The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 7 Ending Discrimination The June 2004 issue of the Foreign Service Journal appropriately outlines the many difficulties still faced by Members of Household residing at our diplomatic posts. While we await fur- ther legal changes to better accommo- date such family members, persistent post leadership can overcome barriers that would block full assimilation of an MOH into the foreign community. In Montevideo, host-country prac- tices prevented a newly-arrived MOH from obtaining diplomatic residency status. This meant that the MOH had to periodically leave the country in order to renew her stay in Uruguay. Furthermore, she did not qualify for a diplomatic dependent ID card and the status that recognition confers. Determined to end such discrimi- nation, the ambassador raised this issue directly and candidly with the acting foreign minister. The ambas- sador followed up his appeal with the president’s chief of protocol, who immediately agreed to treat the MOH the same way as any other mission dependent. As a result, the MOH received her visa and now enjoys equal status with other eligible family mem- bers at post. This kind of direct intervention at the highest level ought not to be nec- essary. But when the situation calls for it, determined action on behalf of our MOH community can and will pro- duce results. David J. Savastuk Management Officer Embassy Montevideo Free Housing Matters I read with great interest the special report about new hires ( FSJ , June), especially since I’m currently number 17 on the management list of eligible hires and hope to get called for an A- 100 class soon. Spousal employment is mentioned quite a bit in the article. I would think that couples make the decision to join the State Department jointly, know- ing that there will be sacrifices to go along with the whole “living abroad, new cultures, new experiences” thing. It seems that families with major spousal employment issues might have made the wrong decision to join in the first place. The part that I found most interest- ing about the special feature was the discussion about theWashington, D.C., locality-pay issue. There is a related issue not mentioned in the article, the fact that people assigned to D.C. do not get a housing allowance. I’m a DOD civilian in Okinawa right now, and I did indeed make more base salary when I was a DOD civilian assigned to Los Angeles Air Force Base. However, in terms of total compensation, I’m mak- ing practically twice what I made in L.A., because my rent and utilities here in Japan are picked up by Uncle Sam. I’d rather have free housing than 17- percent locality pay. My rent is equal to an almost 100-percent locality pay. When you consider being overseas with no housing costs, plus hardship bonus- es, aren’t you doing much better in terms of compensation than you would in D.C.? Thanks for the great article. I look forward to starting my career with the Foreign Service soon. Tim Dougherty Okinawa, Japan Accentuate the Positive Frankly, I was disappointed over the concerns expressed by the new mem- bers of the Foreign Service in the June FSJ . Ever the optimist, I had assumed that there would be a new, enhanced spirit of service radiating from the cur- rent international situation — i.e., the war on terrorism — or that a bold, dynamic focus in our diplomatic history was emerging as our country’s “best and brightest” — better educated, more culturally aware, more sensitive than we were — entered the field. Sadly, the article instead offered a recitation of past problems that have obtained folkloric status: family employment at the mission, lack of lan- guage training, better employment available outside the Foreign Service, lack of respect for junior officers, dis- crimination against single officers. Could someone in the vast reader- ship of the FSJ please informme of any international company, American or foreign, that grants family employment opportunities to its overseas employ- ees? Could any reader name a mission that does not offer at-post language training? As for better employment opportu- nities outside the U.S., professional placement agencies will confirm that Wall Street positions are scarce. Any experienced placement counselor will also note few entry-level positions offer half the benefits received in govern- ment service. Discrimination against single offi- cers? Quite the contrary: as a single officer, you are more assignable over- seas in a wide variety of positions. And as a bachelor for more than half my Foreign Service career, I met a L ETTERS