The Foreign Service Journal, December 2020

38 DECEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL She attributes her persistence to the conviction that the accomplishments of women worldwide—the efforts women make toward their education, their careers, their foreign travel experience—absolutely matter to the United States Department of State and those who represent it. Lindsay Dana, an entry-level public diplomacy officer, is currently serving a consular tour in Manila after completing her consular tour in Bogotá. She was raised in California’s Bay Area, but now calls Denver home. She is a graduate of Colo- rado State University in Fort Collins, where she studied Span- ish and biomedical science. She joined the State Department in 2017 with a background in international student affairs and university advising. She has traveled to more than 35 coun- tries and had lived in Spain and Costa Rica prior to joining the Foreign Service. F. Allen “Tex” Harris Award for a Foreign Service Specialist David “Dave” Heddleston Protecting Those Who Protect Us D ave Heddleston, a supervisory special agent for the State Department’s Diplo- matic Security Service (DSS), says that one of the key ingre- dients to ensuring that diplomats stay safe is, literally, a vehicle. At overseas posts, dedicated government-owned vehicles are made available to DSS special agents to protect personnel abroad; but, depending on the post, those vehicles sometimes are not available to DSS special agents serving as regional security officers with protective or investigative responsibili- ties after hours. DSS agents serving domestically generally have government-owned vehicles at their disposal for those purposes. Mr. Heddleston would like to see DSS agents serving overseas have the same access to government-owned vehicles as those serving domestically. “I have experienced firsthand the difficulties and arbitrary decision-making that take place when regional security offi- cers attempt to secure transportation designed to protect U.S. government personnel and their families working and living abroad,” Mr. Heddleston, who joined DSS in 2004, says. “Some posts argue insufficient vehicles exist, while others have plenty of vehicles but refuse to allow DSS agents to utilize them,” he tells the Journal . “Foreign policy and fiscal budget planning remain lacking in this regard. Peers from other federal law enforcement agencies frequently express dismay that the department does not support the use of dedicated vehicles by all DSS agents assigned to a regional security office.” In an extensively researched and compellingly written dis- sent channel cable (19 State 131254), Mr. Heddleston argued the case for the State Department and DSS to change overseas vehicle usage policy so regional security officers can provide a more secure environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. He argued that a uniform overseas policy that provides dedicated government-owned vehicles at any time of the week, day or night, to regional security offices would improve the emergency response capabilities of DSS agents assigned overseas and allow them to more efficiently and effectively carry out the myriad law enforcement and security functions for which they are responsible. Mr. Heddleston urged the department to prioritize funding and resources to empower chiefs of mission and DSS person- nel to provide equitable law enforcement and security services abroad. He noted that DSS agents assigned to domestic field offices and various headquarters offices and divisions with protec- tive and investigative responsibilities are provided individu- ally dedicated government-owned vehicles for after-hours response, consistent with the capabilities of their federal law enforcement counterparts from other agencies. But no such program exists for DSS agents carrying out similar functions and responsibilities overseas. David Heddleston. We can either shrug and let issues continue to cause problems for the department, or we can dissent. I hope this example helps encourage my fellow entry-level officers to choose the latter. —Lindsay Dana