The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

2 AFSA NEWS • NOVEMBER 2004 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS AFSA Welcomes New Grievance Attorney AFSA grievance attorney Charlie Henderson has left to pursue law in private practice. Charlie was a great asset to AFSA and our clients. He will be missed. We would like to welcome Joe Slotnick to the staff as a grievance attorney. While studying at George Washington University Law School, Joe worked as a law clerk with AFSA, so he knows what he’s getting into! Joe moved to D.C. in 1999 after graduating fromVassar College. He is originally fromCohasset, Mass., a small suburb south of Boston. Briefs • Continued on page 4 Staff: Executive Director Susan Reardon: reardon@afsa.org Business Department Controller Kalpna Srimal: srimal@afsa.org Accounting Assistant Steven Tipton: tipton@afsa.org Labor Management General Counsel Sharon Papp: papps@state.gov Labor Management Attorney Zlatana Badrich: badrichz@state.gov Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: yorkej@state.gov USAID Senior Labor Management Advisor Douglas Broome: dbroome@usaid.gov USAID Office Manager Asgeir Sigfusson: asigfusson@usaid.gov Grievance Attorneys Neera Parikh: parikhna@state.gov an d Joe Slotnick: slotnick@state.gov Office Manager Christine Warren: warrenc@state.gov Law Clerk Marques Peterson: petersonmo@state.gov Member Services Director Janet Hedrick: hedrick@afsa.org Representative Cory Nishi: nishi@afsa.org Web site & Database Associate Meijing Shan: shan@afsa.org Administrative Assistant Ana Lopez: lopez@afsa.org Outreach Programs Retiree Liaison Bonnie Brown: brown@afsa.org Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: switzer@afsa.org Congressional Affairs Director Ken Nakamura: nakamura@afsa.org Corporate Relations/Executive Assistant Austin Tracy: tracy@afsa.org Scholarship Director Lori Dec: dec@afsa.org Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger: berger@afsa.org AFSA HEADQUARTERS: (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 USAID AFSA OFFICE: (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 FCS AFSA OFFICE: (202) 482-9088; Fax: (202) 482-9087 AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org AFSA E-MAIL: afsa@afsa.org AFSA NEWS: afsanews@afsa.org FSJ: journal@afsa.org PRESIDENT: limbert@afsa.org STATE VP: cranelk@state.gov RETIREE VP: jones@afsa.org USAID VP : wcarter@usaid.gov FCS VP: charles.ford@mail.doc.gov FAS VP: Laura.Scandurra@usda.gov AFSA News Editor Shawn Dorman : dorman@afsa.org (202) 338-4045 x 503; Fax: (202) 338-8244 On the Web : www.afsa.org/news How to Contact Us: Governing Board: PRESIDENT: John W. Limbert STATE VICE PRESIDENT: Louise K. Crane USAID VICE PRESIDENT: Bill Carter FCS VICE PRESIDENT: Charles A. Ford FAS VICE PRESIDENT: Laura Scandurra RETIREE VICE PRESIDENT: George F. Jones SECRETARY: F.A. “Tex” Harris TREASURER: Danny Hall STATE REPRESENTATIVES: Pamela Bates, Elizabeth Horst, Scot L. Folensbee, Tulinabo Mushingi, John C. Sullivan, Jim Wagner USAID REPRESENTATIVE: Thomas Olson FCS REPRESENTATIVE: William Crawford RETIREE REPRESENTATIVES: Gilbert Sheinbaum, David E. Reuther, Theodore S. Wilkinson, III, Stanley A. Zuckerman IBB REPRESENTATIVE: Laurie Kassman FAS REPRESENTATIVE: Michael Conlon AFSA Posts Promotion and Tenure Lists Due to popular demand from the field, AFSA has started posting promotion lists from member agencies on our Web site. USAID: AFSA congratulates all those USAID officers who were tenured this fall. AFSA also commends USAID’s Human Resources staff for getting out the tenure notice this year in record time. AFSA has added a link to the recent promotion lists on the AFSA USAID page under the Current Issues heading. Go to: www.afsa.org/AIDVP/AID2004PromotionList.cfm State: As we go to press, the State promotion list is not yet out. AFSA will post it on the AFSA Web site as soon as it’s available. Look for it at: www.afsa.org/StateVP/State2004PromotionList.cfm Staffing Iraq: How Much is Enough? AFSA met with Under Secretary for Management Grant Green on Sept. 9. At the top of the agenda was the issue of the num- ber of Foreign Service employees assigned to Iraq. Again AFSA made the point — well known to State management — that Iraq service is different: in Iraq we have long exceeded any “trip- wires” that elsewhere would have triggered a complete evacua- tion of the embassy. Public security is almost non-existent; pub- lic services barely function; and American civilians are, increas- ingly, deliberate targets of violence. AFSA asked the under secretary to help ensure that the department, in consultation with the chief of mission in Baghdad, will rigorously scrutinize Foreign Service staffing assignments to Iraq so that no one is sent there unless his or her presence is absolutely necessary to the mission. Under Secretary Green assured us that this will be done. He agreed that staffing decisions should and will undergo frequent review. AFSA remains extremely concerned about the safety and well- being of our men and women serving in Iraq. We pledge to keep this issue in front of State management.