The Foreign Service Journal, September 2007

C oncluding several months of nego- tiation, AFSA and the director gen- eral reached a compromise agree- ment inJuneon the latest changesproposed for the Foreign Service assignment system at State. AFSA urges members to review these adjustments to the assignments rules in the context of this extremelydifficult peri- od in which the Foreign Service has hun- dreds of positions to fill in two war zones and at other unaccompanied, danger-pay posts. Some tightening of the assignment rules is inevitable as AFSA tries topreserve the voluntarynature of the bidding system. The two proposals from the DG were aimed at further reorienting the Foreign Service toward hardship postings and helping ease the staffing crisis at the most hard-to-fill unaccompanied posts. They were: 1) To replace the current six-year limit onconsecutivedomestic servicewitha five- T here was standing roomonly in the StateDepartment’sBenjaminFrank- linDiplomatic ReceptionRoomon June 28 when AFSA President Anthony Holmeswelcomed thedistinguishedguests, awardwinners andawardpresenters to the 40th annual AFSA Awards Ceremony. Winners of theAFSAConstructiveDissent Awards, outstanding performance awards and the Lifetime Contributions toAmeri- canDiplomacyAwardwere all honored at the ceremony. Amb. Holmes thanked the State Department, and particularly the director general, for co-sponsoring the event with O n July 16, the official AFSA gavel waspassed fromoutgoingPresident J. Anthony Holmes to the incom- ingpresident, JohnNaland, as anewAFSA GoverningBoardbegan its 2007-2009 term. Amb. Holmes gave a gracious speech highlighting the atypical nature of the past twoyears forAFSAand theForeignService. The State Department created the biggest embassy in the world, in a war zone. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced her Transformational Diplo- macy initiative alongwith the global repo- sitioning of hundreds of Foreign Service jobs. During the outgoing board’s tenure, management overhauled the assignment rules, and AFSA negotiated on behalf of Foreign Service members to try to ensure fairness in the system. Holmes alsoassured thenewboard that itwas inheritingawell-runorganizationthat is in strong financial health. He said it had American Foreign Service Association • September 2007 2007 AFSA AWARDS CEREMONY Honoring Dissent and Performance in the Foreign Service BY SHAWN DORMAN This Issue in Brief: BRIEFS: PASSPORT VOLUNTEERS.....64 VP STATE: MEA CULPA.......................65 AFSA AWARD WINNERS....................66 DISSENT AWARD WINNERS..............67 PERFORMANCE AWARD WINNERS ..69 VP FCS: MOU SIGNED........................72 YOUTH AWARDS................................74 PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT.................76 AFSA NEWS EYE ON ASSIGNMENTS Fair Share Compromise Continued on page 71 Continued on page 66 Continued on page 72 MIKKELA THOMPSON Amb. Tony Holmes, Secretary Larry Eagleburger and AFSA Governing Board member Andrew Young at the AFSA Awards Ceremony. SHAWN DORMAN Outgoing AFSA President Tony Holmes hands off the gavel to the incoming president, JohnNaland. S E P T EMB E R 2 0 0 7 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 63 NEW AFSA GOVERNING BOARD TAKES OFFICE Changing of the Guard