The Foreign Service Journal, October 2009

46 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 9 The Big Question With all this in mind, how can State keep PD officers committed to their cone and make sure they get the experience and training they need? One thing we can do is make Washington-based public diplo- macy assignments more attractive and career-enhancing by connect- ing them to the policy process. To- ward that end, here are some ideas: • Fill more office director and senior human resources positions with public diplomacy officers, so that we are present at the policy table — and so someone keeps us in mind during the assignment process. • Convert the PD office director positions into deputy assistant secretary positions. • Make sure that PD officers are proportionally rep- resented in deputy chief of mis- sion, chief of mission and deputy assistant secretary positions, as a way of encouraging PD officers to bid on such jobs. • Give R more control over PD assignments, much as CA controls consular positions. • Acknowledge that PD officers don’t easily fit in the political/eco- nomic box and develop a more flexible and creative way of making assignments. While for public diplomacy it’s important to go the last three feet, for career advancement the department must go the first three feet by providing the training and career path that will keep PD officers motivated. The big ques- tion that PD officers should be discussing with their State Department colleagues is this: How can we develop a sys- tem where we do both effectively? ■ F O C U S We should make Washington-based PD assignments more attractive and career-enhancing by connecting them to the policy process.