The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2017 15 means there will be no positions for me in Addis Ababa, so I resigned frommy EFM position and accepted a contractor position supporting Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. This will require that my family be geographically separated; I will remain in Djibouti, potentially without diplomatic status, and I will incur additional expenses for separate housing and utilities. During Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ visit to Djibouti, I was the control officer responsible for coordinating and planning with the Office of the Secretary of Defense staff, embassy staff and CLDJ/ CJTF-HOA military staff members. I was also the control officer for the East Africa Security Synchronization Conference, where more than 26 VIPs (ambassadors and military general officers) came together to discuss security issues in the region. I have written numerous cables and reports for Washington that are directly tied to foreign policies concerning the mass migration of refugees into the region and human trafficking, as well as other annual reports mandated by Congress. I find it heartbreaking that I was taken advantage of to accomplish the work of political and economic officers, yet sud- denly I’m no longer good enough. LaTonya S. Hama Djibouti, Djibouti Key positions vacant I have a strong résumé with broad experience in both private and public sectors and an active Top Secret clear- ance. Even though my post could use someone just like me to fill several important but now vacant positions, because of the hiring freeze I have returned to private freelance work instead. I am one of the lucky ones who has a more or less portable career. Our mission, however, has lost the opportunity to hire a qualified EFM to fill a mission-valuable grants coordinator position or to serve as the community liaison officer (CLO) at a bargain rate. With a huge embassy community turnover this summer, the absence of a CLO will surely affect mission morale— and if another evacuation is authorized, like the one a couple of years ago, there will be chaos without a CLO to help coordinate. The high visibility of U.S.-Ukrainian relations means that leaving the grants coordinator position vacant (a position that manages aid programs targeting trafficking, corruption and economic issues) will surely strain the public affairs section. These are only a few examples of how the hiring freeze will negatively impact Mission Ukraine. AmyLyn Reynolds Kyiv, Ukraine No more shining light It is hard enough for a capable and accomplished spouse to put his or her own career ambitions aside to support the other, but the shining light has always been the possibility of working at post. Now that is gone. From a professional perspective, it’s terrifying. EFMs are a vital part of our operations and save us money. We have positions at post that are sitting empty that we can’t fill. I’m not sure how long we will be able to operate like this, either in the professional context or in the personal one. Shoshauna Clark Kolkata, India Mission Japan takes a hit As at other posts, Mission Japan will be hardest hit [by the EFM hiring freeze] in the Consular section. We cannot EFM Hiring Freeze Eligible family member (EFM) employment is a top priority for AFSA. The issue has been raised repeatedly in recent discussions AFSA leadership has had withmembers. Members told us that critical post operations were threat- ened by the State Department’s deci- sion not to backfill positions vacated as a result of the normal Foreign Service rotation cycle. As EFMs are often by far the most cost-effective way to get a job done, the decision baffledmany members. AFSA also knows that the loss of EFM employment is a real hardship for families. In our Structured Conversa- tions, members tell us they love their jobs but worry about the impact of their highly mobile service on spouses, many highly educated and with career aspira- tions of their own. AFSA will continue to press for a resumption of EFMhiring. Please join us inmaking the points that EFMhiring is cost-effective, contributes mightily to critical post operations, and is good for families. —AFSA replace several of our EFM consular asso- ciates and assistants, which means that we will lose valuable support for finger- printing and other administrative tasks. Our Management and RSO sections will also take a hit. We are unable to fill or replace the fol- lowing critical positions: general services travel assistant, human resources assis- tant, housing coordinator, work order clerk, badging clerk, mail and pouch assistant, and CLO (Osaka). The incum- bents are transferring out, and replace- ments cannot be appointed.