The Foreign Service Journal, October 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2014 21 Here is a look at the wide world of Foreign Service Specialists. We explore who they are, the many critical things they do, and how their work has evolved with our changing times. BY FRANCESCA KE L LY FOCUS THE NEW SPECIALISTS Francesca Kelly is a freelance writer, editor, college application tutor and former AFSA News editor. She is married to Ambassador Ian Kelly, an FSO since 1985. S itting at his desk in a mid-sized Euro- pean embassy a few years ago, Llywe- lyn Graeme, the ambassador’s O ce Manager, was awaiting word that the Secretary of State’s special representa- tive had landed and was on her way to a packed day of meetings. Instead, Graeme got a call from State’s Opera- tions Center connecting him directly to the high-level o cial. “She was at the airport. At the VIP lounge. ere was no sign of any embassy sta to meet her,” Graeme recounted. “Keeping her on my desk phone, I used my cell to determine that not only was no one there at the airport, but no one was on the way, either!” Graeme quickly got the ambassadorial limo lined up. en, he says: “I dashed down three ights of stairs, hitting the park- ing lot as the driver came from the lounge at a dead run. We entered the car together and left at speed, clearing the barrier to the embassy by inches. I told him he absolutely could not cause any damage, but that he should drive at his top safe ON FOREIGN SERVICE SPECIALISTS