The Foreign Service Journal, September 2005

responsibilities, including 480 special agents assigned to diplo- matic missions in 157 countries. Charged with providing a safe and secure environment for the con- duct of U.S. foreign policy, DS is the most widely represented U.S. law enforcement entity in the world. Recent congressional testimo- ny noted the extensive range of post-9/11 activity (and successes) including protecting U.S. athletes at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (and coordinating security for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin); defending the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in December 2004, which prevented terrorists from penetrating the consulate building despite casualties among the pro- tecting force; creating and implementing the security framework permitting Embassy Baghdad to open; and reducing the average time for completing security clearances from 195 to 95 days. DS has been led since June 22, 2005, by Richard Griffin, who followed a 26-year career in the U.S. Secret Service (ending as its deputy director) with eight years as the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs. His assignment continues the pattern of selecting outside specialists for the position, such as Francis Taylor, an Air Force one-star general who served from November 2002 until March 2005 (although he also served as State’s coordinator for counterterrorism from 2001 to 2002), and David Carpenter, a 26-year veteran of the Secret Service, who served as DS assistant secretary from August 1998 until June 2002. The bureau currently is staffed at a combined total of 34,000 U.S. personnel and foreign hires, making it one of the largest in the State Department, second only to Consular Affairs. That total includes 514 Regional Security Officers, 89 couriers, 114 Security Engineering Officers, 69 Security Technical Specialists, 68 U.S. Navy Seabees, 28,000 local national guards and surveillance detection personnel, and 139 Marine Security Guard detachments (to secure U.S. overseas diplomatic facilities and personnel). In addition to the responsibilities noted above, Diplomatic Security agents protect the Secretary of State, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. (and the United Nations sec- retary-general when he travels out- side New York in the U.S.) and vis- iting foreign dignitaries. Overseas, in addition to safeguarding U.S. officials, they protect Afghan Presi- dent Hamid Karzai, members of the Iraqi Governing Council, the president of Haiti and other digni- taries as required. DS is also responsible for ensuring the safety and security of foreign missions in the U.S. and their personnel. And through its Office of Foreign Missions, the bureau manages reciprocity and immunity issues for foreign diplomats and provides services in matters of motor vehicles, tax, customs, property, travel and other issues. DS also investigates passport and visa fraud (5,000 violations annually); delivers more than 10 tons of material each day around the world via diplomatic pouch; and works with other U.S. agencies (from the obvious ones, such as the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, to others, like the National Security Council, U.S. Marshals Service, local U.S. law enforcement officials and foreign national police). DS trains foreign civilian law enforcement offi- cers through its Antiterrorism Assistance Program, which in FY 2004 presented 209 courses and trained 4,900 for- eign police and security officers from 67 countries. ATA- trained units in Indonesia and Pakistan have scored major successes against terrorists in recent years. The bureau also administers the Rewards for Justice program established by the Congress in 1984. Under the program the Secretary of State may offer rewards up to $5 million — a cap lifted by the Patriot Act of 2001 — for information that can prevent or resolve the aftermath of a terrorist attack on U.S. persons or property (see http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/). A nd DS also cooper- ates with the U.S. private sector on security and coun- terterrorism issues through the Overseas Security Advisory Council, co-chaired by the director of Diplomatic Security and a representative of the private sector. The council provides security advice and facili- tates the exchange of information among members of more than 100 country councils worldwide (see http://www.ds-osac.org/). F O C U S S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 While personnel numbers do not define policy, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security has become increasingly prominent over the past generation.