The Foreign Service Journal, September 2003

Informational Management Center, RIMC Cairo, where I am based, covers 125 missions throughout Europe, North and West Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East — about half of all overseas posts. Even our smallest consulates get periodic visits by someone in our office, enabling us to support them all effectively. We usually travel alone and so rely on the local staff for support. In some areas, this can be a faith-stretch- ing experience because hardware stores are few and far between. But it does provide us with an unusual look at the world of the Foreign Service. We get to see some of the internal politics and the quality of ser- vice a post receives (or doesn’t) from its various sec- tions. So if you ever want to know what a post is real- ly like, ask the RIMC technicians. Depending on where I’m going, I get to experience temperatures ranging from minus 30 to 120 degrees F in quick succession. That makes packing for a trip tough, but I do enjoy the changes of scenery. I also like the fact that every day I do different things in dif- ferent places: conduct a maintenance visit, plan a new engineering project, or provide communications sup- port for a trip by the Secretary of State or other VIPs to somewhere in our region. When I go to a post, I not only install, repair, or do preventive maintenance on communications equip- ment, but sometimes I also counsel people. Even in large embassies, most of my colleagues work long hours in a small box with no windows and heavy doors. (I can relate to that because I work in a basement office.) For communicators at a small post there is also a very real sense of isolation — even, at times, a loneliness that can creep into one’s thoughts. So they really appreciate having a colleague from the outside to talk to, whether to get advice on what assignments to bid on or how to deal with a supervisor, or just to vent their frustration. These per- sonal relationships are very important in the work I do and they can contribute to better operations at the posts I visit. I feel honored to listen to my colleagues’ concerns and either address them or suggest other people to consult. What do I dislike about my job? Paradoxically, travel is also the hardest thing about my job, because I have to leave my family behind — sometimes for weeks at a time. I also get concerned when I go to a high-threat post and my wife reminds me to watch my back because our insurance doesn’t cover terrorist actions or riots, civil unrest, etc. We do have a tough work environment at times, and with the current situ- ation in the Middle East, that weighs heavy on the minds of families. I think back to the stories during World War II when the soldiers used to see the sign, “Kilroy was here.” Perhaps Kilroy was a member of the Foreign Service? Often I have to work well over the standard eight- hour day while traveling, and because of the Fair Labor Standards Act exemption — thank you very much — even authorized overtime is compensated at less than my base salary. Compensatory time is, of course, easier to claim, but it is often hard to use, given our tight schedules. (Besides, our family mem- bers work or are in school during that time, anyway.) Sometimes I spend 18 to 30 hours of travel time in order to catch the one flight into (or out of) a country for the week. Even the more regular flights still sometimes require leaving on a weekend in the mid- F O C U S 44 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 Brian Coen is an Information Management Technical Specialist–Radio. He currently works in the Regional Informational Management Center in Cairo. Even though what specialists do is central to the very functioning of any overseas mission, we are generally noticed only when there is a problem.