This is an update from AFSA State VP Steve Kashkett.
1. Foreign Service members worldwide will have seen the Director
General’s cable (septel) announcing that the Department has completed
the process of identifying ‘prime candidates’ for 48 positions in
Iraq (summer 2008) that have no qualified bidders, and that HR will
notify these ‘prime candidates’ by e-mail immediately. As I
reported in our last AFSA ALDAC cable (State 134467), the DG’s office
has briefed AFSA on this exercise, which we all understand is the
prelude to directed assignments.
2. The DG’s cable today signifies that directed assignments are
imminent. Those identified as ‘prime candidates’ are officially on
short lists for specific Iraq positions, and they now have 14 days to
respond. At this point, those employees can choose to volunteer for the
position, or they can submit a statement explaining their particular
circumstances which they believe should exempt them from being directed
to that particular assignment. Based on this information, an assignment
panel will decide which individual among the ‘prime candidates’ will
receive a directed assignment to the position, assuming no volunteer has
come forward. There is an appeal procedure, which is spelled out in the
DG’s cable.
3. We at AFSA remain keenly aware of the sensitivity of this exercise
and of the strong feelings that many of our members share regarding
directed assignments. While we understand that staffing the hundreds of
State FS-designated positions in Iraq, both at Embassy Baghdad and at
the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT’s), is a top preoccupation
for the Department, we have reaffirmed to the Department our conviction
that Iraq assignments should remain voluntary. We have told the
Secretary and the DG that we are concerned that directed assignments of
FS civilians into a war zone would be detrimental to the individual, to
the post, and to the Foreign Service as a whole.
4. The Secretary, however, has the authority to proceed with this
identification process over AFSA’s objections.
5. AFSA stands ready to provide information and advice, in strict
confidence, to those members who are notified that they have been
designated as ‘prime candidates’ for one or more of these positions.
We can also offer some clarity concerning the possible disciplinary
actions, alluded to in the DG’s cable, that might be applied to any
employee who refuses to accept an assignment. Please send those
inquiries to us at <AFSA-Staff-DL@state.gov>, or call us at
202-647-8160.
6. AFSA has reaffirmed many times our members’ commitment to the
success of the Iraq mission, and we have worked with the Department to
improve the multiple incentives that constitute the Iraq Service
Recognition Package. It is a tribute to the dedication of the Foreign
Service that well over 2,000 of our members have volunteered to serve in
Iraq or Afghanistan over the past four years. We regret that the
Department has concluded that directed assignments may be necessary. If
additional volunteers come forward, this eventuality still might be
avoided, so we encourage any member who has been contemplating a tour of
duty in Iraq to consider volunteering. We will continue to urge our
Department interlocutors to find ways to increase the pool of qualified
voluntary bidders without resorting to directed assignments.
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