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AFSA Annual Report 2013
1
As AFSA and the Foreign
Service celebrate our 90th
Anniversary this year, there
is some very good news to
report. Increased hiring in
recent years brought the
Foreign Service ranks to an
all-time high of 13,800. But
here’s the bad news: our
numbers may start to decline.
The State Department’s
Bureau of Human Resources
says that the current budget climate will likely require hir-
ing below replacement levels in the years ahead. For 2014,
the expected level is one new hire for every two leaving the
Service. It is safe to say that the number of career profession-
als, both Foreign and Civil Service, will remain below what
is needed to staff our country’s foreign policy.
CHALLENGES
The Foreign Service faces many challenges in addition to
budget and personnel shortages. One social trend to note
is that general interest and expertise in foreign affairs
among the American public has broadened and democra-
tized over the years. This is a positive development, but one
that leads to more interest from those outside the Foreign
Service and Civil Service in appointments to positions in
the foreign affairs agencies. To some extent, this demand
for limited-term, non-career appointments is a reflection
of the changing nature of the U.S. job market, and the shift
away from staying with one employer for one’s entire
working life.
I don’t think it is useful for us to complain about this
phenomenon, any more than I would advise King Canute
to command the waves to stop. But I do think it is in our
interest to periodically remind the administration, Congress
and the public of the value of having experienced, diverse
career professionals at the front and center of our foreign
policy-making process, both in Washington, D.C., and the
field, because that will strengthen our national security and
prosperity. And we must insist that those seeking leader-
ship positions within the foreign affairs agencies have the
requisite experience. Recent indications are that Secretary
of State John Kerry agrees with us; at present five of the six
Assistant Secretaries of State for the regional bureaus are
career professionals.
AFSA’S ROLE AND STRENGTHS
What is AFSA’s role in these challenges? I was a bit sur-
prised when I started this job six months ago to discover the
important role that AFSA can and does play in addressing
the many issues before the Foreign Service. In doing so,
AFSA calls on many strengths. It starts with our talented
staff of 34 persons and our strong financial situation, which
includes two charitable foundations—the Scholarship Fund
and the Fund for American Diplomacy, which supports
AFSA educational and outreach programs.
It continues with the critical contributions of thousands
of AFSA members from all five foreign affairs agencies. Our
members participate in many ways, including serving on
the Board of Governors and on the 10 committees, writing
articles for
The Foreign Service Journal
, speaking to college
groups, writing letters to and meeting with members of
Congress, and donating to AFSA funds. These activities and
more are described herein.
LEADERSHIP
Finally, we all rely on the leadership of our elected AFSA
officers. The 2013-2015 AFSA Governing Board took the
reins in July from the very capable elected officials who
served before us, and I thank our predecessors who left this
organization in excellent shape. This annual report show-
cases the achievements of the past year.
Friends, working for AFSA has many feel-good moments.
Two such moments for me were seeing the reinstatement
of the four State Department officers who were put on
administrative leave following Benghazi, and the oppor-
tunity to advocate for worker’s compensation for Foreign
Service colleagues who contract an infectious disease while
on assignment overseas. This year will have many more,
including some celebratory events for the Foreign Service’s
90th anniversary. We invite you to join us.
n
President’s Report: Robert J. Silverman
Left to right, front row: Amb. David Greenlee, Nancy Rios-Brooks,
Steve Morrison, David Mergen, Amb. Charles A. Ford, Bob Silverman,
Matthew Asada, Lillian Wahl-Tuco, Sharon Wayne. Back row:
Amb. Ed Marks, Sue Saarnio, Barbara Farrar, Everett “Alex” Copher,
Michael Thomas, Rachel Nelson, David Zwach, Clayton Bond, Todd
Crawford. Not pictured: Andre de Nesnera, Angela Dickey, Lawrence
Cohen, Chuck Fee, Ken Kero-Mentz, Elise Mellinger, Andrew Levin,
Jason Singer, Mark Petry, Marshall Adair, F. Allen “Tex” Harris.
AFSA Governing Board
FS Employees by Agency
FAS
163 / 1%
FCS
239 / 2%
USAID
1,749 / 11%
APHIS
36 / 0%
IBB
20 / 0%
State
13,667 / 86%