The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 prospects for their career development and advancement. Military-civilian communication and planning have im- proved, with more joint schooling and operations and more cooperation in program management. Unnecessary walls between organizations have broken down to an appreciable degree. The Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense interact collegially, even ap- pearing together before Congress, and there is less knee- jerk negativity by each service toward the other. Let’s hope these trends continue and recent lessons have truly been learned, not actively forgotten as after the Vietnam War. There has also been a growing recognition by defense personnel of the authority and responsibility of chiefs of mission and of the expertise that State and USAID civilians can bring to the pursuit of our national interests (the Don- ald Rumsfeld era was a low point in this regard). Still, things are not perfect by any means. Some of our military colleagues still do not fully appreciate that their operations overseas are largely short-term, or that diplomats and development officers will be dealing with a given foreign environment long after they and their re- sources have essentially moved on. Moreover, Congress is still divided into too many competing principalities and does not recognize that State and USAID are part of the U.S. national security apparatus. Finally, stark differences in resource allocations persist between the Department of Defense and civilian foreign affairs agencies. As a result, there are still not enough For- eign Service personnel to act and to train for the tasks at hand — and those still over the horizon. Mort Dworken FSO, retired Falls Church, Va. I’ve Never Looked Back In September 2001, I was anticipating my new career in the Foreign Service and, as president of the Friends of Burkina Faso, preparing for our role in the annual meet- C OVER S TORY