The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

at senior levels. This factor makes doubly unfortu- nate the trend over the past two decades for the size of the Senior Foreign Service and the FS-1 cohort of promotable officers to decline, thus decimating State’s ability to fill politi- cal adviser and other civilian positions in the defense establishment. As such positions are expanded, there should also be an expansion of the Senior Foreign Service ranks. Together with these elements favoring success in working within the military system, Foreign Service offi- cers assigned to military organizations must understand that they are valued by their principals for their “reach back” into U.S. embassies, the State Department and other agencies with- in the national security policy com- munity. They must be able to com- municate rapidly and effectively with ambassadors and embassies overseas, network with foreign diplomatic and multilateral organization representa- tives, and provide succinct and easily assimilable briefs on current events, underlying trends and policy issues. To do these things successfully requires experience, a factor not always appreciated in the world of Foreign Service assignments. Likewise, it is important for politi- cal advisers to work skillfully within the military staff system, particularly to earn the confidence of the policy and planning staff (J5) and, as appro- priate, the intelligence and operations directorates (J2/J3), as well as the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. Advice to aspiring POLADs: A good commander will expect no less than superlative performance in all of these areas, so act early in your tenure to demonstrate your value-added. Training POLADs deserve proper training before assignment to military com- mands. Ideally, those working at the most senior commands should, like the commanders they are advising, be graduates of the National Defense University or the service war colleges. Lower-ranking Foreign Service per- sonnel assigned to operational or tac- tical commands should have the ben- efit of courses at the Joint Forces Staff College or similar institutions. POLAD training should also fur- nish opportunities to sharpen region- al or country knowledge, update lan- guage fluency and gain full apprecia- tion of the mission of the military command and U.S. goals, objectives and programs involved. Advice to POLADs: The U.S. mili- tary is the most highly trained in the world and expects key players to be properly prepared and ready to con- tribute significantly to the overall effort from beginning to end of assign- ment. As part of your preparation, learn about the values, tradition and culture of the military institutions and colleagues you will be advising. Institutional Loyalty One complex and potentially sen- sitive issue is the question of alle- giance. Some would argue that POLADs and State exchange officers retain an obligation to report to department offices and bureaus, especially as they are increasingly assigned lower in the chain of com- mand and perhaps have less political- military experience. On the other hand, the essence of a political advis- er’s effectiveness is his or her ability to function as a “personal and confiden- tial” adviser to the commander. An insistence on formal reporting back to State is highly unwise and detracts from the necessary relationship of personal trust and confidence. Together with the ability to pro- vide confidential advice goes loyalty. This nexus can be broken if a Foreign Service officer, who is already suspect because of his or her civilian status, is seen to be reporting in any formal sense to State or other agencies in Washington. While we would not argue that no contact with home base be allowed, such relationships should be transparent to one’s commander and must be handled tactfully so as not to violate confidences. The fact that the commander writes a political adviser’s perfor- mance evaluation (supported by a reviewing statement from a senior officer in the State Department or an embassy) testifies to the need for a strong, mutually respectful relation- ship, a factor that should be recog- nized and rewarded in State’s perfor- mance evaluation system. Advice to POLADs: A strong per- formance evaluation by a general offi- cer will be noticed by Foreign Service performance boards, whether for pur- poses of promotion or performance pay. So work closely with your com- mander and immediate staff on this crucial annual obligation. The United States national securi- ty system, in the face of insistent calls for fundamental reform and the demands of a new international secu- rity environment, is evolving toward a more integrative or “blended” ap- 18 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8 F S K N O W - H O W u The growing importance of civilian- military cooperation in the post-9/11 era has boosted DOD’s demand for the unique skills FSOs possess.