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FORE I GN AGR I CULTURAL SERV I CE V I CE PRES I DENT ’ S REPORT
Mark Petry
and likely irrevocable adoption of a new competitive
officer intake system that now includes outside hires.
However, FAS still faces many challenges in the medium
term as the large new officer class slowly moves up. In
the meantime, our middle and senior officer ranks will
suffer from too few officers to fill all the available slots.
While it will present opportunities for those looking for
challenging stretch assignments, many officers will see
constant overseas assignments and be stretched to
the limit. Continuous engagement on succession plan-
ning and resource allocation will remain critical.
AFSA still has a lot to do on behalf of FAS FSOs in
2017. Meaningful succession planning for all levels and
advances in training and education opportunities will
remain top priories. The second priority will be to make
progress with management in negotiating new and
robust performance management standards.
Overall, I remain optimistic about FAS’s prospects for
2017. Regardless of the change in leadership with the
new Administration, FAS’s focus on the American econ-
omy, strengthening the contribution of exports to rural
income, and close collaboration with a broad range of
U.S. agricultural interests should continue to make for
a winning combination.
Positive budget environments in 2015 and 2016 allowed
the American Foreign Service Association to positively
engage FAS management about addressing long-term
staffing challenges caused by years of short-term
personnel fixes used to weather temporary budget
constraints. Specifically, AFSA redoubled efforts to raise
awareness of the critical need for succession planning.
Our push led management to take concrete and mea-
surable steps, yielding the largest incoming classes of
officers ever. This process also led to the successful
2
140
Foreign Service officers
(and counting)
93
assigned to
171
in more than
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The Foreign Agricultural Service is
growing stronger and strengthening
our footprint overseas with:
overseas offices helping to link
U.S. agriculture to markets
countries
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