Other specialists write that their work can be very meaningful to them at times. David McCrane, a first- tour IMS based in Ho Chi Minh City, recently helped a team discover the remains of two U.S. airmen shot down during the Vietnam War. “It’s hard to imagine that after all these years, a soldier will finally make it home and a family will have closure. It was a great experience,” he tells the Journal . Specialists also seem to have most- ly — but not entirely — positive reac- tions to the changes Secretary Powell has brought to the department. Says Nanette Krieger, a 28-year veteran with DS, “He’s gotten us resources, upgraded the technology. It needed to be done.” But some specialists noted that under Powell many military veterans have joined the service — and those are people who are used to following orders, not asking questions. One FMO, whose job includes asking pointed questions about money matters, fears that the influx of ex-military employees may lead to a more com- pliant service. Whether they are specialists or generalists, Foreign Service employees share a number of burdens and wor- ries. One specialist writes that he spends too much time away from his family, and that the insecure international environment “weighs heavy on the minds of families.” The hours can be very long, and specialists report that their supervisors discourage them from filing for over- time pay, even when they are legally entitled to it. (This sometimes applies to generalists and FSNs as well.) “I don’t even want to waste my time figuring out how much time I’m giving away,” writes one specialist. In addition, the bureaucratic nature of State gets some specialists down. “The State Department is bureaucrat- ic, hierarchical and compartmentalized,” one FMO tells the Journal . “In the private sector, there’s a fusion between accounting and IT. But State forces a division. It needs to start thinking in 21st-century terms.” R-E-S-P-E-C-T The complaint specialists voice most prominently and emphatically is a pervasive lack of respect — both from individual FSOs and from the department as an organi- zation. The phrase “second-class citizen” crops up time and again. While specialists were glad to acknowledge that some FSOs do relate to specialists as equals, many more felt that such treatment was the exception. One IMS tells of joining State after serving as a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. There, he says, “I was proud of the title ‘communicator,’ which the mili- F O C U S S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 23 Specialists are in most cases subject to the same practices that govern Foreign Service officers.