The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

12 SEPTEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL first post. So, in a way—you succeeded. If that does not lighten your heart, remember you are working for an orga- nization that pays well, has not eroded all of the benefits and consistently ranks in the top five places to work in the gov- ernment. See? Good news! However, if you feel as many of those I have spoken to do, that a promotion is the true mark of success—either we have failed miserably, or the department is trying to tell us that they do not need our experience, our esprit de corps or our successes. There is a new breed on board and the Oldersauruses (that’s us) are extinct, even though we are still walking around for a little while longer. Richard E. McCormick FSS, Operations Officer Regional Information Management Center Bangkok The Epitome of Professions In his significant Speaking Out col- umn in the July-August FSJ , “America Needs a Professional Foreign Service,” Ambassador Charles Ray questioned the professionalism of the Foreign Service. On the basis of criteria offered by Professor Dan Snider of the Army War College, Amb. Ray concluded that the Foreign Service was not fully a profes- sion, at least not yet. I, on the other hand, consider it the epitome of professions, the standard by which other profes- sionalisms should be judged. Practically speaking, I have no choice. I was formed by the Foreign Service; apart from a stint in the Army during World War II, I had no previous institu- tional formation. Foreign Service disciplines are the ones I bring to my present profession: theology. Further, if the Service is not fully a profession, the links between it and theology discerned in my book Theology and the Disciplines of the Foreign Service (reviewed in the April FSJ ) would not work. In making these links apparent, the book gives an account of the Foreign Service, highlighting the following key features. The Foreign Service was forged by its history, above all its post-World War II history. In his historical survey, Ray recognizes a difference before and after the war. But in my view he does not allow suf- ficiently for the transformation that the nation, and with it the Foreign Service, underwent in those few years. From a secondary player in the world it went to being one of two superpowers, locked, moreover, in a struggle for survival with each other. The resulting pressures on the Foreign Service were tremendous. They may be seen as the main source of its strict hierarchism; its insistence on total commitment by its members; its stress on teamwork, not solo performance; its insistence on both cogency and exactitude in reporting; and its tradition of accomplishing assignments no matter how difficult and of meeting deadlines no matter how tight. These features are per- haps most evident in its performance in pre-1975 Vietnam. And they have implica- tions for training, one of Amb. Ray’s concerns. Certainly more training is desirable. But for officers to become fully profes- sional, years of service under supervisors already formed are required, Take AFSA With You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington DC 20037 Moving?