The Foreign Service Journal, October 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2022 11 one of our volunteers took a single woman who had escaped in only a T-shirt and shorts shopping. We have found preschools and nan- nies for families. We have donated toys, clothing, and kitchen supplies for those stuck in poorly furnished apartments. We have shared Passover Seders and Thanksgiving feasts with families. During the COVID-19-related evacu- ations, we were able to coordinate with the Junior League of Washington, which opened its mega “Tossed and Found Sale” to evacuee families. The sale had been canceled because of the pandemic, but evacuees shopped free in their ware- house. Exercise equipment flew off the shelves. This year the sale was on, and evacuee families were given generous discounts. Before State and the Global Commu- nity Liaison Office went virtual, AAFSW was included in their town halls to get the word out. Now we depend on social media announcements to advertise our services. We are here and ready to help. You can contact us through AAFSW.org. I would also like to applaud AFSA President Eric Rubin for his and AFSA’s stance on women’s reproductive health issues. Treatment by the Bureau of Medical Services (MED) of some employees and family members while stationed abroad has been egregious. Hopefully bringing this into the light will also bring improvement. AAFSW supports the efforts of AFSA and the more than 200 signatories of a letter to MED demanding it change its protocols so that women overseas will have access to the same treatment as they would in the United States, at least in some states. Ann La Porta Chair, AAFSW Evacuee Support Washington, D.C. Remembering Tet In her review of Philip Seib’s Infor- mation at War in the July-August FSJ , Vivian S. Walker refers to “the 1967 Tet Offensive.” In fact, the Tet Offensive took place beginning on Jan. 31, 1968, with an attack by a Vietcong sapper squad on the American embassy in downtown Saigon. I know this because I was the duty officer inside the embassy at the time of the attack. My account of the attack, in the form of a Memorandum for the Record written right after, was published in two parts by The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 3 and 4, 1981. E. Allan Wendt Ambassador, retired Washington, D.C. Abandoning an Objective Examination System I was astonished by indications in the June Foreign Service Journal that the weight of the Foreign Service Exami- nation (FSOT) has been considerably diminished. First, Ambassador Gina Abercrombie- Winstanley stated that the exam has “zero correlation to being a successful diplomat. Zero.” Next, an AFSA News article, “Concerns on New FSOT Process, ” expressed concern that neither AFSA nor other stakeholders were consulted on the “fundamental changes” in the FSO selection process announced by the State Department in April. It appears that an objective and merit-based examination system, one with ancient roots, one credited to the Confucians for ensuring equality for all irrespective of class, color, or point of view, is being abandoned in favor of a selection system designed for racial and gender promotion. If the present exam has no correla- tion to being a successful diplomat, why not, in the interests of preserving equal opportunity, come up with an improved exam that has that correlation? I really don’t care about physical and mental diversities at State. I do care that U.S. taxpayers get a bang for their bucks. That means setting objective perfor- mance standards to maintain a selection process based on merit, not one based on giving advantage to skin color, gender, or sexual orientation(s). Such a selection process does not “level the playing field for everyone,” as the ambassador claims. It does the opposite. I hope the Journal has the interest and courage to examine the revised FSO selection system, due to begin this June. I hope it can explain how the new procedures work (current explanations seem murky), the results they bring, and whether they are based on merit or on some directive aimed at making State employees “look like America.” (Again, I really do not care what they look like.) Richard W. Hoover FSO, retired Front Royal, Virginia Discrimination’s Long History Roy Glover’s article “A Foreign Service Career—Blindness Didn’t Stop Me” (June FSJ ) reminded me of my experience pass- ing the Foreign Service entrance test and the oral assessment in January 1971. As preparation for the oral interview, I obtained a copy of the State Depart- ment’s newly published Macomber Report and focused intently on the part that discussed the problem of qualified officers leaving the Foreign Service early in their careers. Turnover was affecting the esprit de corps and effectiveness of