The Foreign Service Journal, October 2014

22 OCTOBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL speed to the airport, a trip that normally took 45-50 minutes. at day we managed it in 18 minutes, getting the special representative’s bags into the trunk less than 30 minutes after her initial call.” A typical day? No. en again, specialist heroics are not uncommon, either—and they usually occur behind the scenes, earning few accolades. Specialists have always been, well, specialized. But in recent years, under the dual drivers of terrorism and technol- ogy, their job descriptions have evolved rapidly. And yet, the more some things change, the more others stay the same. A lack of understanding about what, exactly, specialists do has plagued the Foreign Service for the past half-century. Even if you are a specialist yourself, you may well have no idea what a specialist in a di erent eld does. A lack of understanding about what, exactly, specialists do has plagued the Foreign Service for the past half-century. Information Resource O cer Henry Mendelsohn speaks to American Spaces Kenya coordinators during a workshop at Embassy Nairobi’s American Reference Center on April 23. Embassy Nairobi