The Foreign Service Journal, December 2022

AFSA NEWS 70 DECEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Diplomats at Work Evacuating Afghanistan Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent Nico Figueroa was AFSA’s guest at a Diplo- mats atWork event, held virtu- ally on Sept. 22. In a moving interview, he recounted his role in the 2021 Kabul airlift, where he was part of a team that helped to evacuate more than 120,000 people in the largest air evacuation in history. Figueroa began by describ- ing the work of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), which serves as the federal law enforcement arm of the State Department and is present at more than 270 U.S. missions worldwide. DSS protects the integrity of U.S. travel docu- ments, conducts international investigations, and plays a central role in evacuating and closing missions in times of emergency. As Figueroa put it: “We secure the mission of doing diplomacy. I’m a diplomat first and a DSS agent sec- ond, and that differentiates us from other federal law enforcement.” He landed in Kabul at the end of July 2021 to manage the regional security officer (RSO) logistics and budget portfolio. The U.S. military was planning to depart the country on Aug. 31, and the prevailing assumption was that the diplomatic footprint would remain in Kabul for an additional six to 12 months. But on Thursday, Aug. 12, that timeline was abruptly compressed when the RSO were overwhelmed. I didn’t sleep the first three days I was on the ground. [My team] had hotel rooms at the Ritz- Carlton downtown, but I took one look at the bed and thought,‘I can’t sleep here,’ know- ing the conditions people were in. So we went back to work.” Temporary duty (TDY) personnel soon arrived from across the U.S. government agencies to assist with pro- cessing evacuees, and others offered their support, as well. “Afghans stayed behind,” Figueroa said.“They let their families go ahead, and they insisted on staying to assist with translation and anything they could because they saw the dire need.” In reflecting on the experi- ence, Figueroa said he is a firm believer in not only hoping for the best, but also preparing for the worst in actionable ways—a philoso- phy he carries with him to new assignments. Nico Figueroa is currently the assistant RSO at the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. Earlier he served Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Secretary Michael Pompeo as a member of the Secretary of State’s Protec- tive Division and was a special agent at the Los Angeles field office. He joined DSS in 2017. In May 2022, Figueroa received the State Depart- ment’s Superior Honor Award for his contributions to the evacuation of Embassy Kabul and to OperationAllies Refuge in Doha. His military service awards include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, four Navy andMarine Corps Achievement Medals, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and Global War on Ter- rorismMedal. He holds an M.A. in international relations and conflict resolution fromAmeri- can Military University and a B.A. in communications from the University of Colorado. Diplomats at Work is a virtual speaker series that tells the stories of the Foreign Service, introducing the work of diplomats to new audiences as part of AFSA’s outreach. A recording of this event is available at https://bit.ly/ EvacAfgh. n teamwas told to evacuate the entire U.S. mission by Sunday. Figueroa and two DSS col- leagues (Supervisory Special Agents Bill Wommack and Tony Ramirez) were sent to Doha to prepare for incoming U.S. embassy staff.“It was complete chaos, and it only got worse,” he recalled. He remained in Doha for more than three months, working many jobs in the midst of what came to be a humanitarian crisis and assisting with the establishment of the Afghan Affairs Unit, which continues to operate in Doha as Mission Afghanistan Forward. The Al Udeid Air Base and As Sayliyah Army Base in Doha were set up to receive and process about 8,000 people.“We ended up with 60,000 to 70,000 people,” Figueroa said,“and those numbers overcame our ability to maintain order and humani- tarian conditions.” Hangars in Doha that were meant to hold aircraft began sheltering people from the blistering heat—up to 125 degrees Fahrenheit—while limited bathrooms and inad- equate food and water supply and air conditioning capacity further contributed to the chaos. Watching children and the elderly endure these condi- tions, Figueroa said,“was heartbreaking. As a diplomat, you want to present the best of what the U.S. is, and we couldn’t do that because we Afghan evacuees fill an aircraft hangar in Doha in August, 2021.“These folks had it better than most,” Figueroa said.“They had cots.” C/ONICOFIGUEROA Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent Nico Figueroa.