State Magazine, July/August 2006

M A G A Z I N E

U . S . D E P A R T M E N T O F S T A T E

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CONTENTSSTATE MAGAZINE + JULY/AUGUST 2006 + NUMBER 503

Take Your Childto Work DayDepartment child to work program stretches boundaries.

Rabat: Post ofthe MonthMorocco’s forward-looking people sharea long history with the United States.

A Memorial DayBelgium remembers its huge part in American military history.

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36 *ON THE COVERState’s stars spread America’s valuesthroughout the world.Illustration from Corbis

ForeignAffairsDayRetirees catch up on21st-century diplomacy.

COLUMNS2 FROM THE SECRETARY

3 READERS’ FEEDBACK

4 FROM THE UNDER SECRETARY

5 IN THE NEWS

8 DIRECT FROM THE D.G.

45 STATE OF THE ARTS

46 MEDICAL REPORT

48 APPOINTMENTS

49 RETIREMENTS

50 OBITUARIES

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14 Rebuilding AfghanistanCivilian and military teams practice trans-formational diplomacy in the Afghan desert.

16 And the Survey Says...FLO survey finds what families really want.

24 Panama OutreachIftaar dinners lead to fruitful engagement.

26 24-Hour ServiceHigh-tech command center helps DS dealwith global threats.

34 High PerformanceAccounting group honors State—again—for its ‘Annual Report.’

38 Visual HistoryAmerica’s heritage is on display in reception rooms.

40 Office of the Month:Central Asian AffairsThis office creates new links and new beginnings.

44 Works of ArtChildren’s art brightens exhibition hall.

Democracy is prospering in theAmericas today, and it is inspiring to watchthe great strides that the free peoples ofour hemisphere are making. Yet, democra-cy in the Americas is still a work inprogress, and now is a very importantmoment. This year alone, citizens of 16countries will go to the polls all across the

Western Hemisphere, and they will set thefuture course for their democracies.

The United States is fully committed tohelping the peoples of Latin America con-solidate their democratic transitions. UnderPresident Bush, we are more engaged than

ever in our hemisphere, and the men andwomen of the State Department are leadingthe way.

Our diplomacy is rooted in partnership,not paternalism, and we charge no ideo-logical price for good relations with theUnited States. Instead, we are workingwith every Latin American government —from the left to the right—that iscommitted to democracy, both in princi-

ple and in practice. To be effective, democ-racy must be more than elections.Institutions must function transparentlyand accountably. Democratic governmentsmust create opportunities for all of theirpeople. Most importantly, democracymust get results.

Democracy produces what PresidentBush calls “a revolution of expectations,”and rightly so. In free societies, peopleexpect to be rewarded for their hard work,and they want to share in the success oftheir countries. Too often, the citizens ofLatin America do not feel the benefits ofdemocracy in their daily lives. So the greatchallenge in our hemisphere is tostrengthen the link between democracyand human development.

To achieve this goal, America’s diplo-mats are working with all of ourdemocratic partners in Latin America.Together, we are working to reducepoverty and inequality in the region. Weare freeing countries from the crushingburden of debt. We are bolstering theconnection between security and pros-perity. And we are trading in freedomwith more of the people of our hemi-sphere than ever before. Through ourefforts, we are empowering our LatinAmerican partners to meet the challengesand the growing expectations of theiryoung democracies.

The United States believes in the greatpromise of our hemisphere, and we

believe that the people of the Americaswill achieve it. The progress of LatinAmerica is nothing short of remarkable,and now, at this important moment forthe future of democracy, our diplomatsare rising to the challenge. They are sup-porting the free peoples of the WesternHemisphere. And together, we are build-ing a more just, a more secure and a moreprosperous community of democracies. �

F R O M T H E S E C R E TA R Y

Democracy in the Americas

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The progress of Latin America is nothingshort of remarkable, and now, at thisimportant moment for the future ofdemocracy, our diplomats are rising tothe challenge.

3J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E

Mary Ryan’s HumanityWith great sadness, I learned of the death

of a distinguished colleague and good friend,Mary Ryan. When I joined the ForeignService a few years after Mary, she mentoredme as she did so many and I was honoredwhen she agreed to preside over my swearingin as ambassador to Guinea-Bissau.

I suppose that everyone who knew Maryhas a favorite story of her fabled kindness.Mine happened during the violent coupthat rocked Bissau in 1998. As mortar shellsand bullets flew around the embassy, Italked to Mary on the phone. She was in theOperations Center, where she had come tocheck on me, the staff and Bissau’sAmerican citizens. She wanted to know ifthere was anything she could do for me. Iasked her to talk to my family and reassurethem, and so every day for a week the assis-tant secretary for Consular Affairs foundtime to call my family and the families ofthe rest of the embassy staff who asked.

Never have I been as disappointed in theDepartment as when Mary was forced toretire for what appeared to me to be a finejob of executing pre-9/11 Administrationpolicy. Ever the consummate professional,

she took it in stride, retired and cheerfullyembarked on a busy schedule of volunteeractivities in the D.C. area.

In the end, Mary will be remembered notfor her intellect, which was substantial, norher managerial skills, which were excep-tional, but for her humanity, which waslegendary. She will be greatly missed.

Peggy BlackfordRetired Foreign Service officerNew York, N.Y.

Going Too Far?I read the article on “Public Diplomacy:

Soccer Matches” (May) and thought it wasa great idea, but I am taken aback by thephoto of Iraqi Provincial Action OfficerRachel Schneller. Perhaps she is Muslim,but if not, why is she covering her hair?

We arrived in Baghdad in 1960 and hada 27-month tour. Despite political unrest,I never felt the need to wear an abaya orcover my hair.

We were Americans in a foreigncountry, not Americans attempting to beIraqis. We respected the cultural differ-ences, but not to the point of trying to be

something we were not. We representedthe United States and were proud to do so.

Sheila FaulknerWife of a retired Foreign Service officer

We Must Not ForgetA pity that only “...more than 50 attend-

ed...” the Holocaust Days of Remembranceevent (June). Perhaps a greater impactmight be made if the 1939 voyage of the St.Louis were required study for all employees.

Hundreds ultimately died because thisgroup of 937 Jewish refugees fleeingHitler’s death camps was refused entry tothe U.S. Within sight of Miami, Florida,they were forced to return to the Europethey had only just escaped.

France, Belgium, Holland and GreatBritain ultimately took them in, but, citingimmigration laws, the State Departmentdenied them sanctuary.

We must never forget that lapse.

Richard KrankerU.S. Agency for International Development,

retiredHendersonville, N.C.

Mailing AddressState Magazine2401 E Street, NWHR/ER/SMG, SA-1, Room H-236Washington, D.C. 20522-0108

[email protected]

Phone(202) 663-1700

Letters should not exceed 250 wordsand should include the writer’sname, address and daytime phonenumber. All letters become theproperty of State Magazine. Letterswill be edited for length, accuracyand clarity. Only signed letters willbe considered. Names may be with-held upon request.

It’s a very strong memory. Mary Ryan was telling her hastilyassembled front office staff that a few minutes earlier theUnder Secretary for Management had demanded her retire-ment. As Mary’s Visa deputy assistant secretary, I sat with myConsular Affairs colleagues in stunned disbelief and penetratingsadness (and in my case at least, seething anger) as we allfumbled for words.

I suddenly remembered that Mary was shortly due in theDirector General’s office to be sworn in as chair of a SeniorForeign Service promotion panel. I suggested to her that I callthe DG to advise that Mary wouldn’t be coming. She shook herhead vigorously in reply. “No, no, no. I have to go. They don’thave anybody else.” Mary Ryan refused to abandon her belovedDepartment. A class act, our Mary. A class act indeed.

Wayne GriffithSt. Petersburg, Fla.

Let Us Hear from You

R E A D E R S ’ F E E D B A C K

A Class Act


This is the first of what will be a regularcolumn to report on what we are doing andachieving in the bureaus and offices of theManagement Family.

Last August, shortly after I was sworn inas Under Secretary, the Management teamheld an offsite and developed six priorities,together with specific goals and metrics, forfiscal year 2006 to support transformationaldiplomacy: the President’s ManagementAgenda, which is the Administration’s strat-egy for improving the management andperformance of the Federal government;Rightsizing and Regionalization; OpenDoors and Secure Borders; Training andOperational Readiness; Quality of Life; andKnowledge Management.

I want to discuss our progress on some ofour FY 2006 goals that directly affect you.

Achieving overseas pay equity. This is atop quality of life goal and is the highest leg-islative priority for the M Family this year.The Administration has approved theDepartment’s legislative proposal to mod-ernize the Foreign Service pay system andaddress the growing overseas pay gap forForeign Service Officers at the FS-01 leveland below. This legislation, combined withthe funding in the President’s FY 2007budget request, will link pay increases toperformance and address the pay inequali-ties that have resulted from locality pay.

In fact, the overseas pay for FS-01s andbelow is currently 17.5 percent less than theWashington, D.C., level. This gap would beeliminated in two steps: 9 percent in April2007 and the remainder in April 2008. This

legislative proposal is now on the Hill, andthe Secretary and I will continue to vigor-ously advocate for it.

Mentoring opportunities for everyone:FS, GS, EFM, FSN. Our goal is that by thisfall everyone in the Department—CivilService, Foreign Service, family members orLocally Engaged Staff—who wants a mentorwill have one. We want to build on the fine

programs we have, such as our structured,one-year Civil Service program, which hasalready paired 900 people, and the opportu-nity for all new FSOs and specialists to havean individual mentor as part of their orien-tation program.

Situational mentoring and new mentorswill be available for both Civil Service and

Foreign Service to allow issue-specific focus.Mid-level Foreign Service Officers and spe-cialists are now encouraged to request amentor. The Family Liaison Office is begin-ning to match interested family memberswith mentors. Mentoring was on the agendaat the recent FSN Conference.

Increasing Distance Learning opportu-nities and completions for American

officers, FSNs and family members. Ourgoals for FY 2006 are to increase FasTraccourse completions by 50 percent andcustom distance learning offerings by 25percent. We are on target with 4,446FasTrac completions and 76 custom courseofferings to date. The FasTrac DistanceLearning program at FSI offers access tomore than 3,000 courses on a wide variety

of topics, including management skills,communications, desktop computing skillsand technical courses such as computernetworking. We want to bring education toyour desktop.

Delivering four new TransformationalDiplomacy course offerings and incorpo-rating TD themes into leadership andtradecraft courses. We have so far complet-ed four transformational diplomacyseminars—focusing on democracy build-ing, promoting human rights, controllingand eradicating disease and, most recently,fighting corruption—bringing togetherleaders from across the interagency com-munity. Two more—on counterterrorismand rule of law—are planned for this fiscalyear. All levels of our mandatory leadershiptraining courses—from those for mid-grades through senior levels, including newambassadors and deputy chiefs ofmission—as well as our tradecraft coursesnow incorporate discussions of transforma-tional diplomacy.

We are developing a new online course socolleagues at every level will understandwhat transformational diplomacy meansand how everyone can practice it. And thisfall we will send all our posts a guide on howto incorporate discussions of transforma-tional diplomacy into the results-orientedreviews they lead on progress toward theirmajor mission goals.

Increasing the number of OpenNetEverywhere users. ONE allows our col-leagues to securely access the Department’sunclassified Intranet and their e-mails andfiles from outside the Department.Anytime, everywhere, access to informationfor all State employees is a basic businessrequirement, and we are moving aggressive-ly toward implementation. We are investingin mobile computing technologies, espe-cially through wireless personal digitalassistants such as BlackBerries and remotesystem access via State’s ONE. In FY 2006,we have so far doubled our number of ONEusers from 1,600 to 3,204. Mobile diplomatsneed access.

These are only a few of the many results.I look forward to reporting to you on ourFY 2007 plans and goals in the Septemberissue. �

FROM UNDER SECRETARY HENRIETTA FORE

Setting Priorities and Meeting Goals

Anytime, everywhere, access to informationfor all State employees is a basic businessrequirement, and we are moving aggres-sively toward implementation.

5

General Charles Williams, director and chiefoperating officer of the Bureau of OverseasBuildings Operations, received one of 25 TopNewsmakers Awards in April from theEngineering News-Record, a prestigious weeklypublished by McGraw-Hill Construction.

General Williams was honored for leadingthe OBO team in standardizing design andupgrading security at U.S. embassies. AMcGraw-Hill press release noted that hewon congressional confidence by imple-ment ing s tandard embassy des igns ,design-build project delivery and an IndustryAdvisory Panel.

Since his arrival, more than 30 newembassies and consulates have been complet-ed, 36 projects are in design or constructionand 14 more are in the pipeline for this year.

Awards were given to people or projectsthat were covered in ENR and made a signifi-cant contribution to the constructionindustry. Honorees over the years have includ-ed President Kennedy, for enacting a$1.2-billion program to aid construction ofcollege buildings, as well as managers of themilitary construction effort in Vietnam, thetrans-Alaska pipeline and construction of theWorld Trade Center.


)(NEWS

NOT THE WORLD CUP + BOOKFAIR LOOKING FOR DONATIONS + POWELLRESIDENTIAL PLAZA DEDICATED IN KINGSTON + ‘SHAVE-A-THON’ ENDS IN BALDSOLIDARITY + STATE DEPARTMENT SOARS AS UNDERGRAD CAREER CHOICE

Engineering News-Record’s Jay McGraw, left, smiles as General Charles Williams poses withhis Top Newsmakers Award.

>>>

OBO Director Wins NewsmakerAward from Construction Weekly


The Colin Powell Residential Plaza for U.S.Embassy staff in Kingston, Jamaica, openedlast October and was dedicated in February.Participating in the unveiling of the commem-orative plaque, from left, are Vernon Meikle,representing former Secretary Powell;Desmond McKenzie, mayor of Kingston; U.S.Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson;General Charles Williams, director of theBureau of Overseas Buildings Operations; SueM. Cobb, ambassador to Jamaica from 2001 to2005; and Stanley McLelland, ambassador toJamaica from 1998 to 2001.

The 34 high-rise apartments provide stun-ning views of the Blue Mountains andCaribbean Sea.

Powell Residential Plaza Dedicated in Kingston

On June 10, just as the 2006 World Cup wasgetting under way, a very different internation-al soccer contest took place in Washington.

Three teams—representing the EuropeanUnion embassies, Congress and the StateDepartment—met at St. Albans School for afriendly tournament. State’s enthusiasticsquad drew from multiple bureaus andincluded spouses and offspring. The actualtallies of the games are not fit to print. It’senough to say the EU all-stars dominated andCongress edged State in a tight match to takesecond place.

But the real result was a celebration of theshared joy in the game of soccer across cultur-al and generational boundaries. State’s strikerswill be back next year.

The three teams pose for a group photo. Congress isin red, the EU in blue and State in white.

Not the World Cup

This year, for the 46th time, the Associatesof the American Foreign Service Worldwidewill sponsor its annual book fair to raise fundsfor Foreign Service family member scholar-ships and other Foreign Service communityprojects. The Art Corner is accepting dona-tions now for the October sale. Call (202)223-5796 for information on donating books,CDs, DVDs and videos.

As usual, the BOOKFAIR will be held in theDiplomatic Exhibit Hall of the Harry S TrumanBuilding. It will open Friday, Oct. 13, and closeSunday, Oct. 22.

BOOKFAIRLooking forDonations


On April 12, 2005, Rob McCutcheonbet Usha Pitts a shaved head that shecouldn’t beat him in a 10-kilometer raceone year hence.

The time passed quickly and wordspread. Other members of the U.S. InterestsSection in Havana promised to give moralsupport by joining in the race.

The big day came, and half the missionshowed up to run, walk and cheer in the“Shave-a-Thon.” Prizes were awarded to themale winner (Coast Guard RepresentativeRod Rojas) and female winner (Office

Management Specialist Jennifer Zienin).Usha and Rob battled it out until the bitterend, but solidarity was the ultimate winner:Both shaved their heads.

A dozen other USINT employees andfamily members took advantage of the on-site barber to get haircuts—from theconservative “take a little off the sides” to theshiny, but ever-popular “bald and bad.”

USINT employees and their families areconfined to the city limits of Havana, andrelations with the government are tense.Physical fitness and exercise are importantin this high-stress environment and a goodway to pass the time. With the encourage-ment of Foreign Service HealthPractitioner Christine Rada, USINT cur-rently places third worldwide amongDepartment groups participating in thePresidential Challenge. Four USINT staffmembers are training for half and fullmarathons.

In the coming months, USINT will inau-gurate several pieces of new gymequipment. Meanwhile, a group of womenand men run three to seven miles homefrom work together three times a week. TheU.S. Marines at post hold an open volley-ball game every week for Americans andthird-country nationals.

Thanks to the Presidential Challenge,the Shave-a-Thon and each employee’sindividual efforts, the USINT communitysports a cleaner, leaner, more “wind-swept” look.

‘SHAVE-A-THON’ ENDSIN BALD SOLIDARITY

The Department of State jumped to3rd place from 36th a year earlier as anideal employer in an annual poll of under-graduates reported by BusinessWeek.The 2006 survey results are based on37,000 undergraduates in the Class of2006. The Department is the highest-ranking federal agency, listed rightbehind top-ranked Walt Disney andsecond-ranked Google.

Among minority undergraduate stu-dents, the Department also significantlyincreased its rank as an ideal employer,achieving fourth place, behind Google,

Disney and Microsoft. The results arebased on 10,000 minority undergradu-ates in the Class of 2006.

The ranking of ideal employers isbased on undergraduates’ selection oftheir top five picks from 189 companiesand agencies that were frequently men-tioned by students in the previousannual survey.

The Department also ranked 14thout of 100 employers as an idealemployer for undergraduate businessmajors and 12th for minority MBAsand undergraduates.

STATE DEPARTMENT SOARS ASUNDERGRAD CAREER CHOICE

The few, the proud, the sheared—Usha Pitts andRob McCutcheon.

MAGAZINE STAFF

Rob WileyEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Bill PalmerWRITER/EDITOR

Jennifer LelandWRITER/EDITOR

David L. JohnstonART DIRECTOR

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

Teddy B. TaylorEXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Larry Baer

Kelly Clements

Pam Holliday

State Magazine (ISSN 1099–4165) is pub-lished monthly, except bimonthly in Julyand August, by the U.S. Department ofState, 2201 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C.Periodicals postage paid at Washington,D.C., and at additional mailing locations.

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The submission deadline for the October2006 issue is August 15. The deadline forthe November 2006 issue is September 15.

I am deeply honored to serve as theDirector General of the Foreign Serviceand Director of Human Resources at theDepartment of State. I appreciate the con-fidence that the President and SecretaryRice have shown in selecting me for thisimportant position.

When I entered the Foreign Service 25years ago, I could not have imagined that Iwould one day be asked to take on the crit-ical task of ensuring that the Department’smost important resource—its talentedteam of Foreign Service, Civil Service,Locally Employed Staff and FamilyMembers—is ready and able to take on thedemands and challenges of diplomacy inthe 21st century.

Secretary Rice has asked the men andwomen of the Department to lay newdiplomatic foundations to secure a futureof freedom for all people. I am workingwith my colleagues in HR to create a work-force that can implement the Secretary’svision.

We are focusing on ensuring that werecruit and hire the best people, both in theUnited States and abroad. Our U.S. work-force must represent a broad cross sectionof our population. Under the Secretary’sguidance, we are realigning our presenceoverseas and adjusting our staffing to meetnew realities.

More of our men and women will beserving in emerging democracies or tran-sitional states. To work effectively in thisenvironment, our employees must engageforeign peoples directly and coordinate

effectively with our civilian and militarypartners, particularly at times of crisis ordisaster. Expanding and strengtheningthe capabilities of our people to meetthese requirements are among my highestpriorities.

In this transformational age, we musttap into the experience and talents of allmembers of the State Department family. Ihope to expand the pilot rotationalprogram for Civil Service employees, both

domestically and overseas. I would also liketo see them be active participants in ourpublic outreach efforts.

We must also strive to address the con-cerns of our people. Last month, I had the

privilege of attending the 5th Annual FSNWorldwide Conference. In response toFSN concerns about delayed evaluations,we have developed a new EmployeePerformance Report. The new EPRstreamlines the evaluation form, speedsup the evaluation process, preserves anhonest dialogue between employee andsupervisor and helps avoid delays inwithin-grade increases. We will be releas-ing the new form to the field in the nearfuture.

As you know, the world our employeesface each and every day overseas is becom-ing more difficult and dangerous. Morethan 10 percent of our overseas ForeignService positions are at posts where life istoo dangerous to allow families to accom-pany them, and all of these posts are staffedby FSNs, as well.

Sadly, our colleagues have given theirlives in service to our country in greaternumbers. We are also keenly aware that ter-rorism is no longer limited to a handful ofcountries. It can, and does, strike anywhere,and we must do our best to ensure ouremployees’ safety.

My experience tells me that if we wantour employees to do their best, we must dobetter at meeting their needs and helpingthem support their families. For those whoserve in our U.S. positions overseas, thiswill include an ongoing review ofallowances and incentives as well as a con-t i n u e d s e a r c h f o r e m p l o y m e n topportunities for our family members. Forour FSN colleagues, we are currentlylooking at pension options to enable aretirement without financial worries forthose who have served long and well. Weare still in the early stages of this project,but hope to have more information toshare in the near future. I will also assist theSecretary in instituting a modernized per-formance-based pay system for the ForeignService that fairly compensates our menand women.

I look forward to playing my part inensuring that America is prepared to meetits diplomatic challenges, today and in thefuture. I also look forward to working withyou to create a stronger, more capableDepartment of State. �

FROM D.G. GEORGE STAPLES

Meeting New Realities

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My experience tells me thatif we want our employees todo their best, we must dobetter at meeting their needsand helping them supporttheir families.


Every April, like clockwork, thepopulation at the Department ofState swells. It grows becauseyears ago the Department

decided to make Take Your Child to WorkDay more than an excuse to skip school.

The program, managed by the Office ofEmployee Relations, almost outgrew itselfthis year. A record 684 children pre-regis-tered online for some 53 activitiessponsored by 21 of the Department’s 51bureaus and major offices. More than 100children registered for activities after pre-registration closed, stretching theDepartment’s capabilities to the limit.

“The Department’s Take Your Child toWork Day program has become so popularthat it is expanding beyond the resourcesavailable to manage it,” says Mary JeanDixon, who manages the program forEmployee Relations. “The EmployeeRelations office is already working on nextyear’s plans and looking at alternativeapproaches within available resources.”

Children registered for the 2006 programcould choose from a menu of activities thatwould take them around the globe—fromBrazil to Africa, Asia to Europe. Activitiesincluded a field trip to the Washington Zoo,sponsored by the Bureau of Oceans and

International Environmental and ScientificAffairs; a walking field trip to the WorldWar II Memorial, sponsored by the Bureauof Intelligence and Research; and a visit tothe Brazilian American Cultural Institute,sponsored by the Bureau of WesternHemisphere Affairs.

Some children opted to visit the Office ofOverseas Buildings Operation in Arlington,where they were sworn in as honoraryarchitects, engineers, designers and securityspecialists for the day. So sworn, they thenexplored with OBO personnel the processof creating a “model” embassy for the 21stcentury, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

BY ROB WILEY AND ALESANDRA ANN SCHOLL

Department Child to WorkProgram Stretches Boundaries

Local television news personalityBarbara Harrison developed instantrapport with the Department’s childrenof all ages.

Other children learned a few words in anew vocabulary—sign language used by theprofessionals in the Employee Relationsoffice who communicate with the Depart-ment’s hearing impaired. Still others chose toparticipate in the Bureau of Administration’sAmazing Race-Library Style, where partici-pants used typical library resources to followclues in a race to the finish line.

Future ColleaguesDeputy Assistant Secretary for Human

Resources Teddy Taylor officially openedthe special day by recognizing the programas the federal government’s largest Take

Your Child to Work event.“We do this because you are a part of the

greater State Department family, and it’simportant for you to see where Mom orDad works and learn about what they do,”he told an overflow audience in the DeanAcheson Auditorium. “It’s also importantfor you to have a chance to see and partic-ipate in a bureau activity, which will showyou the work of that part of theDepartment. Perhaps you’ll consider acareer in the Department or federal gov-ernment in 10 or 20 years.”

Mr. Taylor then introduced keynotespeaker Barbara Harrison, co-anchor for

NEWS4 Today and the weekly reporter forChannel 4’s Wednesday’s Child segment,which features area children available foradoption. After holding a “conversation”with the Department audience about herTV work, especially her work with children,Ms. Harrison showed several segments fromWednesday’s Child.

“Some of the things I do aren’t fun, likereporting on child abuse and children whodon’t have great parents like you do,” shesaid. “In more than 25 years I’ve met severalthousand foster children, and more than 20percent of those we’ve featured onWednesday’s Child have been adopted. As


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soon as these children have loving homeslike you do, they blossom.”

Ms. Harrison, who also co-anchorsChannel 4’s News4 weekday news programat 10 a.m., went into the crowd to fieldquestions from lines of children. Despiterunning late for her news program, shestayed to answer each question fromseveral dozen children.

Following her presentation, then-actingDirector General John O’Keefe swore in theassembled children as HonoraryEmployees-for-a-Day as they took the sameoath of office their parents swore to whenthey became federal employees.

Embassy ToursTours of foreign embassies—Latvia,

Kenya and Germany—proved very popular.The tour of the German embassy filled justminutes after registration began. Fifteenchildren and three adults joined the tour.

In the ambassador’s residence, a Germanguide showed the children the receptionhall, gentlemen and ladies’ salons, thekitchen and more. The architectural themeof the residence was squares, and almosteverything in the building, from the furni-ture to the windows and the art, reflectedthe theme.

“I like it because they have a lot of sun-light and a lot of windows,” said one girl, 10.“And they have a cook to cook food for you.”

In the chancery, the children toured theambassador’s office and heard a briefing on

Germany in a conference room.Patricia Garate, a financial services

officer in the Bureau of ResourceManagement who served as a chaperone,said she was impressed that the conferenceroom was dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelmvon Prittwitz und Gaffron, the onlyGerman ambassador who resigned fromthe foreign service in protest of AdolfHitler’s policies.

“Take Your Child to Work Day seemsvery well organized. It’s a great opportunityfor the children,” said Ms. Garate.“The chil-dren are now asking a lot about what I do atwork. It’s a perfect age to catch them.”�

Mr. Wiley is the editor of State Magazine;Ms. Scholl was deputy editor of StateMagazine.

11J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 S TAT E M A G A Z I N EJ U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E

Left: Ginger, Diplomatic Security’s bomb-sniffing dog, with handler Jim Volosin, won over the crowdeven before finding the hidden inert explosives.Top: A tired but satisfied group of children finish theirtour of the German chancery. Above: These children visited the Employee Relations office for a quickcourse in a different language—sign—from sign language interpreter Jeffrey Bowden and volunteerVictoria Reilly from Resource Management.

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BY MELANIE KERBER

Day at the OfficeNot Just Another

A student gets her fingerprintsplaced in a passport.

Nineteen students skipped school April 26to attend the third annual “Take Your Childto Work Day” in Brussels, Belgium. Theevent, sponsored by the community liaisonoffice, included children from JointAdministrative Services, the U.S. Embassyand the U.S. Mission to the European Union.

The day began with a photo session with Ambassador TomKorologos, chief of mission of the embassy. He briefed students onhis job and took questions. When asked, “What is the funniestthing that has happened to you as ambassador?” he said his tinydog, Oatsie, helped transatlantic relations between FrenchPresident Jacques Chirac and President Bush. Oatsie got loose andwould not be corralled while the two presidents were meeting.Both paused, talked about their dogs and resumed business—agreat ice breaker and a memorable moment in diplomacy.

The next stop was the red-carpet premiere of the newly releasedUSEU DVD, providing an overview of the mission. Public AffairsAdvisor Anne Barbaro and her assistant greeted the group andsupplied popcorn.

The Federal Aviation Administration office rolled out thewelcome mat and invited students to participate in a plane-landing simulation. Using a laptop computer, they were able toview planes in the sky and successfully land them while receivingcommunication from the tower. All agreed that it was “way cool.”

The regional security office provided lots of bells and whistles.After students learned how fingerprinting is used as a means of

identification, they had their prints rolled and placed in passports.Then they participated in bio-chem training, tried on bulletproofvests and activated glow sticks, similar to those used in hazardousconditions.

Following lunch with their parents, students interviewed U.S.Ambassador Marcie Ries, chief of mission in Albania, via digitalvideoconference. Ambassador Ries answered questions about theAlbanian culture and people.

Intern Aaron Cathey led the students through a 40-minutenegotiating session with high stakes: sodas and candy bars. Onceall parties were satisfied, the young diplomats went to breakoutgroups to practice the delicate art of calligraphy or dismantle com-puters and locate motherboards.

The final activity was a mock reception where students had asnack while “working the room” to learn facts about each personattending. USEU Deputy Chief of Mission Mike McKinley offici-ated at the certificate ceremony and photo op.

Lots of fun, lots of learning and lots of memories to take home.�

Melanie Kerber is one of two community liaison officers in Brussels.


Left: Jon Miracle gives a computer lesson. Right: Studentstalk to U.S. Ambassador to Albania Marcie Ries via digitalvideo conference. Bottom: The best part of bio-chemtraining was the facemask.

Intern Aaron Cathey led the studentsthrough a 40-minute negotiating sessionwith high stakes: sodas and candy bars.

On May 1, the U.S. flag was lowered for thelast time at Provincial Reconstruction TeamLashkar Gah in Afghanistan. The UnitedKingdom took charge of the PRT, and theremaining Americans officially became guestsof our British colleagues.

Lashkar Gah is one of 23 PRTs, civil-militaryteams deployed throughout Afghanistan toextend the reach of the Afghan government,enhance security in the provinces and facilitatereconstruction and development.

The concept was developed in 2002 by theU.S. government, and the first PRT was estab-lished in Gardez, Paktia Province, in January2003. The United States runs 14 of the teams,

while other countries, such as Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Swedenand the United Kingdom, are in charge of 9.

PRT Lashkar Gah is in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. Atabout 50,000 square miles, the province is the country’s largest; it isapproximately the size of England. Its main feature is the HelmandRiver, which runs from the north to the southwest. Aside from the riverdeltas, most of the province is desert. There is no firm population figure,but estimates vary from about 800,000 to 1.4 million.

HOT SPOTHelmand is one of Afghanistan’s more volatile provinces. Since the

beginning of January, anti-Coalition forces have killed 3 district chiefsand 32 policemen. In April, there were two vehicle-borne improvisedexplosive devices just outside the PRT entrance. Helmand, along withKandahar, Urozgan and Zabol Provinces, represents a Taliban strong-

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Top right: Extensive poppy cultivation is one of the challenges facing thePRT. Bottom right: The author sits with students in a second-grade class.The team’s civil affairs group supported construction of a wall around theschool. Below: Most of Helmand Province features a desert landscape.

Transformational Diplomacy in the Afghan Desert By Dave Wise

Afghan Provincial Reconstruction Team

While no day is “typical,” here is asummary of one day’s activities. On thisday, I participated in a civil affairsmission to dedicate the beginning of aroad construction project. This missionoffered a chance to engage local leaders.

0600: Wake up, shower and breakfast.0700: Attend a briefing for the civil

affairs mission to Sangin district. Anintelligence officer reinforces the need forvigilance, since anti-Coalition forces aresuspected of being in the area.

0800: Mission departs the PRT.1000: The PRT convoy arrives in

Sangin town district center. The districtchief and police chief welcome us, andeveryone proceeds to the road construc-tion site. The district chief and MajorKoutouc give short speeches about howthis road will help citizens of Sangin andthe neighboring district of Mousa Qalaengage in commercial activity.

1100: On return to the district center,the chief convenes a “shura” (councilmeeting) consisting of local officials andelders. They discuss their concerns, whichinclude a deteriorating security situation,

the need for a new school and additionalroad projects. Major Koutouc notes therequests but makes no promises.

1200: Discussion continues over alunch on a mat under some trees.

1300: The PRT mission departs Sanginand returns to the PRT without incident.

1600: All military heads of depart-ments and civilian staff (State, USDA andUSAID) meet for the commander’s dailybriefing. I report that the district chiefappeared quite nervous about being seenwith U.S. military forces. (A few monthslater, the district chief was killed.)

1700: Post cleanup. This is a real chal-lenge, considering the omnipresent dustof Helmand Province.

1800: Dinner and more discussionabout the mission.

1900: I prepare a report on themission for the embassy. Our erraticInternet connection cooperates, and thereport goes out. I retire to my room in thebarracks, which I share with the USAIDrepresentative, to watch an episode ofThe Sopranos.

2230: Lights out. �

Local TimeA DAY IN THE LIFE OFA STATE PRT OFFICER

hold. Government control in much of thecountryside is tenuous at best.

Helmand has a porous 162-kilometerborder with Pakistan, allowing for extensivenarcotics smuggling. Narcotics play a largerole in the challenging security situation inthe province, which produced 25 percent ofAfghanistan’s poppy crop in 2005—morethan 26,000 hectares.

U.S. involvement in Helmand dates tothe 1950s, when the U.S. Agency forInternational Development and the PeaceCorps began working there. In the 1970s,USAID supported construction of theKajeki Dam in northern Helmand as well asan irrigation and canal system along theHelmand River. USAID also constructedmost of the public buildings in LashkarGah, the provincial capital. There wereenough American children in Lashkar Gahto support a school.

USAID is again very active in Helmand.Its focus is assisting farmers in cultivatinglegitimate crops and weaning the provincefrom opium dependency. The agency alsosupports road construction, refurbishmentof the Kajaki Dam turbines and rehabilita-tion of the canal and irrigation system.Unfortunately, its contractors are increas-ingly targets of antigovernment forces.

A 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion team, ledby Major Eric Koutouc, a State Departmentofficer when not on active duty in the U.S.Army Reserves, implemented reconstruc-tion projects in every district in Helmand.Major Koutouc said education projects pro-vided a great deal of satisfaction because“we could see their immediate impact.” Hesaid it was gratifying to see how enthusiasticAfghans were for schools and educationalmaterials.

SEAMLESS TRANSITIONPRT Lashkar Gah “stood up” in June

2004. Since its inception, it has completedmore than 150 construction and humani-tarian assistance projects valued at about$10.5 million. Reflecting on his tenure asPRT commander, Lt. Col. David Sias said hewas proud to have had the opportunity tohelp in the effort to rebuild HelmandProvince. He said the transition to theBritish was seamless, noting that the U.K.engineers and others involved had gone outof their way to minimize disruption as theyimplemented various construction projects.

Much will change at the PRT. The U.S.team’s population varied from about 90 to110 soldiers and civilians, including civilianrepresentatives from State, USAID and the

U.S. Department of Agriculture. The TexasNational Guard provided internal securityand force protection. In contrast, the U.K.PRT will include the headquarters of theU.K. task force assigned to the province andwill number about 400 when all elementsare in place.

The U.K. PRT will focus on security andreform of the security/justice sector, capaci-ty building of government entities andeconomic and social development.

The team will also have a more interna-tional flavor. A Danish civil affairs team ispreparing to join. A contingent of Estoniansoldiers will deploy with the U.K. military,and one civilian adviser will join the PRT.

As did the United States, the UnitedKingdom faces many challenges in Helmandprovince: extensive opium poppy cultivation,tribal rivalries, corruption and weak gover-nance. The United States has made a goodstart and provided important assistance tomany citizens. With the United Kingdom’sexpanded civilian and military deployment,the goal is better days ahead for one ofAfghanistan’s most troubled provinces.

The author is the U.S. Embassy in Kabul’srepresentative to the ProvincialReconstruction Team in Lashkar Gah.


The U.S. flag is lowered at PRT LashkarGah during the ceremony transferring

the camp to the United Kingdom.


FLO SURVEY FINDS WHAT FAMILIES REALLY WANT BY ANN DeLONG GREENBERG

And the Survey Says...

The Family Liaison Office recently performed an onlineemployment Survey of Spouses and Members of Householdworldwide to gauge their key interests and concerns in a highlymobile global lifestyle. This is the first time FLO conducted asurvey of this magnitude, and the response was overwhelming.Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies teamed up withGoing Global to create and implement the survey.

“The fact that fully one-third of eligible family membersand members of household took the time to fill out what wasa complicated and detailed survey shows not only a high levelof feedback, but a real interest in the topic areas covered by thepoll,” Mr. Newhouse said.

While some of the results were surprising, others validatedthe concerns FLO has already heard, and indicated where FLOcan do more to support families. The top three quality of lifeissues respondents mention when bidding on a post are child-related issues, security issues and family memberemployment.

FLO also gained some interesting insights into the demo-graphics of family members at post: eight out of ten spousesand members of household are women; two-thirds are U.S.born spouses, 21 percent are naturalized citizens born abroad,7 percent are foreign-born spouses and 5 percent aremembers of household.

The results indicate that foreign service family members arehighly educated and talented. Three-quarters have at least acollege education, and half of those also have a graduate orprofessional degree. They have expe-rience in a wide range ofprofessional fields, from educa-tion and health to engineeringand law.

Some of the gender differ-ences were particularly striking.For example, while the numberof male and female familymembers with college degrees wasroughly equivalent, 56 percent of men had a peak salary morethan $60,000. Only 26 percent of women had achieved thatsalary level. In the U.S., men were more likely to work in theprivate sector—41 percent of men vs. 19 percent of women—and disproportionately prefer full-time employment—70percent of men vs. 41 percent of women.

The survey showed that family members overwhelminglywant to work. Nearly nine out of ten said they will seek employ-ment on a future assignment. More than half the respondentsare employed, while one in five is actively looking for work.Limited mission jobs and young children at home are the mostcited reasons why family members are not working.

More than 80 percent stated they are somewhat or verysatisfied with their current job, even though 42 percentreported working outside their career field. U.S. Missions arethe largest employer of family members abroad, and nearlytwo-thirds of respondents expressed a preference for jobsinside the mission. Compensation (salary/pension), careerdevelopment and location are the top reasons to work withinthe mission.

To assist family members interested in working inside themissions, FLO supports the Professional Associates Program,also known as the Hard-to-Fill Program, which allows eligi-

ble family members to bid on Foreign Service positions thatremain underbid. Eligible family members also can enroll ona space-available basis in the Basic Consular Course andother functional training courses through FSI.

There is a strong connection between higher educationlevels and increased desire to work outside the mission. Thosewho prefer to work outside the mission pointed to favorableworking hours and job satisfaction. Respondents said that jobsearch assistance, language training and development of aportable career interest employment seekers the most.

The Strategic Networking Assistance Program, currentlyoperating at 35 posts overseas, provides country-specific jobsearch assistance and supports the employment needs offamily members seeking work on the local economy. Almostall SNAP users, 93 percent, supported continuing andexpanding the service, and 70 percent said it was very impor-tant to have SNAP at a post when bidding on future posts.

The Family Member Employment Report tracks employ-ment trends at individual posts. This snapshot of employmentis an essential tool for bidding employees in helping them tomake informed assignment decisions and can be accessed onFLO’s intranet site. For those returning to Washington, D.C.,FLO facilitates a biweekly Job Seekers Networking group andpublishes a regular electronic job bulletin, The Network.

FLO manages a number of career development initiativesfor family members. These include e-Entrepreneur workshops,aimed at training family members how to create a portable,

home-based business via the Internet, and professional devel-opment fellowships that enable them to maintain, enhanceand/or develop professional skills overseas.

Despite extensive FLO outreach efforts, respondents arelargely unfamiliar with FLO programs to address familymember employment issues. For more information about allof FLO’s programs and initiatives, please visit the web site athttp://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/.

The Family Liaison Office will use the information gath-ered by the survey to determine the future direction ofprograms and services in its role as advocate for familymembers worldwide. Our clients have spoken and we arelistening. �

The author is the director of the Family Liaison Office.

FLO would like to thank the Una Chapman Cox Foundationfor its support in financing this survey and other employ-ment initiatives for Eligible Family Members and Membersof Household, including a Special Education CertificateScholarship, the Professional Development Fellowships,Family Member Language Scholarships and e-Entrepreneurtraining.


The survey showed that family membersoverwhelmingly want to work. Nearlynine out of ten said they will seekemployment on a future assignment.

The Cannons of Essaouiraguard the Bay on rampartsdesigned by FrenchmanTheodore Cormut.

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Rabat


By Ken Davies

P O S T O F T H E M O N T H<<<

Ancient Capital of aForward-Looking Kingdom


Located on the Atlantic Ocean at themouth of the Bou Regreg River, thebustling city of Rabat, opposite theancient city of Salé, is the capital of theKingdom of Morocco. Casablanca,farther down the coast, is the nation’slargest city and largest port, its commer-cial and industrial heart.

While maintaining important con-struction, food processing and textileindustries, Rabat is best known as thecenter of diplomatic activities, housing

all foreign embassies and a vast numberof nongover nmenta l agenc ie s .Historically, the area served as an opera-tions hub for the Romans, the Moors andeven bands of pirates who plied theirtrade throughout the Mediterranean andthe North Atlantic.

Most of the almost 30 millionMoroccans are Sunni Muslims of Arab,Berber or mixed Arab-Berber stock.

The Alaouite dynasty has ruledMorocco since 1649. The country

became a protectorate of France in 1912,achieved independence in 1956 and hascontinued to evolve as a democraticsociety ever since. The country is now runas a constitutional monarchy headed byKing Mohammed VI, who has initiatedfar-reaching political, economic and socialreforms. Prime Minister Driss Jettou isaggressively pursuing an economicprogram that includes increased housingand education opportunities.

AN EARLY FRIEND Morocco recognized the United States

in 1777 and began formal relations in1787, when the two nations signed a treatyof peace and friendship. Still in force, it isthe longest unbroken treaty in U.S. history.The American Legation in the port city ofTangier, the first U.S. government proper-ty in Morocco, is the only building onforeign soil that is listed in the U.S.

A SEA OF VOICES CALLING THE FAITHFUL TOPRAYER WASHES OVER RABAT AS THE SUN BEGINSTO KISS THE MORNING SKY. AS DAY BREAKS, TAXISVIE WITH BUSES, BMWS AND THE OCCASIONALDONKEY CART ON THE BROAD BOULEVARDS LINEDWITH PALM TREES, ANCIENT CITY WALLS, SMALLCAFES AND GRAND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.

The Cape Spartel Lighthouse near Tangier is apopular travel destination.

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AT A GLANCE

Country nameMorocco

CapitalRabat

GovernmentConstitutional monarchy

IndependenceMarch 2, 1956 (from France)

LanguagesArabic, Berber dialects and French

Population33.2 million

Total area446,550 square kilometers

Approximate sizeSlightly larger than California

CurrencyMoroccan dirham (MAD)

Per capita income$4,200

Population below poverty line19 percent

ImportsCrude petroleum, textile fabrics andtelecommunications equipment

ExportsClothing, fish, inorganic chemicals,transistors and crude minerals

Export partnersFrance (33.6 percent), Spain (17.4percent) and the United Kingdom(7.7 percent)

Internet country code.ma

National Register of Historic Places. It nowserves as a museum.

The U.S. chancery in Rabat houses theoffices of the State Department, ForeignCommercial Service, Defense Attaché,Agriculture Department, Office of DefenseCooperation and Legal Attaché. Off-sitefacilities house the U.S. Agency forInternational Development, the PublicAffairs section and the Peace Corps. TheU.S. Mission also includes the ConsulateGener a l in Casab lanca and theInternational Board of Broadcasters facilityoutside of Tangier. Altogether, 120 direct-hire American employees and 305 LocallyEmployed Staff work for the mission.

Weekends are filled with desert adven-tures, trips to the souk, golfing, horsebackriding, days at the beach and numerouscommunity activities. Families are fre-quently involved in school-sponsoredevents, while all members of the diplomaticcommunity participate in sporting andsocial events. As vibrant cultural centers,Rabat and Casablanca both offer finedining and international music events.

JOINT ECONOMIC SUCCESSIn January, a Free Trade Agreement

between the U.S. and Morocco came intoeffect. The agreement is the second in theArab world and the first in Africa. It pro-vides new trade and investmentopportunities for both countries and willencourage economic reforms and liberal-ization already under way.

In addition, Morocco recently qualifiedfor Millennium Challenge Accountfunding, making it the first non-LeastDeveloped Country to do so. Eligibility isbased on the principle that aid is mosteffective when it reinforces sound political,economic and social policies that promotepoverty reduction through economicgrowth.

Moroccan nongovernmental organiza-tions secure reform-oriented assistancefrom the Middle East PartnershipInitiative, which supports activities thatadvance democratic, economic and educa-tion reform and women’s empowerment.

PEACE IN THE WESTERN SAHARAThe issue of sovereignty over Western

Sahara has been one of the most importantpolitical issues in Morocco for many years.The territory, a desert area bordering theAtlantic Ocean, has been contested by

SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2006


Morocco and the Polisario, a movementwhich has advocated independence sincethe Spanish withdrew from the region in1975.

“One of our biggest accomplishments atthe mission recently, and indeed inMorocco, was working with our colleaguesin the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs andthe U.S. Embassy in Algiers to facilitate therelease of the remaining 404 Moroccanprisoners of war held by the Polisario,”said Political Counselor Tim Lenderking.“Many of the prisoners, victims of the stillunresolved Western Sahara conflict, wereheld for more than 20 years. The chairmanof the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), whom the President designated apresidential envoy for this purpose, trav-

eled to Algeria and Morocco to oversee therelease of the prisoners and their returnhome. It was as gratifying a moment as anyI have had in the Foreign Service.”

Mr. Lenderking, Ambassador and Mrs.Riley and Senator Lugar were on hand togreet the POWs as they came off the air-craft in southern Morocco.

HELPING MOROCCANSThe U.S. Agency for International

Development and its predecessor agen-cies have managed an active and effectiveassistance program in Morocco since1953, totaling more than $2 billion.USAID’s three strategic objectives areeconomic growth and job creation, basiceducation and workforce training, andgovernment responsiveness to citizen

needs. Funding for the current five-yearstrategy is $99.4 million.

The Peace Corps has been active inMorocco for more than 40 years, with thefirst group of volunteers arriving in 1963.The average number of volunteers in thecountry is 130 to 150. They work in health,youth development, small business andthe environment.

Under Secretary of State for PublicDiplomacy and Public Affairs KarenHughes visited Morocco in June. Her visith i g h l i g h te d t h e i m p o r t a n ce t h eDepartment has placed on public diplo-macy in the region. Recent openings oftwo American Corners in Oujda andMarrakech have broadened public out-reach. Morocco’s English access microscholarship program, with nearly 600 stu-

LAST YEAR, FAVORABLE ATTITUDES TOWARD THE U.S. WERE HIGHER IN MOROCCOTHAN IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REGION,ACCORDING TO THE PEW SURVEY. THE RATING WAS HIGHER IN MOROCCOTHAN IN MANY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING FRANCE AND GERMANY.

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Essaouira’s central market is full of peopleand merchants buying and selling vegetables,spices, seeds, meat and fish.

dents, operates in 10 cities outside thecapital. The Public Affairs section has rundozens of press/Internet and English lan-guage workshops in far-flung towns. Thesection’s hip-hop, country-western andother concerts reached more than 50,000youths last year.

LOOKING FORWARDAs the United States works to help

Moroccans achieve a higher standard ofliving, the perception of America contin-ues to improve. Last year, favorableattitudes toward the U.S. were higher inMorocco than in any other country in theMiddle East/North Africa region, accord-ing to the Pew Survey. The rating washigher in Morocco than in manyEuropean countries, including France andGermany.

As the sun slowly sinks into the AtlanticOcean and Moroccans answer the eveningcall to prayer, this beautiful land of manycontrasts prepares itself for a brightfuture. With a growing economy, greaterpolitical and personal freedoms andincreasing opportunities for its people,Morocco is an ancient land with promis-ing prospects. �

The author is a freelance writer employedby the U.S. Embassy in Rabat.

23S TAT E M A G A Z I N E

Left: Essaouira, a traditional Moroccan fishingvillage, is a favorite getaway for mission fami-lies. Above: Ambassador and Mrs. Riley pitch inon a local construction project.

Left: Part of the embassy’s Fourth of Julycelebrations recognize the longest unbrokentreaty in U.S. history. Below left: PublicAffairs Section staff and Ambassador Riley,center, welcome Under Secretary KarenHughes, standing fifth from right, to Rabat.


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Members of the Country Team traveled to Colón in March to meetwith representatives of the Arab and Muslim community as part ofthe U.S. Embassy in Panama initiative to improve relations withMuslims. The Americans were welcomed by the imam and lead-ers of the Islamic Cultural Center at the Colón Mosque.

The Muslim community in Panama haslong played an important role in the cul-tural, political and economic life of thecountry, but traditionally had limitedcontact with the U.S. Embassy.

Recognizing this significant gap in out-reach, the embassy, following an initiativeby Political Counselor Richard Sacks,organized a series of informal encountersbetween Ambassador Bill Eaton andembassy staff and representatives of theMuslim community.

The outreach began with an Oct. 24Iftaar dinner to break the Ramadan fast.Embassy staff dined with representativesof the Panama City Islamic Association,many with origins in the Indian subconti-nent. A similar meal with representativesof the Muslim community, mainly of Arab

background, followed in the Caribbeancity of Colón.

These two events laid the groundworkfor what has become a fruitful engagement,including frank discussions on trade, visapolicy and foreign policy. Several embassysections and agencies have eagerly partici-pated in follow-up meetings and programs.

I m m i g r a t i o n a n d C u s t o m sEnforcement’s Christopher Martinez andWillie Jimenez, Citizen and ImmigrationService’s Donna Petree, Consul GeneralSusan Alexander and Vice Consul CarlosHernandez have explained to Muslimleaders the complexities of U.S. visa proce-dures and listened to their concerns thatthey are singled out for special scrutinywhen seeking visas or when entering theUnited States.

The embassy ’s Depar t m ent o fHomeland Security staff built on the rela-tionship with prominent merchants andtraders within the Muslim community tostrengthen embassy connections to theColón Free Trade Zone, the world’s secondlargest, and an important distribution hubfor hemispheric trade.

On March 30, Mr. Sacks delivered aspeech at the Arab Union Club of Colónabout the ongoing U.S.-Panama bilateralfree trade agreement negotiations. Morethan 75 members of the business commu-nities of Panama City and Colón attendedthe event, which was sponsored by theColón Free Zone Users Association andColón’s Islamic Cultural Center. Mr. Sacksfocused on the benefits of free trade toPanama and the vagaries of trade negotia-

IFTAAR DINNERS LEAD TO FRUITFUL ENGAGEMENT BY WILLIAM OSTICK

Panama Outreach


tions, using examples from his pre-vious assignments in Seoul andHanoi. The free trade agreementhas not yet been widely publicizedin Panama, so he had to dispelmuch misinformation.

Taking cues from the Secretary’scall for transformational diplomacy,officers and staff continue to broadenembassy outreach to include newgroups and contacts that representPanamanian society. �

The author is the public affairs officerin Panama.

Above: Islamic Cultural Center spokesmanLuis Ibrahim, right, talks about Colón’sArab and Muslim communities withPolitical Counselor Richard Sacks at theIslamic Cultural Center school. Left:Ambassador Bill Eaton, left, and ImanMufti Abdul Khader exchange Ramadangreetings at the ambassador’s residence.

In 24, a popular television series, U.S. federal agents based out ofa command center with global, instantaneous connectivity race tofoil catastrophic terror attacks. The show’s fast-paced tempo andunderlying theme of protecting the nation’s interests call to mindthe work of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

There is another parallel: In the television show, the strength ofthe fictional counterterrorism forces is cutting-edge technology.

The DS Command Center—operating 24 hours a day, 7 days aweek—also harnesses new technology to assist bureau activitiesworldwide.

Six years into the 21st century, the bureau’s mission has broad-ened considerably. From protection of the Secretary to overseasembassy security to engineering countermeasures, DS never rests.A robust criminal investigative program targeting travel documentfraud has become an important centerpiece in the global war onterror. DS, in partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service, isactively involved in the pursuit of federal fugitives abroad. Via theOverseas Security Advisory Council, DS plays a key role in assist-ing the U.S. private sector as it adjusts to changing threats overseas. PH

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HIGH-TECH COMMAND CENTER HELPSDS DEAL WITH GLOBAL THREATS

BY THE DIPLOMATIC SECURITY STAFF

-HourService

The DS Command Center is staffed contin-uously by a watch group which includes aSenior Watch Officer (rear middle), twoWatch Officers, three technical analysts,and an editor.

GLOBAL THREATSYet the most important factor influenc-

ing change within DS is the heightenedglobal threat environment. Since the 1998East Africa bombings, the bureau hasrequired a round-the-clock entity tomonitor, coordinate and manage informa-tion flow. The DS Command Center inRosslyn was created to meet this need.

The command center is staffed byspecial-agent watch officers, technical ana-lysts and editors. A senior watch officerdirects the watch group as threats andinformation emerge from the field. Thecenter is the focus of all federal and statelaw enforcement communication for thebureau, as well as the direct line to theinteragency threat monitoring community.As the appetite for DS-derived informationhas grown, so has the dialogue with thiscommunity.

The command center compiles theDiplomatic Security Daily, a classifiedthreat compendium that is disseminatedeach morning by 6:30 a.m. via cable andthe SIPRNET throughout the Departmentand foreign affairs community. The DSDaily summarizes interagency intelligencethreat reporting blended with DS-derivedreporting from regional security officersand criminal investigative branches. It alsoruns trend pieces by OSAC and the Officeof Intelligence and Threat Analysis.

In collaboration with the bureau’s Officeof Security Technology, the commandcenter has adapted several new systems toremotely monitor embassies and con-sulates. A room-size video display wall andan assortment of LCD screens provide anarray of information. Monitoring embassyand consulate interior and exterior surveil-lance cameras allows DS to see events asthey occur in real time.

Technical analysts use open-source, real-time visual imagery, such as traffic cameras,to understand the environment for protec-tive details and special events. A feed fromthe Federal Aviation Administration’s

Domestic Events Network allows monitor-ing of air traffic alerts. The center uses videoteleconferencing to brief senior DS decisionmakers on operational matters daily.

SATELLITE IMAGERYThe command center has acquired

various geospatial resources from theNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,which allow the watch teams to navi-gate classif ied satel l ite imagery. TheDepartment’s NGA Support Unit has

provided a dedicated NGA terminal andassigned an NGA imagery analysis specialistto the center. Computer drill-downmapping permits a layered view of facilities

from city map to compound plot-to-floordiagram. GPS tools track protectiveoperations by grid coordinate, allowingDS to track motorcades into hostile orremote areas.

While DS may not single-handedlydefeat a terrorist cell like its televisioncounterparts, it is part of a national teamthat constantly focuses on emerging threatsand countermeasures. The men andwomen of DS face a dangerous and chal-l e n g i n g m i s s i o n a n d re q u i re a naround-the-clock mission managementcenter to assist them. Whether searchingcriminal databases, tracking protectivedetails, analyzing threat streams or remote-ly monitoring missions abroad, thecommand center team has become thebureau’s operational fulcrum. �


A room-size video display wall and an assortmentof LCD screens provide an array of information.Monitoring embassy and consulate interior andexterior surveillance cameras allows DS to seeevents as they occur in real time.

Top: Special Agent John Davis, Director of the DS Command Center, briefs Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice on DS remote monitoring capabilities. Above: Special Agent Paul Kennedy, DeputyDirector of the DS Command Center, explains to Secretary Rice the role of the Command Center staffon her visit to the DS Headquarters Building in Rosslyn.



RETIREES CATCH UP ON21ST-CENTURY DIPLOMACY

BY BILL PALMER

Secretary Rice told them the Departmentfamily is stronger than ever and paid partic-ular tribute to Foreign Service Nationals,“the crown jewels of our embassies aroundthe world.”

She said the front lines of diplomacy areshifting, and Department employees areserving more often and in greater numbersin dangerous, difficult places. They arebacked by increased training, technologyand language skills as they work moreoutside embassies and forge new partner-ships, she said.

“We are working tirelessly with Congressto get the funding we need,” she added.

The challenge for American diplomacy,she noted, is not just to contain strong

states, but also to empower weak ones andpromote responsible sovereignty.

FALLEN COMRADESAt the American Foreign Service

Association’s memorial plaque ceremony,Secretary Rice honored the four fallenemployees whose names were added to theplaque this year, bringing the total to 222.They are:

• Barbara Heald, a civilian employee ofthe Army’s Project and ContractingOffice, who was killed Jan. 29, 2005, bya rocket that hit the U.S. Embassycomplex in Baghdad.

• Lieutenant Commander Keith E.Taylor, a Navy reservist in the same

office who was killed in the same rocketattack. He was the chief contractingofficer for transportation and commu-nications.

• Diplomatic Security Special AgentStephen E. Sullivan, who was killed in acar bombing in Mosul, Iraq, on Sept.19, 2005. He was acting RegionalSecurity Officer for the RegionalEmbassy Office in Mosul.

• Navy veteran David E. Foy, a facilitiesmanager at the U.S. Consulate inKarachi, Pakistan, who was killed by acar bomb March 2 as he was on his wayto work.

“Throughout the world,” Secretary Ricesaid, “American diplomats like Barbara,Keith, Stephen and David are helpingforeign citizens to transform their ownfutures. Because of their service, ourcountry is safer and our world is morepeaceful.”

She read a message from President Bush,who said “their devotion reflects the truespirit of America and we will rememberthem.”

Under Secretary for ManagementHenrietta Fore told the retirees aboutrecent achievements in addressing the

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More than 400 retirees returned to the Department May 5for Foreign Affairs Day to hear a distinguished group ofspeakers led by Secretary Condoleezza Rice and to honorfour colleagues who lost their lives during the last year.

After reminiscing over coffee about life in such places asBuenos Aires and Budapest in the 1970s and 80s, the retireesfiled into the Dean Acheson Auditorium to hear abouttransformational diplomacy in the 21st century.


Above: Former senator and ambassadorHoward Baker Jr. delivers the luncheonaddress. Left: Retired three-time ambassa-dor Robert Sayre and his wife Elora havebeen coming to Foreign Affairs Day everyyear. He was ambassador in Panama duringthe canal treaty negotiations. He retired in1985. They live in Falls Church, Va. Oppositepage: AFSA President Anthony Holmes, left,and Secretary Condoleezza Rice watch theentrance of the honor guard at AFSA’smemorial plaque ceremony.

overseas pay gap, expanding spousalemployment and training, raising hardshipand danger pay caps, increasing telecom-muting and increasing civil serviceapplications for hard-to-fill overseas posts,particularly Iraq and Afghanistan.

She outlined training goals such asincreasing the use of distance learning;strengthening language training, particu-larly in critical-need languages; expandingmentoring programs; increasing thenumber of schools overseas; and increasingtraining for Foreign Service Nationals.

AROUND THE CORNERDr. Chester A. Crocker, assistant secre-

tary for African Affairs during the ReaganAdministration and now the James R.Schlesinger professor of strategic studies atGeorgetown University, spoke on the“Challenges of Success and Failure inForeign Policy.” He noted that success isjust the beginning of a new set of problemsand challenged diplomats to think aroundthe corner, think about unintended conse-quences and think about the cost ofimplementing a success.

“You can’t leave a vacuum in foreignpolicy,” he said. “Something will fill it.”

A highlight of the morning program wasthe presentation of the Foreign Service Cupby the Diplomatic and Consular Officers,Retired to Ambassador William P. StedmanJr., who since his retirement in 1978 hasworked to develop professional and grass-roots leaders and encourage thedevelopment of civil society in LatinAmerica. He was also cited for his efforts topromote continuing education for retiredforeign policy professionals.

Attendees then scattered to seminars byregional bureaus, a seminar on educationaland cultural affairs and a panel on “Life in

the Foreign Service—What’s DifferentToday,” led by Family Liaison OfficeDirector Ann Greenberg.

Luncheon speaker Howard H. Baker Jr.,former U.S. Senate majority leader, chief ofstaff to President Reagan and ambassadorto Japan, noted his long and satisfyingexperience working with the ForeignService and exhorted the audience to “keepup the good work.”

The climax of the day was the presenta-tion of the Director General’s cups byActing Director General John O’Keefe. Thecup for the Civil Service was awarded toVincent J. Chaverini, under whose leader-ship the Harry S Truman Building wasjudged the best-managed federal facility,according to his citation.

The cup for the Foreign Service wasawarded to Ambassador Marc Grossman,who was Director General of the ForeignService and Under Secretary for PoliticalAffairs. His citation mentioned his unceas-ing efforts to work with allies and partnersin Washington, Ankara, Islamabad and atNATO to resolve transnational conflicts. �

The author is a writer/editor at StateMagazine.

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You can’tleave avacuum inforeign policy.Somethingwill fill it.

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Above: Marc Grossman, left, and VincentChaverini pose with their awards after win-ning, respectively, the Director General’s Cupfor the Foreign Service and Civil Service.Left: Foreign Service retirees Yvonne Thayerand Tony Freeman share a light moment.They were colleagues in Argentina in 1977.Ms. Thayer has worked as a rehired annui-tant in the Bureau of Population, Refugeesand Migration and Mr. Freeman, who ranlabor programs for State, teaches at JohnsHopkins’ School of Advanced InternationalStudies. Mr. Freeman retired in 1994 andMs. Thayer in 2000. He lives in Bethesda,Md., and she biked to the event from herhome in northwest Washington, D.C.Opposite page: Luncheon attendees filledthe Benjamin Franklin Room.

In recent years, U.S. government managers havebeen held to a higher standard of accountability forthe performance of their organizations. Congress andthe Office of Management and Budget have mandat-ed that federal agencies report on how their funds arebeing spent and what the results are for the taxpayer.One of the most important of these reports is theannual Performance and Accountability Report.

This year, the Department of State was againawarded the Certificate of Excellence inAccountability Reporting by the Association ofGovernment Accountants—the fifth consecutive yearthe Department has earned this distinction. State alsoranked as one of the best of the major federal govern-ment agencies for the transparency, readability andoverall quality of its annual PAR, according to theMercatus Center of George Mason University.

The PAR is similar to a corporation’s annual reportto its shareholders. It provides program results tohelp Congress and the public assess the Department’ssuccess in meeting its stated goals and objectives. It

includes State’s audited financial statements presentedcomprehensively and graphically to support howresources are committed to the Department’s objec-tives. The report also provides information on areasof weakness and a review of management challengesidentified by the Inspector General and theGovernment Accountability Office.

More than simply a response to a congressionalmandate, however, the PAR—and the entire inter-bureau process involved in producing it—has becomea means for senior management to hold theDepartment accountable for the resources providedto it by the American taxpayer. More than 100 peoplefrom more than 30 bureaus contributed to the fiscalyear 2005 report. It tracks the effectiveness of world-wide programs in such diverse areas as democracybuilding, counterterrorism, relief to those sufferingthe effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, visa and con-sular services, and combating narcotics trafficking.

The Department rates all its major goals and objec-tives using specific performance indicators. Programsrated below target include an explanation for theshortfall and a description of steps to be taken toimprove performance. As Secretary Condoleezza Ricehas said, “We are committed to using American tax-payer dollars in the most effective and responsibleway possible to strengthen America’s mission abroad.”

The FY 2005 PAR includes numerous photographsof diplomatic events that link to key achievementsand colorful, easy-to-read graphics. References to pre-

vious noteworthy events and turning points in U.S.diplomatic history appear throughout the text toprovide the reader with a historical context in whichto view the Department’s role in U.S. foreign policy.

The report provides senior management withmeaningful measurements on the progress and effec-tiveness of important missions and strategic goals,and explains in a clear and readable format to thegeneral public just what the Department is doing.

“Diplomacy is a soft science,” notes Sid Kaplan,deputy assistant secretary for Strategic andPerformance Planning. “It’s not easy to measure whatwe do, and it’s often quite difficult to quantify theimpact of diplomacy in the short term. We’re con-stantly improving our performance managementsystem and use a balanced mix of performance meas-ures to capture the qualitative and quantitativeimpact of our work.

“For example, to measure our progress in promot-ing democracy, we have an output indicator trackingthe number of women trained in political leadership

skills in certain countries, an outcome indicator onoverall progress toward a constitutional democracy inAfghanistan and a contextual indicator from FreedomHouse mapping the degree of freedom around theworld.”

An executive summary version of the PAR calledthe PAR Highlights provides brief summaries of themain performance chapters presented in the nearly500-page complete report. For FY 2005, theDepartment expanded the PAR Highlights to includemore information and references. It can stand alonefor most end-users, thereby reducing the demand forcomplete texts of the full report. It now includes allkey findings presented in the PAR itself, plus an inter-active CD-ROM featuring a PDF version of the fullPAR that allows users to print any or all portions ofthe complete report. This CD-ROM includes links tonumerous Department publications, helpful websites, maps, a photo gallery and an electronic libraryof strategic and performance planning documents.

Copies of the FY 2005 Performance andAccountability Highlights, including the full PAR oninteractive CD, are available from the Bureau ofResource Management, Office of Strategic andPerformance Planning, e-mail [email protected] documents are also available on the web atwww.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/2005. �

The author is a program analyst in the Office ofStrategic and Performance Planning.


STATE HONORED—AGAIN—FOR ITS ‘ANNUAL REPORT’ BY DOUG KENTPAR REPORT

ention MemorialDay in theUnited States andthe first reactionmay be: long

weekend, pools open, great sales.There are, of course, manyAmericans who visit gravesites,but the holiday has lost much ofits original purpose in our fast-paced lives.

In Belgium, Memorial Daycommemorations are a majorevent. The country played apivotal role in the two world warsand more than 14,000 Americansoldiers are buried here. Belgiansturn out by the thousands to helpAmericans remember the sacrifice.The annual commemorations areorganized by the U.S. Embassy’sDefense Attaché Office in coopera-tion with the American BattleMonuments Commission, theAmerican Oversees Memorial Day

Association and the local U.S.Army garrison.

There are three U.S. militarycemeteries in Belgium, managed bythe Battle MonumentsCommission: Flanders Fields forWorld War I and Ardennes andHenri-Chapelle for World War II.The superintendents do a fantasticjob keeping the cemeteries in pris-tine condition. Some local people“adopt” graves. They research thebackground of the soldier, placeflowers on the grave and meet withnext of kin.

Every year at Flanders Fields,school children from the town ofWaregem sing the Star SpangledBanner. Beyond being a very emo-tional moment, it is the perfectillustration of how Memorial Daylives on. Many of the children takepart along with their parents, whothemselves had been in the choirwhen they were young. Through

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Memorial Day in Belgium

this simple ceremony honoring theAmerican dead, generations andcommunities are linked.

People often say: What will youdo when the years have gone by andthere aren’t any more veteransattending the ceremonies? Waregemis the perfect answer: Every yearclose to 1,000 people come to paytheir respects, 88 years after the endof World War I.

In May, Belgian Prime MinisterVerhofstadt went to ArlingtonNational Cemetery to dedicate aBattle of the Bulge memorial. It is agift from Belgium and Luxembourgto the Americans who fought in thebattle of the Ardennes, 19,000 ofwhom died between December 1944and January 1945. It also is an elo-quent testimony to the friendshipbetween our countries. As the primeminister said, “the soldiers whofought in the Battle of the Bulge ledthe free world to victory. But they

MAbove left:Flanders Field,one of three U.S.military cemeter-ies in Belgium,honors Americanservicemen whodied during WorldWar I. Right:Ambassador TomKorologos spokefor the U.S. at thethree U.S. militarycemeteries and inBastogne this pastMemorial Day.

small flag commemorating their visit.I have met brothers, grandchildren,uncles and in one case a woman whosaid her boyfriend was buried there.As she put it, ‘he was my boyfriend inEngland during the war and waskilled in one of the battles, and thisguy (pointing to her husband of 50years) grabbed me afterward.’”

At another site, the ambassadorstruck up a conversation with twosisters whose two brothers wereburied side by side. And furtheralong, a man placing roses at varioustombstones told him, “my wife died afew years ago and she knew a lot ofthese boys before they left the U.K.I just came over to make sure they sayhello to her when they see her.” �

The author works in the Office ofPublic Diplomacy in the U.S. Embassyin Brussels.

were not just victors. They werealso founders of freedom anddemocracy. They brought thetwo strong pillars of the freeworld, America and Europe, backtogether again.”

On Memorial Day weekend,U.S. Ambassador Tom Korologosrepresented the United States atceremonies at the threeAmerican military cemeteriesand in the city of Bastogne,famous for its role in the Battleof the Bulge. He was accompa-nied by several members ofCongress, Belgian and Americanveterans and many local citizens.

“One of the toughest parts ofthis job is that after the cere-monies I go to the graves whererelatives are gathered,”Ambassador Korologos said. “Igive them a certificate and a


One of the toughest parts ofthis job is that after the cere-monies I go to the graveswhere relatives are gathered.I give them a certificate anda small flag commemoratingtheir visit. I have met broth-ers, grandchildren, unclesand in one case a womanwho said her boyfriend wasburied there.

‘‘ ‘‘More than 14,000 American servicemen areburied in the three U.S. cemeteries in Belgium,including Ardennes Cemetery.

The Department conducts much of itsbusiness with the outside world on theeighth floor of the Harry S Truman build-ing, where the sense and feel of history isvery real. It is there, in the Department’sofficial Diplomatic Reception Rooms, thatthe Secretary of State hosts distinguishedvisitors from all countries, including herown—heads of state, prime ministers, uni-versity scholars and students, honoredartists from many cultures and others.

These 42 rooms, many named in honorof the nation’s founding fathers, containphysical records of the grand experiment indemocracy and freedom those foundersbegan back in the 18th century. In theserooms many visitors actually see for thefirst time real evidence of America’s tradi-tion, culture and heritage, which is ondisplay thanks to generous American citi-zens, foundations and corporations.

That generosity allows visitors to marvelover priceless antiques, such as the chest of

drawers once owned by a signer of theDeclaration of Independence or the chairthat once belonged to President JamesMonroe. Visitors might linger in theEntrance Hall Passageway to admire thenewly added federal sofa, circa 1790–1810,attributed to carver and furniture makerSamuel McIntire.

Or they might visit the James MonroeReception Room to admire the satin woodinlays on the mahogany urn-shaped spooncase, circa 1790, donated in 2005. Everyroom, every corridor, every corner seemsto hold a reminder of America’s past—andits future.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice per-sonally thanked many of the donors at anofficial reception in April held in the veryrooms they helped furnish. Speaking in theBen Franklin Room, the Secretary notednot only the generosity of the current gen-eration of donors—more than $550,000donated in 2005 alone—but also the fore-sight of the country’s first donors.

“As I was waiting to come in, I looked atthe portraits of George Washington, JohnJay and Benjamin Franklin and the arti-facts of many of our founding fathers,” shesaid. “And I remembered the tremendousgift that they gave to us—the gift of institu-tions and a constitution that enshrinedcertain values about freedom and libertythat we all draw on today.”

The reception also marked the unveilingof a special marble bust of Daniel Webster,Secretary of State to three presidents—William Henry Harrison, John Tyler andMillard Fillmore. The bust was modeledfrom life by American sculptor Shobal VailClevenger in 1838 and is the only knownmarble bust of Mr. Webster from these ses-sions. Mr. Clevenger also modeled HenryClay, John Quincy Adams and Martin VanBuren, among others.

The bust is currently on display in theJames Madison Dining Room and is avail-able for donation at $70,000. �

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Visual History

This marble bust of Daniel Webster is availablefor donation at $70,000.

Exceptional Generosity

While all gifts are welcome and productive,the Department gives special recognitionand thanks to these donors who mademajor contributions to the DiplomaticReception Rooms in 2005:

Gifts of $10,000 or more:

Mrs. Helen Harting AbellLouisville, Ky.

Mr. Hugh Trumbull AdamsNew York, N.Y.

Mrs. Sandrea Goerlich Alexander(Goerlich Family Foundation)Temperance, Mich.

Mr. Otto M. Budig Jr. and Mrs. MelodySawyer RichardsonCincinnati, Ohio

Eugene B. Casey FoundationGaithersburg, Md.

Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle C. Eubank IISanta Ynez, Calif.

Monica and Hermen GreenbergFoundationWashington, D.C.

William Randolph Hearst FoundationNew York, N.Y.

Estate of Mrs. Francis HortonArlington, Va.

John Jay Hopkins FoundationIn memory of William R. Conger, son ofClem and Lianne CongerManhattan Beach, Calif.

Mr. and Mrs. Norman V. KinseyShreveport, La.

Mrs. D. Williams ParkerThomasville, Ga.

Estate of Elizabeth J. RojahnOshkosh, Wis.

The Washington Decorative Arts ForumWashington, D.C.

Williams Family Foundation of GeorgiaThomasville, Ga.

Mrs. Frank L. WrightAlexandria, Va.

The Department would also like to thankformer Secretaries George P. Shultz andColin L. Powell and Mrs. Alma Powell fortheir contributions in 2005.

Gifts of Note

Chinese export porcelain punch bowl,circa 1760

Gift of Mrs. Diane W. Parker and Mr.Thomas Lyle Williams III ofThomasville, Ga.

Federal sofa attributed to carver andfurniture maker Samuel McIntire,circa 1790–1810

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel H.Sheppard Jr. of Lutherville, Md.

Mahogany urn-shaped spoon casewith satin wood inlays, circa 1790

Funds donated by The Folger Fund,Mr. Lee Merritt Folger, ofWashington, D.C.

Portrait of Secretary of State WilliamL. Marcy by John Mix Stanley, 1856

Funds donated by the Fine ArtsCommittee in honor of Susan V. Klein

Hand-colored Aquatints Fort Pierre onthe Missouri River and A BlackfootIndian on Horseback by Karl Bodmer,1839-1843

Gift of Mrs. Frances Dittmer ofAspen, Colo.


Above: Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Sheppard Jr. stand beside the 1790–1810 federal sofa they donated tothe Department in 2005. Right top: Jonathan Fairbanks donated this bronze of Lincoln thePresident to the Diplomatic Rooms in 2002. Bottom: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice notedthat the donors’ generosity helps the Department celebrate the traditions of the country’s growth.


O F F I C E O F T H E M O N T H

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Central Asia has been a crossroads since the beginning of human history.From Alexander’s conquest in the third century B.C. to Tamerlane’s empireof the Middle Ages, the Silk Road, the 19th-century Russian-British GreatGame and the rise of newly independent states from the rubble of the SovietUnion, this is a region that has long captured mankind’s imagination.

Today, Central Asia is again producing its fair share of history as thepeople of the region grapple with their geostrategic importance and thegrowing pains of nationhood.

A Department reorganization this year shifted responsibility for the fivecountries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) from the Bureau of European and EurasianAffairs to the newly enlarged Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Justlike that, eight employees found themselves in a new Office of Central AsianAffairs, reporting to a different front office and surrounded by colleaguesmore preoccupied by Indo-Pakistani relations than by the latest commu-niqué out of Brussels.

CREATING NEW LINKS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

BY JAMES DeHART AND TRISTRAM PERRY

Central Asian Affairs

Top: Turkmenistan Desk Officer Tristram Perry discussesU.S. foreign policy in Central Asia with students. Alsoshown is Embassy Ashgabat Cultural Affairs Officer SarahHutchison. Bottom: A Tajik border guard looks alert.Across the river is Afghanistan.

James DeHart, deputy director of the Office ofCentral Asian Affairs, travels by helicopterover the rugged terrain of Tajikistan.

This “remapping” of Central Asia made sense from both a man-agement and policy perspective. It created bureaucraticefficiencies by distributing the work more evenly betweenbureaus, and also enabled the Department to give more policyattention to these five countries that are so central to thePresident’s freedom agenda. Secretary Rice’s visit to the region lastOctober demonstrated the strong interest of the United States insupporting the development of these countries as sovereign,stable, democratic and prosperous nations, serving as models ofethnic and religious tolerance and contributing to the war againstterrorism.

These countries face many challenges, including a post-Soviethangover of authoritarianism, weak institutions, corruption andpoverty. But for all their shared history and similarities, they aremore remarkable for their differences. The region is amazinglydiverse in geography, culture and politics. It is a land of physicalcontrasts, from the imposing Pamir peaks of Tajikistan to thedesolate Kara-Kum desert of Turkmenistan to the sub-SiberianKazakh steppe.

Each nation has its own widely varying and distinct types offabric arts, music, theater, literature and headgear. Each has itsown roots and history, too. The fierce Turkman nomads were notsubdued by the Russians until the end of the 19th century.Uzbekistan was once one of the world’s great centers of scientif-ic learning. The Tajiks trace their ancestry via successive Persianempires all the way back to Alexander the Great.

In addition, each country poses unique policy challenges.Energy-rich Kazakhstan, the ninth-largest country in the world,is Central Asia’s economic powerhouse, but still lags on democ-racy. The Kyrgyz Republic held the freest and fairest election inCentral Asia’s modern history after last year’s “Tulip Revolution,”

but now must struggle to sustain reforms and develop itseconomy. Tajikistan, having emerged from civil war and faminein the mid-1990s, is now crucial to freeing Afghanistan from itsgeographic isolation, even as it addresses its own staggeringpoverty.

Uzbekistan, once a strong U.S. partner, has turned from theWest toward isolation and repression. Meanwhile, Turkmenistanremains dominated by president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov,and political and economic reform has been negligible sinceindependence.

Turning the Silk Road SouthU.S. success in Afghanistan has

allowed the Department a freshperspective on Central Asia’s placein the broader region, and thereorganization has made it easierto view the region as a whole. Withthe ouster of the Taliban and inter-national reconstruction efforts,Afghanistan is being transformedfrom a barrier separating CentralAsia from South Asia into a bridgeconnecting the two. This opensexciting new possibilities.

At a recent conference in Kabul,U.S. policymakers and regionalrepresentatives examined how theCentral Asian states can help breakAfghanistan out of its geographicisolation and give it access toglobal markets.


At a GlanceOffice nameOffice of Central Asian Affairs

SymbolSCA/CEN

Office DirectorJohn Fox

Staff size8

Office LocationRoom 4212, Harry S Truman Building

John Fox, director of the Office ofCentral Asian Affairs, left, poses withDave Martin, Office for U.S. Assistanceto Europe and Eurasia, on theTajikistan-Afghanistan border.


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“Everyone there agreed on the value and opportunities thatincreased trade and interaction can offer,” reported Tajikistandesk officer Jack Hillmeyer. “A common theme was that there arevery few interactions between the regions and the need for moreopportunities. This is an important role the U.S. can play—helping to convene the people of these regions.”

The office is in the thick of U.S. efforts to revive ancient tiesbetween South and Central Asia and to help create new links intrade, transport and communica-tions. Countries that trade andshare ideas are more likely to bestable, peaceful and less vulnerableto the call of extremism.

Energy may be the most impor-tant connection of all. CentralAsian countries have their greatestneed for power during winter, andSouth Asian demand is highest inthe summer, suggesting greatpotential in north-south energytrade. In addition to thermalpower in Kazakhstan, Turkmen-istan and Uzbekistan, there is vast,untapped hydropower potentialin Tajikistan and the KyrgyzRepublic. Within the next fewyears, private investment shouldlead to the establishment of a 500-kilovolt power line transmittingmuch-needed electricity fromCentral Asia across Afghanistan toPakistan and India.

Supporting Field OfficersMuch has changed in these countries since the early days of

independence, when newly minted junior officers were dis-patched to set up shoestring consular operations in musty Soviethotels. Although the U.S. presence has steadily increased over theyears, it was the tragic events of 9/11 that put Central Asia square-

ly on the map for policymakers, as all five nations providedinvaluable support for coalition military operations inAfghanistan.

Early this year, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent relocated to a newembassy compound. Later this year, U.S. missions in Kazakhstanand Tajikistan will do the same. The new facilities serve notice oflong-term U.S. strategic interests in Central Asia and also providecomfortable, state-of-the-art workplaces that can accommodate

the many new positions gained through the Secretary’s GlobalDiplomatic Repositioning initiative. There is no higher priorityfor this office than ensuring that posts get the resources they need.

While an assignment to Central Asia still entails hardship, mostfind that the professional opportunities trump the challenges ofdaily living. Negotiating military access, developing civil societyand managing large assistance programs represent transforma-tional diplomacy at its best. Junior and mid-level officers are fully

integrated into the country team and often enjoy headier respon-sibilities than might be the case at larger posts. As schooling andhealth care continue to improve, interest in Central Asian assign-ments continues to grow.

Because Russian remains the region’s lingua franca, officers whohave served in Central Asia will be attractive candidates for post-ings to places like Moscow and Kiev, as well as to South Asian posts.

Meanwhile, every desk officer in this office continuesto enjoy the responsibility of managing an entirecountry portfolio. The new front office team is deter-mined to ensure that service in the bureau leads tochallenging and rewarding onward assignments.

“We won’t offer you the most lavish surroundings,but we will promise you important, exciting work;plenty of variety; lots of responsibility—and we intendto take care of our people,” says Assistant SecretaryRichard Boucher.

In the new Office of Central Asian Affairs, the mapthat hangs on the wall looks quite different from the one thathung there before. From Kazakhstan south to the Maldives, it’snot just a geographic map but a map of possibilities, new chal-lenges and opportunities—a map not of old boundaries but ofnew beginnings.

James DeHart is deputy director of the Office of Central AsianAffairs and Tristram Perry is the Turkmenistan desk officer.

Uzbekistan desk officer Costa Nicolaidis, kneeling at right, and USAID staff members visit an anti-traffickingnon-governmental organization in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

We won’t offer you the mostlavish surroundings, but we willpromise you important, excitingwork; plenty of variety; lots ofresponsibility—and we intendto take care of our people.

For months, nine Locally Employed Staffmembers in Public Affairs at the U.S.Embassy in Tashkent shared a single, win-dowless office that was so crowded theycould not all stand up at once. Severalcouldn’t even fit their legs under theirtables because of the bulky computerequipment and files stored there. Thepublic affairs officer was not much betteroff: Her office was a former janitor’s closet.

All this was quite a change from thesection’s spacious former offices in a gra-cious older downtown building. But, alongwith the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the Drug EnforcementAdministration and others, Public Affairshad been forced to move—with just threehours’ notice because of a security threat—across town into the chancery in June 2005.

Unfortunately, the chancery was alreadygrossly overcrowded when these refugeesarrived. Three political/economic officers,for example, shared a walled-in porch; twoothers occupied a back hallway and formerbroom closet. Country team meetings werestanding-room-only affairs in the onesmall conference room. Most meetingstook place in the cafeteria, convenient forcoffee and tea but not much on privacy.

Copiers blocked the maze-like paths thatthreaded around cubicles in theManagement section. Filing cabinets linedthe halls. Bundled wires snaked across ceil-

ings, and wallpaper hung down in tatteredshreds. The building may have been roomywhen the embassy took it over in 1992, butby 2005 it was way too small to house themission’s 60-odd direct-hire Americansand 270-plus LE Staff.

Fortunately, in February2006, the embassy movedto its new compound—five months ahead ofschedule, thanks to theclose teamwork betweenthe Bureau of OverseasBuildings Operat ions,builder J.A. Jones Inter-national and designersH e l l m u t h , O b a t a +Kassabaum. Dark hall-ways, windowless officesand undersized cubicleswere replaced by a soaring,three-story-high, light-filled atrium and high-ceilinged offices withviews of embassy lawnsand gardens.

American officers and LE Staff alike havespacious offices or work areas. No moredingy reception area—guests now enter thechancery through a marble-floored, wood-paneled lobby hung with contemporaryAmerican art. The Information ResourceCenter has books on its shelves—previously,

they had been stored in boxes—and com-puters for its users. The multipurposeroom seats more than 80 comfortably, andif that is too large, there are a dozen ormore smaller conference rooms available.

And no more basement cafeteria with itslong line of waiting diners blocking thecorridor. The new chancery boasts a large,sunny dining area with a state-of-the-artkitchen. Even the food tastes better. �

The author is the information officer at theU.S. Embassy in Tashkent.

A Room with a View By Steve Labensky

Above: A copier blocks the already narrow corridor in the manage-ment section of the old chancery. Below: Attractive lighting warmsthe spacious new chancery at night.

Visitors to the Exhibition Hall in theHarry S Truman Building during May weretreated to an exhibit of original, interna-tionally inspired artwork.

The art, submitted by Foreign Servicechildren 5- to 17-years-old, was part of theForeign Service Youth Foundation’s “TheWorld Before Me” contest. The StateDepartment Federal Credit Union spon-sored the show as a charitable fundraiserfor the Children’s Miracle Network.

The themes for the contest were “YourFavorite Place Anywhere in the World” or“Your Favorite Animal.” Animals depictedincluded dogs, cats, toucans, rhinos, mana-tees and a dragon. Among the places thatinspired the young artists were the watersof the Potomac, the mountains of Nepal,

the cabin of a Singapore Air jetliner and thebustling dancehalls of Buenos Aires.

The winning piece in the 5- to 8-year-oldcategory was “Tembo,” a jovial Swahili ele-phant created by Alice d’Aboville usingfabric on a screen. In the 9-to-12 category,Julia Dahlgren won with her “NamibianSand Dunes,” another multimedia work,which incorporated twigs to represent a drytree in an arid African landscape. First placein the 13-to-17 age group went to LorrayneS. Dever’s “One of a Kind.” Her depiction ofa cat, vase and window could have beeninspired by a scene just about anywhere, butwas distinguished by its fine detail, rich useof color and bold composition.

Judging was done by a team of two localartists and a member of the SDFCU Board

of Directors. Coming up with winners wasdifficult, as more than 100 works were sub-mitted. The credit union donated a $500savings certificate to the three first-placewinners and deposited $250 in credit unionsavings accounts for the three runners-up.With so many outstanding entries, thejudging committee and credit uniondecided to recognize five additional artistswith honorary mention awards of $100.

All involved hope this year’s art contestand exhibition will be the first of many.Thanks to the credit union, the foundationand, particularly, to the many artists whobrightened up the Exhibition Hall. �

The author is a Foreign Service YouthFoundation board member.

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Works of Art

“Tembo,” an elephant made of fabric by Aliced’Aboville, was one of the contest winners.

CHILDREN’S ART BRIGHTENS EXHIBITION HALL BY VERA DAVISON

By John Bentel

The Foreign Affairs Recreation Association and theState of the Arts Cultural Series showcased an excitingarray of artists recently, including vocalists, pianists, acellist and a clarinetist.

Vera Danchenko-Stern, piano, presented Peabodyvocalists Natalie Conte, an ethereal soprano, and KevinWetzel, a rich baritone, performing a program of lovelyRussian songs. An accomplished and well-known accom-panist, Vera has performed several times for the concertseries. An enthusiastic audience gave these outstandingtalents a standing ovation.

The Marquis Trio, consisting of Diane Winter Pyles,pianist; Jean-Francois Besçond, clarinetist, and JanTimbers, cellist, played with seamless precision to anappreciative audience. While blending beautifully, eachalso was featured on the exquisite melodies.

Wayne Dorsey, who works in the Bureau of South andCentral Asian Affairs and was back for his sixth solo pianoconcert, once again provided delight with a recital ofpieces by Gluck-Sgambati, Mozart and Chopin. His sensi-tive style moved an audience that contained many of hisfriends and admirers.

The annual recital of Caryl Traten Fisher’s piano stu-dents from the State Department and GeorgetownUniversity featured beginners to accomplished players.Department employee Richard Livingstonplayed selections by Reinecke and Couperin.Dana Floyd, an administrator withGeorgetown University Hospital, performedKetterer’s Little Tang, a duet with his teacher,and Newton’s Amazing Grace. TammyHofmann, in her first recital, played Lehar’sMerry Widow Waltz. Back for her thirdrecital, Department employee Jo Lozovinaperformed Tansman’s classical Spinning Topand Garner’s popular Misty. Gillock’s LyricPiece served as a showcase for MeredithKrug, who works at the Federal ReserveBoard. Siir Kilkis played her own wonderfulcomposition, Triumph of the Human Spirit.Erin Harbaugh played Satie’s Gnossinne Nos.1, 3, 4. The students proved that with deter-mination and practice, they could achievetheir musical goals. �

The author is a computer specialist in theExecutive Secretariat.

S T A T E O F T H E A R T S


Dana Floyd playsAmazing Grace.

CALENDAR

Cultural Series FeaturesTalented Pianists

July 26 Jeffrey Ly, 11-year-old Piano Prodigy

August 9 Irina Yurkovskaya, Classical Russian Pianist

August 23 Winner of the International Young Pianist Competition

Performances are on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m.in the Dean Acheson Auditorium.

M E D I C A L R E P O R T


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The Office of Medical Services operates regional medical evac-uation centers in four overseas posts and in Washington, D.C.They are staffed by medical professionals, both Foreign Serviceand locally hired, to assist patients and posts worldwide with thelogistics and clinical details of medical evacuations.

What can you expect from an overseas post and the medevacpoint if you need to be evacuated for medical reasons? Accordingto 3 FAM 3710, medical and dental travel may be authorized whenlocal medical/dental resources are inadequate and treatment formedical problems cannot be combined with other official travel.Responsibility for payment of medical expenses is outlined in 3FAM 1942. The U.S. government will not pay medical expenses forpatients who are not hospitalized.

Department medical clearances are designed to ensure thatemployees and family members are sent to posts with adequatemedical facilities for their medical conditions. The medevacprocess is designed to provide adequate medical care when newmedical problems arise or injuries occur at posts unable tomanage such conditions.

There are five major medevac points—London, Singapore,Pretoria, Fort Lauderdale and Washington, D.C. There are alsomany intermediate medevac points—Nairobi, Vienna, Bangkokand Houston, to name a few—where participants in the medicalprogram may receive medical care outside of their home post,depending on individual circumstances.

An example of an employee needing medical services illustrateshow MED can help. We’ll use “John Doe” and the RegionalMedevac Center in London.

John Doe injures his right knee while playing baseball in WestAfrica. He immediately consults his health care provider in the

MEDEVAC CENTERS FIND PROPER CAREFOR EMPLOYEES AND FAMILY AT POSTBY AGU SUVARI AND PATRICIA BEITH

Medical Evacuation


embassy health unit. Arrangements are made for Mr. Doe to see alocal orthopedist and have X-rays taken of the knee. Mr. Doe isadvised by the orthopedist that he needs to have an arthroscopicrepair of the right knee meniscus. The embassy health careprovider recommends that he be medically evacuated to theLondon Regional Medevac Center for evaluation and surgery,given the poor hygiene of the local hospital and the lack of quali-fied arthroscopy-trained orthopedists.

Arrangements are made for Mr. Doe’s knee to be evaluated by anorthopedic surgeon in London. Before he departs post, Mr. Doereceives a round-trip ticket with an open return, a copy of theLondon response cable with the hotel reservations and medicalappointments, and a copy of his Washington-issued travel ordercable for State employees or travel orders for individuals of otheragencies. The London Regional Medevac Guide is e-mailed to him.

The medevac center guide contains useful information regard-ing his stay in London, including transportation into the cityfrom the airports, public transportation, where to exchangemoney and practical advice regarding electricity, tipping andother matters. The guide also provides the address and phonenumbers for the embassy, how to contact the medevac center andinformation on embassy support and resources. All the overseasmedevac centers provide this information either in their responsecable or in a separate guide.

Mr. Doe arrives at Heathrow Airport in London. He looks forthe signs to the Heathrow Express train for his transportation toPaddington Station, where he will take a taxi to his hotel. Heexchanges money for the train and taxi ride at the airport. Once hearrives at the hotel, he calls the medevac center to make arrange-ments to meet with the regional medical officer and medevaccoordinator. The meeting gives both the London staff and thepatient a chance to discuss their expectations. Mr. Doe uses thecommunication center in the center to call his family at post ande-mail his parents in the United States.

Mr. Doe goes to his appointment, as arranged by the medevaccenter. Prior to the appointment, the center sends the surgeon aletter of introduction with a history of Mr. Doe’s medical problem.The orthopedist recommends arthroscopic surgery. Mr. Doe ishospitalized the night of the surgery to ensure proper postopera-tive care. The medevac center sends a letter of guarantee to thehospital, since British hospitals do not accept American healthinsurance. The letter asks that all medical bills be sent to theembassy for processing and payment.

Surgery is performed and Mr. Doe’s knee is repaired. Heattends several physical therapy sessions to learn exercises he cando at home to strengthen his knee. Four days after surgery, thesurgeon agrees that he can return home. Mr. Doe meets withmedevac center personnel for a final review of his medical condi-tion. He is cleared to return to post and completes a customerservice survey evaluating the medical care and hotel accommoda-tions in London. Mr. Doe returns to post, ready to recuperate intime for the next softball season.

The medevac center sends a discharge cable reporting Mr. Doe’sfinal diagnosis and the orthopedist’s recommendations for follow-up to the patient’s home post, the regional medical officer thatcovers that post and MED in Washington. The cable advises thenumber of days the patient was on medevac status and days of his

hospitalization for per diem purposes; no per diem is authorizedduring the days of hospitalization.

The medevac center requests the fiscal data for the medicalexpenses from MED/Budget for State personnel; other agenciesprovide fiscal data via form DS 3067, Authorization forHospitalization. The Financial Management Center in Londonpays the medical expenses directly related to the hospitalization

and advises the home post of the expenses incurred. The FMCthen forwards the bill to Mr. Doe, who is required to seek reim-bursement from his insurance carrier for his medical expenses andsign the check over to the FMC at his post.

In another example illustrating an outpatient medevac, Ms.Jones comes to London from the Middle East for the evaluationand treatment of basal cell skin cancer. Her medevac journey isthe same as Mr. Doe’s, with the exception of payment of hermedical bills. Since she will not be hospitalized, she pays for hermedical care directly.

Most London physicians do not take credit cards or acceptinsurance cards, so Ms. Jones is expected to pay for her care whenshe sees the doctor. She should expect to pay 150 to 350 Britishpounds per doctor’s visit.

Once Ms. Jones is cleared to return to post by the medevaccenter and the attending physician, the London travel officereserves her a seat back to post. Once she is home, she submits herreceipts to her insurance carrier for reimbursement for the out-of-pocket expenses she incurred while on medevac. The medevaccenter will send a discharge cable with the number of days of perdiem and follow-up care.

The staff of the Department’s overseas medevac centers andforeign programs hope employees will never have to be medicallyevacuated. If they do, however, their goal is to make any medevacas simple and easy as possible and to provide the administrative,medical and emotional support patients and their families needduring a potentially stressful time. �

Regional Medical Officer Agu Suvari and Foreign Service HealthPractitioner Patricia Beith are director and deputy director, respec-tively, of the London Regional Medevac Center.

London Regional Medevac Center Director Agu Suvari, right, and DeputyDirector Patricia Beith try to make medical evacuation as simple as possible.

A P P O I N T M E N T S


U.S. Ambassador to UgandaSteven Alan Browning of Texas, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic ofUganda. Until recently, he was ministercounselor for management in Baghdad.Before that, he was ambassador toMalawi. His other overseas postingsinclude Tanzania, the DominicanRepublic, Kenya, Egypt and Sri Lanka.

U.S. Ambassador to LithuaniaJohn A. Cloud Jr. of Virginia, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic ofLithuania. Previously, he was deputy chiefof mission in Berlin. Before that, he wassenior director for InternationalEconomic Affairs on the NationalSecurity Council. His other overseas post-ings include the European Union,Warsaw, Bonn and Mexico City. He ismarried and has two children.

U.S. Ambassador to AzerbaijanAnne E. Derse of Maryland, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic ofAzerbaijan. Previously, she was directorfor Biodefense Policy at the HomelandSecurity Council. Her other overseas post-ings include Baghdad, Brussels (EuropeanUnion and U.S. Embassy), Manila, Seoul,Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago. Sheis married to former diplomat E. MasonHendrickson Jr. They have four children.

U.S. Ambassador to HungaryApril H. Foley of New York, a businessexecutive, is the new U.S. Ambassador tothe Republic of Hungary. Until recently,she was first vice president and vice chair-man of the Export-Import Bank of theUnited States. Prior to that, she workedfor PepsiCo, Pfizer and The Reader’sDigest. She has also held significant vol-unteer leadership positions. She is awidow with three children.

U.S. Ambassador to AlgeriaRobert S. Ford of Maryland, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Counselor, is the new U.S.Ambassador to the People’s DemocraticRepublic of Algeria. Previously, he wascounselor for Political Affairs in Baghdad.His other overseas postings includeTurkey, Egypt, Cameroon and Bahrain.He served in the Peace Corps inMorocco. His wife Alison is also aForeign Service officer.

U.S. Ambassador to TunisiaRobert F. Godec of Virginia, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Counselor, is the new U.S.Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia.Previously, he was deputy assistant secre-tary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairsand before that had several assignmentsrelating to Iraq. His other overseaspostings include Pretoria and Nairobi.He is married.

U.S. Representative tothe European UnionC. Boyden Gray of the District ofColumbia, an attorney and governmentofficial, is the new U.S. Representative tothe European Union. Prior to his appoint-ment, he was a partner in the Wilmer,Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr law firm.He was White House counsel forPresident George H.W. Bush. He hasserved on the boards of numerous chari-table, educational and professionalorganizations.

U.S. Ambassador to TajikistanTracey Ann Jacobson of the District ofColumbia, a career member of the SeniorForeign Service, class of Counselor, is thenew U.S. Ambassador to the Republic ofTajikistan. Until recently, she was ambas-sador to Turkmenistan. Her otheroverseas assignments include Riga, Seoul,Nassau and Moscow. She also served asdeputy executive secretary at the NationalSecurity Council.


U.S. Representative to the U.N.Economic and Social CouncilRichard T. Miller of Texas, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Representative on the Economic andSocial Council of the United Nations.Previously, he was deputy assistant secre-tary for Economic and Global Issues inthe Bureau of International OrganizationAffairs. His overseas postings includeWellington, Bridgetown, Paris and Milan.He is married and has three children.

U.S. Ambassador to MongoliaMark C. Minton of Florida, a career min-ister of the Senior Foreign Service, class ofMinister-Counselor, is the new U.S.Ambassador to Mongolia. Until recently,he was deputy chief of mission in Seoul.His other overseas assignments includeTokyo and Sapporo. He also served asminister-counselor for Political Affairs atthe U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

retirements*Berelson, Ellen S.Denault Jr., Herbert M.Edmunds, Christine J.Floyd, Joseph O.Foreman, John M.Harding, Ilo MaiHuth, Vanja S.

Jarquin, Cristina S.Johnson, Sidney L.Konicki, JohnKrantz, Emily KarenRitenburg, Peter J.Simmons, Edna D.Spriggs, Lashaviao R.

Berry, Douglas M.Connolly, Margaret A.Garrison, Susan H.Henderson, JenniferHlosek, George C.Keegan, Patricia KingKeller, Patricia BarronLipping, ImreOrr, Gregory JohnPatterson, Rosmary M.

Pearson, W. RobertPerina, Rudolf VilemPorter, James H.Porter Jr., RobertRoberts, Cathie P.Rovder, GeorgeScanlan, Francis T.Schacknies, RosinaSchmadel, Fredericka AnnSkaltsounis, Helen G.

Snyder, Mary JaneStarkey, MirteaStein, Jacalyn M.Stein, Jerry A.Ullman, Carrie A.Varner Jr., John HopkinsWalsh Jr., Charles H.Watkins, Rufus A.Wood, Samuel Edward

Civil Service >>>Foreign Service >>>

O B I T U A R I E S


Robert Bruce Black, 85, an economist and former ForeignService officer, died April 6 in Biddeford, Maine, of complicationsfrom a stroke. He served in the Navy in World War II, thenworked for Averill Harriman during the Marshall Plan. His over-seas tours included Tunisia, Senegal and Costa Rica. He enjoyedtheater, modern dance and music and was an ardent environ-mentalist and outdoorsman.

Janine Werner Boswell, 91, widow of Foreign Service officerWilliam Boswell, died June 5 in Washington, D.C. The daughterof a Norwegian diplomat, she accompanied her husband on toursto Lisbon, Naples, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Milan and Cairo beforehis retirement in 1970.

<<< John E. Devine, 92, a retiredForeign Service officer, died Feb. 16 inWashington, D.C., from complications ofAlzheimer’s disease. He served in the ArmyAir Force during World War II. His over-seas assignments included Cairo,Hamburg, Bonn, Vienna and Heidelberg.After his retirement in 1970, he worked forBusiness International. He loved the artsand traveled extensively.

<<< Daniel S. Endsley, 85, a retiredForeign Service officer, died April 22 ofpneumonia and diabetic complications inLos Altos, Calif. He served in the Navy inWorld War II. His overseas postings withthe U.S. Information Agency included SaoPaulo, Saigon and Manila. He was a life-long sports fan and highly respected LittleLeague coach.

<<< Jerelyn “Jere” P. Ewing, 70,wife of retired Foreign Service officerRaymond Ewing, died May 25 of cancer inAlexandria, Va. She accompanied herhusband on overseas postings to Vienna,Lahore, Rome, Bern, Nicosia, Accra andDar es Salaam. She was a painter andpotter, and taught pottery. She was activein church and women’s sharing groups.

Margaret M. Gildea, 79, former wife of retired ForeignService officer Robert V. Gildea, died April 5 in Arlington, Va. Sheaccompanied her husband on overseas postings to Saigon,Frankfurt, Bangkok, Vientiane and Bonn. She taught English andwas involved in women’s clubs overseas.

<<< Joseph R. Hutchins, 87, a retiredForeign Service communications specialist,died May 19 in McConnelsville, Ohio. Hewas a Navy submarine veteran of WorldWar II. He served overseas in Canberra andtraveled the world setting up communica-tions in advance of dignitaries’ visits. Afterhis retirement in 1975, he was active withgardening, genealogy, woodcrafting andvolunteering at a hospital and rest home.

<<< Kun Sik Lee, 56, a Foreign Serviceofficer, died Jan. 1 of cancer inWashington, D.C. He served in the militaryfor 15 years before joining the Departmentin 2000.

<<< Wilfred Graham Metson, Jr.,76, a retired Foreign Service officer, diedApril 24 of melanoma in Auburn, Calif. Heserved in the Army before joining theDepartment in 1958. His overseas postingsincluded Mandalay, Rangoon, Taichungand Hong Kong. He retired in 1980. Anavid birdwatcher, his travels in search ofexotic species took him to many countriesin Europe and Asia.

<<< Florence L. Neverman, 89, aretired Foreign Service secretary, died April3 in Sarasota, Fla. She served in the NavyWAVES during World War II. Her overseaspostings included Warsaw, Baghdad,Geneva, Copenhagen, Beirut, Tehran andTokyo. She retired in 1971 to Sarasota.

<<< Jerome H. Perlmutter, 80, aretired Foreign Service officer, died Oct. 6.He served in the Navy during World WarII. He joined the Department in 1962 andin 1972 was detailed to the NationalFoundation on the Arts and Humanities tohead a program to encourage design excel-lence in federal architecture, graphics andpublications. He retired in 1979.

<<< William Edward Reed, 91, aretired Foreign Service officer, died April12 in Greensboro, N.C. His overseasassignments included Liberia, Nigeria andEthiopia. Later, he was an associate deanand director of international programs atthe North Carolina Agricultural &Technical State University. After retiring in1988, he enjoyed his family and gardening.

<<< Edward E. Rice, 97, a retiredForeign Service officer, died April 13 inTiburon, Calif. His overseas postingsincluded Peking, Canton and severalother Chinese cities, as well as Manila,Stuttgart and Hong Kong. After retire-ment, he was associated with the Centerfor Chinese Studies at the University ofCalifornia and wrote two books: Mao’sWay and Wars of the Third Kind: Conflict

in Underdeveloped Countries.

<<< Erwin Clayton Seeley, 85, aretired Foreign Service officer, died April11 in Fort Myers, Fla. He was an educatorand taught in many countries overseasbefore joining the Foreign Service. Heretired in 1986. He loved music andsinging and volunteered for a hospice.

Beverly June Smith, a retired Foreign Service personnelofficer, died May 23 in Mukwonago, Wis. Her overseas postingsincluded Taiwan, Burma, Ivory Coast, Poland, Senegal, SouthAfrica and Egypt. After her retirement in the mid-1990s, sheenjoyed traveling and cultural activities.

<<< Michael Hogan Styles, 79, aretired Foreign Service officer, died April 5of lymphoma in Reston, Va. He joined theDepartment in 1949 and served overseas inTokyo. As director of the Office ofAviation, he led negotiations on interna-tional airline rights. After retiring in 1979,he formed a consulting company and was afounding member of the Osher LifelongLearning Institute at George Mason

University. He enjoyed gardening and reading.

Arthur Tienken, a retired Foreign Service officer, died May 7 ofstomach cancer in Arlington, Va. He served in the Army in WorldWar II. His overseas postings included Germany, Mozambique,Congo, Zambia, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Gabon and Belgium. Afterretiring in 1987, he served as a Department inspector and assistedin declassifying documents. He enjoyed golf, fishing, stamp col-lecting and singing.

Leonard F. Willems, a retired Foreign Service officer, diedApril 30 in Hamilton, Ontario, following a long illness. His over-seas postings included Hong Kong, Lagos, Edinburgh, Moscow,Monrovia and Ottawa, where he retired in 1991. After retirement,he advised members of Parliament on immigration issues. Hewas known for his wit and storytelling skills.


In the Event of a DeathQuestions concerning employee deaths should be directed to the Office ofCasualty Assistance at (202) 736-4302. Inquiries concerning deaths of retiredemployees should be directed to the Office of Retirement at (202) 261-8960.Obituaries for employees, spouses, children and retirees should be submittedto State Magazine by mail to the address on the back cover or by e-mail [email protected].

P A R T I N G S H O T S


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