The Foreign Service Journal, November 2007

Finally, every class had a further “welcome to Asia” orientation and briefing at FSI’s Regional Training Center in Taichung, Taiwan, before arriving in Saigon. The upshot was a truly comprehensive training regi- men lasting four to six months, and sometimes longer if advanced lan- guage was involved. In contrast, the department’s training program for those headed to Provincial Reconstruction Teams is limited and superficial. So a key issue today is the extent to which the State Department is prepared to provide appropriate training for Foreign Service personnel if it intends to continue to assign them to war zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq — or, one might speculate, Darfur and Somalia. Mission Impossible? Even before the department con- templates training requirements, however, it needs to be realistic about the extent to which Foreign Service personnel assigned to PRTs in Iraq and Afghanistan are able to carry out reconstruction efforts and achieve the economic, political and societal ob- jectives this administration has set forth. To return to the situation nearly 40 years ago: although CORDS suffered its share of casualties in Vietnam, it was not targeted the way U.S. and other allied personnel — both mili- tary and civilian — are on today’s PRTs. While I realize some areas of N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 S P E A K I N G O U T Civilian Foreign Service personnel should never be used as “totems.” 4800 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. 202-537-3000 www.MartensVolvo.com Call for program details and additional specials. Contact Dana Martens at 202-885-5312 or email DMartens@MartensCars.com for more information. The New 2008 C-30 Now Available at Diplomatic Pricing! STARTING AT $ 19,995