The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

SEPTEMBER 2004 • AFSA NEWS 3 W hich comes first, the assignment or the promotion? The eternal conundrum. Let’s accept as a given that you’re a proven performer. Now, some think it is a given that theplacewhere youperformaffects your chances for promotion. Personally, I am not convinced. There is important and substantive work being done in Buenos Aires and Tokyo. This work is not confined to the Kabuls, Baghdads and other grave- danger-cum-greater-hardship posts. If it were, then Paris, London and Rome would be among our lesser posts, which they manifestly are not. AFSA has spent several weeks visiting all the regional bureaus. We did this because we see unaccompanied posts like Baghdad as needing a hefty annual influx of new tal- ent. Right now, there are 12 posts for which the assignments are for one year, unac- companied. This means more than 400 Foreign Service employees every year must bid on positions at these posts that by their very designation are not salubrious or con- ducive to relaxation, touring or lounging by the sea under anumbrellawith a fruit-gar- nished drink in hand. At several of these posts, for the good Lord’s sake, your living space is half a shipping container with sand bags piled on the roof! And you have to wear a helmet and body armor when you venture out. Having spent a year under these conditions, employeeswill naturally seek a safe post withgood schoolswhere their childrenwill thrive, where there’s a chance to restore fam- ily life, andwhere the pace won’t be so frenetic. My friends, there are not enough such posts to satisfy all of you! Colleagues, the system cannot "reward" you all for hardship service. Here’s why. The 400-plus annuallywho leave the dangerous, difficult andunaccompaniedpostswill not all be sent on to Paris or Tokyo or Bermuda. Of the 254 posts the Foreign Service staffs, 68 percent are designated hardship, and 50 percent (127) have a differential of 15 percent or greater. That leaves only 30 percent of all posts in the category of non- hardship. So, knowing that it will not be possible to reward the onward aspirations of those exiting Kabul et al., AFSA sent the followingmessages to the regional bureaus andHR: “Look favorably at bidders who may be new to your bureau. Do not lock in your favorite bidder early. It’s against the negotiated rules anyway. It will make AFSAmad and it violates transparency that the Service now needs more than ever. AFSA’s word to the wise for management! You will not get the 400-plus bidders you need annual- ly unless there is the expectation their onward bids will be given due consideration.” AFSAwants to see fair share applied with even greater rigor. If you or a dependent has a condition that precludes service at greater hardship posts, search for a hardship posting that MED will bless. One geographic bureau suggested that AFSA abandon our commitment to fair share, arguing it doesn’t begin to fill the need at hardshipposts and is too easily gamed. Our response is that while we agree that the number of fair- share bidders in any one year (200 or so) does not begin to fill the slots at the hardship posts, it does share the sacrifice and it does demonstrate a commitment to worldwide availability. Meanwhile, AFSAwill continue towork toprevent gaming the system. CDA should insist fair-share bidders with limited clearances prove there is no hardship post that can accommodate themor their families. MEDshould try harder tohelp fair-share bidders find onward assignments. ▫ V.P. VOICE: STATE BY LOUISE CRANE Iraq to Paris? Don’t Hold Your Breath AFSA BOARD MEMBER SWORN IN AS AMBASSADOR TO ANGOLA Cynthia Efird Heads to Angola S ecretary of State Colin Powell presidedat the swearing-inceremo- ny for AFSA Governing Board memberCynthiaG. Efird, newly appoint- edU.S. ambassador to Angola, in a joyful gathering in the State Department’s BenjaminFranklinRoomon July20. After giving an overview of Efird’s 27-year ForeignService career as apublicdiploma- cy officer, Sec. Powell expressed his con- fidence that she will rise to the challenges she faces in her assignment in Luanda, including assisting inpreparations for the country’s first democratic elections in2006. Noting that AFSA has benefited from Efird’s service on the Governing Board, Powell commented that it is not the only body tobenefit fromEfird’s contributions. She is also a senior warden on the vestry of St. Paul’s K Street Episcopal Church in Washington. He then administered the oath of office. In her remarks, Efird praised the Secretary for his leadership and thanked her ForeignServicementors andcolleagues for teaching her the true meaning of “public service.” She then discussed the importance of cultivating U.S.-Angolan relations and ensuring that the upcoming elections go smoothly so that the coun- try can fulfill its great potential. She con- cluded by reading, first inPortuguese and then in English, a stirring patriotic poem byAngola’s foundingpresident, Agostinho Neto. Inaddition toCynthia’s FSOhusband, Neil, daughter andother familymembers, the audience included theAngolan chargé d’affaires, many FS colleagues, and a con- tingent from St. Paul’s including the rec- tor, Father Andrew Sloane, who gave the invocation. AFSAwill miss having Cynthia on the boardbutwishesAmbassador Efirdall the best for this new and challenging assign- ment. ▫