The Foreign Service Journal, October 2015

34 OCTOBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL F ormer military personnel make up about 20 percent of the State Department Foreign Service, according to the department’s Bureau of Human Resources. State currently employs more than 7,100 veterans both as contractors and as federal employees, about 3,200 of them as members of the Foreign Service. The Veterans@state employee affinity group repre- sents this large and diverse unit.With 573 members, the group serves as a link among military veterans at the department, as well as between veterans and State’s diversity management program, human resources staff and senior management. Veterans@State strives to promote the full and equal participation of veterans in internal networking, career development and community service. The group assists in veteran retention, recruitment, morale, skill develop- ment and training initiatives. In addition to advocating for the rights of military veterans, the group helps to spread awareness of the qualities and contributions veterans bring to work at the State Department. The group is active in a number of areas, including: • Offering guest speaker series. • Supporting theWoundedWarrior Program, the Cen- ter for Women Veterans and the Veterans Employ- ment Initiative. • Facilitating community service (e.g., Homeless Vet- erans Initiative, Operation Stand Down,WWII Honor Flight, VietnamVeterans Memorial). • Hosting an electronic forum for networking and infor- mation exchange. VETERANS@STATE • Sponsoring the Department of State “Day Room” at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. • Partnering with the interagency community on vet- eran activities. To ensure the long-term success of veterans employed at the State Department, Veterans@State focuses on: • Establishing a vibrant and active community of cur- rent and former military veterans and supporters of veterans at State. • Providing guidance and support to members on opportunities for training, rotations and career devel- opment by way of panels, forums, etc. • Establishing a sponsorship program for newmilitary veterans. • Connecting military veterans with other State employees for mentoring. • Informing supervisors and employees about the pro- gram and opportunities. • Promoting outreach with senior officials in the depart- ment. • Encouraging timely advancement. • Educating the department workforce on the contribu- tions veterans bring to the workforce. • Advocating for increased veteran employment. • Collaborating with the Department of State Employee Assistance Program to improve veterans’ retention and positive work experience. For more information, email Veterans@state.gov. —Brittany DeLong, Assistant Editor ments, especially to combat areas, can continue working toward a degree, even as their family members back home have similar opportunities and assistance. Post education offices assist depen- dents with enrollment in off-campus programs at an array of edu- cational institutions; college counseling programs are available for teens; and guidance counselors are available for service members and their families. The message was very clear to me more than 30 years ago and still resonates today: Education should be pursued continually by everyone in the military community, and learning should always be valued as a means to broaden perspectives, increase knowl- edge, and strengthen and update existing talents. Interagency Experience I alluded earlier to the benefit of military training as a valuable means of early exposure to interagency decision-making. Working with personnel from different military services gave me impor- tant insights into how to write effective memos, negotiate and,