The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

42 DECEMBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Mr. Chester was instrumental in making the case that unaccompanied posts such as those in Pakistan faced unusual difficulties in managing both drawdowns and skeletal staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some officers had to evacu- ate on 48 hours’ notice against their wishes, while others were obliged to stay despite hoping to join family elsewhere. Many employees had families sheltering in locations other than the United States, necessitating additional dislocations and separations in dangerous travel circumstances. Mr. Chester helped dozens of anxious employees make decisions about where they would spend lockdown and how to telework most productively. “Talking with my colleagues across agencies, I collected their fears, questions and ideas to address the uncertainty,” he says. Mr. Chester sent policy recommendations to the AFSA USAID vice president’s office advocating specific guidance for unac- companied posts. At town halls, he continually pressed senior leadership to reexamine the policy and address the uniqueness of critical priority country (CPC) posts. It was in part due to his efforts that USAID eventually issued instructions tailored to these locations. “Additionally, during the town hall meetings, I asked leader- ship to reconsider requiring FSOs to evacuate to the U.S. if their family was safe-havened at a post with limited COVID-19 impact,” he says. The advocacy led to positive results: USAID published a specific gender and development policy for CPCs that accounted for the uniqueness of serving at a one-year post. “The evolution in policy reaffirmed my belief in the necessity of union representation and the importance of fairness in the workplace.” Mr. Chester is an excellent team-builder. In advance of USAID, State Department and AFSA town hall gatherings Randy Chester (center) escorts Ambassador Amy Hyatt (at Chester’s right) during a visit to a USAID humanitarian assistance food distribution warehouse operated by UNICEF in Ambovombe, Madagascar, in the summer of 2021.