The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2020 49 Portland, Oregon, where he performs volunteer work, plays in several bands and works as a substitute teacher. How to Become an Ambassador: An American Foreign Service Odyssey Thomas Hart Armbruster, BookBaby, 2020, $17.99/paperback, e-book available, 230 pages. Touted as “a roadmap for anyone inter- ested in the U.S. Foreign Service,” How to Become an Ambassador is a breezy memoir interspersed with answers to interview questions from the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. Ambassador Armbruster encourages prospective FSOs to “give it a shot, nomatter howmuch of a long shot it may seem.” Armbruster shares tales of service and adventure fromhis more than two decades in the Foreign Service. Among other accomplishments, he convinced the Pentagon to clean up a World War II battleship that threatened a reef in the Marshall Islands; nominated the 2014 Civil Society Speaker who brought United Nations delegates to their feet; and successfully negotiated an emergency response agreement with Russia. Armbruster also discusses the need for the Foreign Service to represent all of America, in all of its great diversity. “Only by including all Americans in diplomacy can we advance further,” he writes. Retired Foreign Service Officer Thomas Armbruster was born in El Paso, Texas, and now lives in Ithaca, New York. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2016. Other Foreign Service postings include Vladivostok, Dushanbe, Nuevo Laredo, Moscow, Havana and Helsinki. The only American diplomat to arrive in the Soviet Union by kayak, he is a private pilot and scuba diver. Memories of Ben Hill Drive: A Southern Story Hubert Addleton, Doorlight Publications, 2019, $12.95/paperback, 130 pages. New author Hubert F. Addleton, the father of Ambassador (ret.) Jonathan Addleton, marked his 90th birthday in November 2019 with two events: tak- ing a tandem skydive from 14,000 feet, organized by one of his grandsons on leave from the military; and publishing this touching account I f you or a family member recorded an oral history with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, you can now order it as an attractive bound book. An excel- lent gift for family or friends, your oral history transcript can now live on a bookshelf or coffee table instead of in a drawer or your filing cabinet. You can also purchase the bound oral histories of other Foreign Service members. Here’s how it works: Once an oral history transcript has been edited and posted to ADST’s website, the associa- tion offers the opportunity to order copies of the oral history in a bound-book format. To qualify for publishing, the oral history transcript must be edited and complete. ADST doesn't provide writing or editing services under this program; the text will be printed as it appears on the ADST website. However, before printing begins, you can make edits yourself (take advantage of the time staying safe from COVID-19 at home!). The book’s generic title will be Your Name: An Oral His- tory , and the back cover will fea- ture an image of ADST’s Cool Ben. There are also options for cus- tomization, such as adding your own photo and a “blurb” about the book to the back cover. The initial set-up fee is $300 (waived for ADST Benjamin Franklin Circle members), and each copy will cost $25-50 (depending on length), plus sales tax and shipping cost. Bound-book ADST oral histories are another way to help spread the word about ADST's Foreign Affairs Oral History program and its vital role in preserving and shar- ing the legacy of U.S. diplomacy since World War II. If you are interested, please email OHBook@adst.org for answers to any questions you have about the process or the product. —Susan B. Maitra ADST Expands Oral History Program