The Foreign Service Journal, November 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2018 21 Keep Us Safe Diplomatic Security should have two different law enforcement professions— DS investigation agents, who would be domestically based and follow a career progression similar to other domestic federal law enforcement agencies; and DS Foreign Service agents, who would spend the majority of their careers over- seas. This would allow both sets of agents to develop specialized skills specific to their respective career fields. The World Isn’t Flat, But We Should Be The deputy chief of mission should also be the chief operating officer of the embassy. Having an additional layer of bureau- cracy between the DCM and the current management sections leads to a constant game of “telephone,” where information is selectively filtered both up and down the chain of command. In most instances, this is a severe detriment to embassy operations and the morale of the largest section in the embassy. The management officer cone/spe- cialty should be eliminated, with the management sections reporting directly to the DCM. Current management officers can be offered early retirement buyouts or select a specialty and transfer based on availability. Tomorrow None of the above changes are easy, and many will rail against them as at best naïve or, at worst, malicious. My intent is to generate conversations and effect changes with these ideas that will both make our organization more effective and improve the lives of Foreign Service officers tomorrow and in the future. n