The Foreign Service Journal, September 2013

66 SEPTEMBER 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FAS VP VOICE | BY DAVID MERGEN AFSA NEWS Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA FAS VP. Contact: david.mergen@fas.usda.gov or (202) 720-3650 The start of my second term coincides with major changes in FAS. Our new administrator, Phil Karsting, has extensive experience working on Capitol Hill and in agriculture (going back to his upbringing in rural Nebraska) and has gotten off to a good start. However, there are some challenges ahead—principally, restoring employee confidence in the senior leadership. Despite some outstanding individuals, collectively our leadership was ranked 277th A New Term and New Opportunities As a long-time Commercial Service o cer, I have served in Mexico, Spain, France and Senegal. Before going over- seas, I ran the Commercial Service’s Southern Califor- nia U.S. Export Assistance Center and most recently, worked in the Baltimore USEAC and at the National Association of Manufactur- ers. In addition to helping small and medium-sized firms enter foreign markets, I’ve passionately protected U.S. overseas investments and advocated on U.S. com- panies’ behalf. Through our Fighting the Good Fight Gold Key Matching Service, during Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s 2011 trade mission to India, I helped to connect 17 U.S. companies doing international business with reliable partners there. As far as issues go, the International Trade Admin- istration consolidation and the effects that will have on promotions, flow through and the like, are paramount. The shape this “once-every-30 years” reorganization takes is critical to all of us, as it will affect exports, exporters, clients, o cers, careers and the Commercial Service pro- FCS VP VOICE | BY STEVE MORRISON AFSA NEWS Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA FCS VP. Contact: steve.morrison@trade.gov o r (202) 482-9088 foundly for years to come. Also on the radar is AFSA’s continuing focus on Overseas Comparability Pay. In terms of salary, OCP is designed to place all federal employees posted abroad on an equal footing as those serving in Washington, D.C. You have my assurance that I will continue to advocate for this important “level-the-playing- field” initiative. Finally, it should come as no surprise that we live in an era of sequestration. The forced downward trajectory of an agency’s overall budget is now the law of the land. By the time you read this, round two of sequestration may well be coursing its way through. As your VP (and previously as your Rep), I have been working hard to mitigate sequestration’s worst effects. I will continue to do everything I can to help reverse this trend and advo- cate for increased budgets (including full funding of National Export Initiative) for the Commercial Service. I hope you will join me in this effort by writing to your Congressperson early and often. n out of 290 agencies in the 2012 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government . Further down the road, it looks likely that Congress will create a new undersec- retary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs within the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture (assuming a Farm Bill is approved this year). This will likely involve some reorgani- zation of trade activities at the USDA, possibly result- ing in a new FAS structure. Should this happen, AFSA will need to track and provide input for it as it develops.  With respect to specific goals for the next two years, most important is the need to develop greater transpar- ency and predictability in the promotion process in order to enable clear career goals for FAS FSOs. This means revising and updating the promotion precepts in the AFSA contract and examining the process for deciding how many o cers we need to pro- mote each year to maintain a strong and vibrant Foreign Service. We need to resist the urge to use the up-or-out person- nel system as a way to cut agency costs. The focus should be on the original intent in the Foreign Service Act of 1980 that promotions be managed in a manner to ensure a “regular, predictable flow of talent upward through the ranks and into the Senior Foreign Service.” Doing other- wise is a disservice to both the employees of FAS and the agricultural sector we represent overseas. n