THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2025 67 Overnight, with one email notification, we became homeless, jobless, without a car, and without school enrollment, cribs, high chairs, or any toys or clothing for our toddlers beyond what we had crammed into six suitcases. We left our state of residence to move in with extended family, who were gracious enough to take us in, and awaited notification of how or when we would receive our belongings, which had already been shipped to post overseas, or our vehicle, which was awaiting shipment at the Baltimore port. Beyond the personal financial costs of preparing for a PCS that was canceled last minute—including insurance, moving expenses, the purchase of a new POV specific to the country where we were assigned, snow tires, and food that’s expiring in a warehouse overseas—I have also not received reimbursement for my PCS voucher. When I contacted the department to request reimbursement for the nearly $2,000 in overseas daycare registration and enrollment fees, I was told these were rejected because the education allowance is only for K-12. State also told me they would not reimburse me for the cost-constructed flight I booked for my consultations in D.C. that were canceled because of the RIF. While we have since retrieved our vehicle and our unaccompanied air baggage (UAB) shipment, the department will not return our furnishings (household effects, or HHE) until I have separation orders, which I cannot receive because we don’t have a permanent address. We don’t have housing as I need to find full-time employment and my future job will dictate where in the U.S. we will reside. I can’t list my temporary address for my separation address, because I am unable to receive all of the furnishings we shipped for an unfurnished housing assignment where we currently are staying with extended family. I joined the department as a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Undergraduate Fellow as a sophomore in college. My six tours have included service in the highest danger post outside the Middle East, as a staff assistant in the Executive Secretariat, and as President Trump’s control officer. In every assignment at State, I earned awards, including a nomination for the departmentwide One Team award and selection to participate in the Secretary’s Leadership Seminar, a yearlong executive program with the Harvard Business School to develop the department’s next generation of leaders. It has been the honor of a lifetime representing the American people and advancing our political and commercial interests around the world. I’m devastated to lose my dream career, pension, and community of incredible colleagues around the world. —State FSO We’re Never Truly Closed As a public diplomacy officer, I have saved countless vulnerable Americans from sending tens of thousands of dollars to scammers. Scammers always ramp up the pressure during holidays because they think the embassy will be closed and no one will respond to U.S. citizens who contact us. The reality: We’re never truly closed. The scammers didn’t know that I brought my laptop to every holiday gathering in the embassy community. I would open up the embassy’s Facebook Messenger and wait for the messages to start pinging. They always did. U.S. citizens reached out because they’d been told they needed to send money urgently—usually at least $10,000— because their fiancée had been in an accident on the way to the airport to fly to America to meet them. Or the fiancée’s ship had been shot up by pirates, and if they didn’t send money to fix it, there would be an oil spill. Or their boyfriend had completed a peacekeeping mission but the U.S. military wouldn’t pay for their flight home, so the U.S. citizen had to send money. It was the same handful of fake stories, over and over again. I would take the time to go through the story and gently point out the ways it didn’t make sense, sometimes coordinating with the duty officer or directing them to law enforcement resources to make sure we did everything possible to prevent the caller from losing their money to heartless scammers. I’ve been promoted steadily up the ranks, have earned awards and prestigious stretch assignments based on my performance and leadership, and have worked tirelessly 365 days a year to protect our country and its citizens. None of that mattered. I was told I’m worthless, lazy, and useless simply because I was in a domestic assignment—a requirement for consideration for the Senior Foreign Service. —State FSO Ensuring Scientific Superiority President Trump’s policy agenda includes advancing U.S. leadership and domination in emerging technology. I have led our engagement with key countries like the U.K., Ireland, and France, including on the specific technologies this administration cares about: quantum, AI, and biotech. I’m able to translate our scientists’ deep knowledge of emerging technologies into readable policy—a needed skill as we work to ensure the United States (not China) is the global leader in these fields. But I was RIFed. —State FSO n
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