The Foreign Service Journal, November 2016

12 NOVEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL On Voting Matthew V. Tompkins’ Speaking Out column in the October FSJ (“Safeguard- ing a Nonpartisan Foreign Service”) is thoughtful, heartfelt and timely. Alas, it is alsomisguided on several counts. First, Mr. Tompkins’ military service, while praiseworthy, leads him to suggest that the Foreign Service ought tomodel itself on the armed forces. I respectfully disagree. As a corps of professionals, individual FS members should not be subjected to any pressure, either official or peer-driven, against exercising their right (and civic duty) to vote. We are free to be every bit as politically active as the Hatch Act and departmental regulations permit. Mr. Tompkins also argues that those voting in 2000 had no reason to believe it made any difference whether they chose Bush, Gore (or Nader), or voted at all. In fact, the outcome of that electionmade the lives, and jobs, of Foreign Service profes- sionals considerably more challenging. I would submit that this year’s electoral result will have an evenmore profound impact. That being the case, I hope every FS member has voted! Steven Alan Honley FSO, retired Washington, D.C. CORRECTION In the September article “Over the Finish Line: Winning Strategies for a Successful Visit,” by Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, we inadvertently misidentified locations in several pho- tos. The photos marked as Hanoi were in fact taken in Ho Chi Minh City, while the one marked as Ho Chi Minh City was actually taken in Hue. We regret the errors and have implemented a new photo-checking procedure to help ensure similar errors do not happen in the future. n