The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

Jack Service, as did all of the ‘China crowd’ — had his own run-in with McCarthy, but was “saved” by the intervention of Rep. Walter Judd, R- Minn. R.T. (Ted) Curran FSO, retired Frankfort, Mich. Foreign Service 2010 I enjoyed reading John Naland’s June President’s View column, “The Foreign Service Act of 2010,” as well as Shawn Dorman’s article, “Who Is the ‘Total Candidate’? FSO Hiring Today.” We may get a revamp of the Foreign Service Act in 2010, but probably not along the lines suggested by Mr. Naland. His suggestions make too much sense. More area and lan- guage training are the keys to making a good Foreign Service officer who can give the department the type of onsite analysis needed to make good foreign policy decisions, which the Secretary can then convey to the pres- ident for his approval. We all know the problems resulting from foreign officials telling us what they think we want to hear and the concomitant problems of the inexperienced FSO passing it along as “gospel.” Concerning the establishment of a training complement to enable more area and language training, I fear that the first time there is a budgetary problem it would be eliminated — assuming we could ever convince Congress to create it in the first place. Regrettably, the idea of a 10-per- cent limit on the appointment of non- career ambassadors is a non-starter. The Constitution gives the president full power to name ambassadors, and I cannot imagine any president allow- ing that power to be limited. Concerning the FS exam, I believe the department is placing too much emphasis on minority and gender hir- ing. Given the small number of can- didates who pass the orals and are offered employment, I believe we should take the best candidates regardless of race and gender. I am reminded of the statement former Secretary of State Colin Powell made about his career — he preferred to think he rose to his high rank through merit and ability rather than through an affirmative action program. Robert A. Bishton FSO, retired Albany, Ga. We’ve Got Guys As a 1998 graduate of Presbyterian College who worked as an admissions counselor for my alma mater for two years before joining the Foreign Service, I was pleased to see your June 2008 sidebar on the Washington Monthly ranking of schools that placed PC (as alums call it) atop its list of liberal arts universities. However, I did raise an eyebrow when I saw it described as a women’s college. Undoubtedly, the 48 percent of male Blue Hose (our mascot) current- ly enrolled at PC would be similarly surprised. More information about this excellent institute of higher educa- tion, including articles where its presi- dent, John Griffith, downplays the methodology used in such rankings, can be found at www.presby.edu. Matthew Miller FSO Embassy Yaoundé Remembering Barbara Johnson Thank you for the thoughtful obitu- ary for Barbara Johnson (July-August FSJ ), which sparked fond memories for us. We started out with Barbara, in Bangkok in 1963, and knew her as a beloved colleague and friend through- out our careers and in retirement. Barbara’s capacity for deep and lasting friendships was indeed re- markable. At the memorial brunch for her on March 30 at Ft. Myer in Arlington, Va., more than 40 people, friends from all walks of her life, shared warm and humorous tales of their relationships with her. One could not possibly include all of these in an obituary. But there is one tale that we feel needs to be told to make her memory complete: it is a true love story. Kjeld Hansen and Barbara met and fell in love some 45 years ago in Bangkok. Their friendship lasted for some time, but as their careers di- verged they eventually drifted apart. Five years ago, Kjeld was in the D.C. area visiting friends and phoned Barbara, not knowing whether she would even see him. They agreed to meet at the Dupont Circle Metro. He waited and waited there, think- ing she had changed her mind. At last, he asked someone if there was another entrance to the Metro. As it happened, Barbara had been standing at the other entrance, thinking that he had, perhaps, changed his mind. They both started walking to the other entrance and met in the middle. It was as if they had never been apart! They renewed their friendship, Barbara visiting Denmark and Kjeld spending time in Washington. They spoke almost every day when separat- ed, and he traveled from Copenhagen to be by her side as often as possible during her illness. Kjeld and Barbara related this story to us, and Kjeld repeated it at the memorial gathering. He asked that it be included here for Barbara’s many loving friends to read. n Joyce Blackmon FSO, retired Mineola, Texas Kay Youngflesh Former FSR Alexandria, Va. 8 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 L E T T E R S u