The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

American Foreign Service Association • December 2005 AFSA NEWS his is AFSA’s official call for nominations for the2006AFSA Constructive Dissent Awards and for the 2006 AFSA Out- standing PerformanceAwards. While the performance awards speak for them- selves, the dissent awards merit special comment, as they are unique in the federal government. The dissent awards seek to recog- nize and honor those among us who have the courage to offer constructive dissent. The awards are basedon integrity andprofes- sional courage rather thanonper- formance. Speaking out against the con- ventional wisdomand offering a contrary view on policy or oper- ational procedures comes with risk and can even jeopardize a career. AFSAbelieves that it is vital to con- tinue tohonor the constructive andcreative dissenters, thosewhodemonstrate thewill- ingness to work within the system to bring about change. “Career professionals are being most loyal when they are being candidwith their bosses about situations andwhen theypress for a serious examinationof policy,”write MortonAbramowitz andLeslieH. Gelb in their Spring 2005 National Interest article “InDefenseof StripedPants.” At this time, they go on to say, “the country has a par- ticular need for preserving candor in the departments and a variety of viewpoints from different agencies.” “We have always needed our dis- senters,”wrote then-AFSAPresident John Limbert inDecember 2004, “andwe need CALL FOR 2006 AFSA AWARD NOMINATIONS Honor the Dissenters Among Us OVERSEAS COMPARABILITY PAY AFSA Meets with the Secretary BY J. ANTHONY HOLMES, AFSA PRESIDENT D uring our first meeting with Secretaryof StateCondoleezzaRice on Oct. 27, AFSA State VP Steve Kashkett and I outlined the primary con- cerns of the 8,200 Statemembers of AFSA —witha strongemphasisonoverseas com- parability pay—as well as the profession- al concerns sharedby all of us in theForeign Service, both active-duty and retired. We noted that our recent survey of active-duty members added credibility to our agenda andprovided a strong base for present and upcoming AFSA initiatives and proposals to management. We had signaled to senior department officials for the past seven weeks that we would use our first meeting with the Secretary to stress that the current 16-per- cent salary reduction suffered by all FS employees below the senior ranks when Inside This Issue: BRIEFS: AFSA-NATSIOS MEETING ....2 STATE VP ON DISSENT......................3 RETIREE MEMBERSHIP ......................4 WHITHER THE COMMERCIAL SERVICE?.............................................5 OVERPAYMENT RESPONSIBILITY .....6 MEDICARE D.......................................8 RECYCLE FOR DIPLOTOTS .................9 Continued on page 9 Continued on page 7 F. Scott Gallo, winner of the 2005Harris Dissent Award, took a brave (and ultimately suc- cessful) stand against a bureaucracy that was pushing the EmbassyNairobi community tomove into a new residential compound that Gallo believed was vulnerable to terrorist attack. KeithMines, winner of the 2004RivkinDissent Award, was honored for his courage in send- ing a May 2003 Dissent Channel message, “Let the U.N. Manage the Political Transition in Iraq.” Four of Embassy Moscow’s consular officials received the 2003 Herter Dissent Award for their refusal to back down on a visa denial decision. They were honored for their strong com- mitment to upholding the law and protecting U.S. security interests in the face of strong pres- sure to disregard both. T