FAQ re: Foreign Service (for friends and fam)

Since receiving an invite to join the 156th A-100 class, we have received many questions from family members and friends. I realized everyone had pretty similar inquiries, so below you'll find a short FAQ:

What is the Foreign Service?

The Foreign Service is a branch of the U.S. Department of State that represents the United States’ interests abroad. A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a diplomat.  There are five career tracks that an applicant must choose from before becoming an FSO:

•   Consular: Consular Officers protect Americans abroad and strengthen U.S. border security
•   Economic: Economic Officers promote economic partnerships, development, and fair trade
•   Management: Management Officers run our embassies and make American diplomacy work
•   Political: Political Officers analyze political events
•   Public Diplomacy: Public Diplomacy Officers explain American values and policies

I am on the Political track.  More info on Political officers from the State Department:

As a Political Officer, you’ll keep a trained eye on the political climate at your foreign post and decipher events as they relate to U.S. interests, negotiations and policies. As you learn new skills and enjoy outstanding benefits, you’ll communicate with foreign governments to seek support for shared goals, including votes in multilateral fora, in addition to:

• Developing foreign contacts in and out of politics and government to advance U.S. political interests
• Assessing the impact of political developments on the U.S. and making recommendations on action by our government
• Supporting high level visits and advising policymakers on how to communicate with foreign governments

Note, however, that each FSO is obligated to doing consular work for one year (and often 2-3 years). Because I passed the Mandarin exam and accepted bonus points for doing so, I also committed to serving in a Mandarin-speaking country at least once before being tenured (e.g., in one of my first two posts), and once after being tenured.

Where will you be posted?

Entering FSOs sign contracts for "worldwide availability."  We all start with a five-week "bootcamp" of courses/orientation colloquially called the A-100. These courses are taught in the Foreign Service Institute at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, Virginia.

At the beginning of training, each A-100 class is provided with a bid list, which lists all the countries available with open posts. We will have a couple weeks of bidding, where we will rank the posts as High, Medium and Low.  While the Dept of State may take your ranking into consideration, “the needs of the Department are paramount.”  We will go where we're needed.  During the last day of training, each class has a Flag Day. Each class member gets a flag  representing the location of our first assignment.

The nature of our first assignments will govern the type of specialized training that follows. That training may include public diplomacy training, consular training, political-economic tradecraft, or management training. Required language training can last for an additional six to nine months. Overall, newly hired FSOs can expect to spend from three months to one year in training before departure for their first overseas assignment.

What will Eva be doing?

The Obama Administration recently made policies and regulations as applicable to same-sex partners and spouses more inclusive.  See my earlier posts on this topic and Secretary Clinton's remarks.  Eva will be traveling with me as a "trailing spouse."  Unfortunately, because of DOMA, Eva will not receive the health insurance or pension benefits  that opposite-sex spouses of Foreign Service Officers receive.  We are hoping that the legislature will soon pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act (DBOA), which would allow us to enjoy the same family benefits already provided to employees with different-sex spouses.

Eva will, however, be eligible for the following (from the State Dept website): diplomatic passports, inclusion on employee travel orders to and from posts abroad, shipment of household effects, inclusion in family size calculations for the purpose of making housing allocations, family member preference for employment at posts abroad, use of medical facilities at posts abroad, medical evacuation from posts abroad, emergency travel for partners to visit gravely ill or injured employees and relatives, inclusion as family members for emergency evacuation from posts abroad, subsistence payments related to emergency evacuation from posts abroad, inclusion in calculations of payments of overseas allowances (e.g., payment for quarters, cost of living, and other allowances), representation expenses, and training at the Foreign Service Institute.

I'll let Eva answer the question as to what else she'll be doing while we're on assignment. Those of you who know my extraordinary wife are well aware that she's an ambitious, intelligent woman who will make her own opportunities!