What I Miss...

I have heard people say that overseas, they get really accustomed to having GSO take care of all of their maintenance needs. They get back to the states and have forgetten how to change a lightbulb.

Not me. Since returning, I have not only changed lightblubs, I have re-caulked my tub, installed a cabinet in the bathroom, assembled new bookshelves, ripped out old cable wire, and hauled away all the boxes from moving home. Yes, overseas, they would do all of that except the lightbulb!

No, what I miss is medical. M and I recently had some things we considered going to the doctor over, and I suggested we go to the nurse at work to get a referral. Nope. Not even a referral. And I had gotten used to the nurse being someone I could wake up in the middle of the night if I had food poisoning. Someone who would call in a prescription for antibiotics, or arrange tests at labs. Someone who would go with me to the hospital if need be. Someone who called to check on my after my apartment was robbed, and again after I was robbed at knifepoint. Someone I trusted. And now I have to find my own doctor?

So, Eliana, the list of what I miss about Jerusalem isn't a long one, but you are definitely on it!!

Iraq Bound?

If you read the Washington Post online today, you know that the department has decided to "direct" people to Iraq. We all knew this was coming...they just weren't able to get enough "volunteers" even with the incentive packages and arm twisting.

It is more likely that M will get forced than that I will, though I am not happy with either prospect. She got Arabic training and I got Hebrew, so she has the coveted "regional and language experience." Basically meaning that the Department is first sending people who have already volunteered to serve in the Middle East. Sort of makes me wish we had pushed for going to Europe. Silly us, we wanted to serve where the country needed us.

The article is below, in full. Do note however that saying that directed assignments have happened before because an entire class of junior officers was directed to Vietnam is a bit disengenuous. Junior officers are always directed on their first two tours. It is after those tours that officers have the expectation of not being forced into a job.

I suspect this will put a big damper on recruiting, and I know a LOT of folks who said they would quit if it came to this.

U.S. State Department enforces postings to Iraq

By Sue Pleming
Reuters
Friday, October 26, 2007; 8:14 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facing staff shortages in Iraq, the U.S. State Department announced on Friday that diplomats would have no choice but to accept one-year postings in the hostile environment or face losing their jobs.

In what is likely to be an unpopular move with staff, State Department human resources director Harry Thomas said about 250 "prime candidates" for vacant Iraqi posts would be notified on Monday of the decision.

He said they would have 10 working days to respond to the demand that they go to Iraq in summer, 2008, and only those with valid reasons such as a medical problem, would be exempt.

Until now postings to Iraq have been on a voluntary basis and often hard to fill.

"We have all taken an oath to serve our country and so if someone decides they do not want to go, then we would then consider appropriate actions," Thomas said in a conference call with reporters.

"We have many options, including dismissal from the foreign service," added Thomas, who returned on Thursday from a visit to Iraq where he assessed staffing needs for next year.

Iraq assignments will be handed out from November 12 until the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday on November 22 but Thomas said he hoped that enough diplomats would step forward voluntarily.

Privately, many U.S. diplomats say they fear being posted to Iraq because of the risks of working in a war zone. In addition, it is an "unaccompanied" posting, meaning children and a spouse cannot accompany the diplomat because of the dangers involved.

Thomas said the State Department had made "directed" assignments before, such as in 1969 when an entire junior foreign officer class was sent to Vietnam and again in the 1970s and 1980s for some difficult African postings.

"This is not unique," he said. "Foreign service officers have always volunteered for their country."

Currently there are about 200 U.S. diplomats in Iraq who serve on a one-year basis and the staffing need would rise to about 250 for next summer, he said.

Thomas said about 1,200 State Department employees have already served in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and those postings have so far been on a volunteer basis.

He said there was an attractive financial package for those serving in Iraq as well as five recreational breaks during the year-long posting.

He did not believe the move would discourage people from joining the foreign service.

"After Google and Disney, we are the most popular place for people to work," Thomas said, referring to a recent survey that ranked the State Department in the top five places to work in America.

I Must Be Nuts...

Maybe I am nuts to think about leaving the Foreign Service and going back into archaeology. One thing the Foreign Service definitely affords you is the opportunity to see so much more of the world than you would likely see otherwise (if for no other reason than cost).

I was just looking at the photos I posted on my Facebook page and thinking about all the places I have been. I have scuba'd in the Red Sea. I have climbed Masada and Vesuvious. I have ridden a camel to the pyramids at Giza. I have been in the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque in Istanbul. I've wandered the streets of Pompeii and seen the Piata and the Sistine Chapel. I have hiked through Petra and seen the Dead Sea Scrolls. And I have lived where I had a good view of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem from my balcony.

How cool is that?

Overnights Again

Some of my collegues told us Watch newbies that working the Watch feels like constant jetlag...

Boy are they right.

I just finished two overnights, and I am feeling every minute of my 40 years. But on the bright side, I am getting sushi again tonight (let's hear it for having friends who are also sushi addicts!) and then I have four days off. The plan is to make some progress on my dissertation.

In other news, folks I have talked to about jobs I am bidding on are beginning to reach out to references I gave them. Which means, I hope, they are seriously considering me. I know the German desk has contacted one of my friends in Jerusalem, and the folks from the Balkans desks have gotten back to me wanting to know my ranking of those jobs. Both are good signs. I think I have a decent shot at being offered a good job this time. Maybe of having more than one good one to choose from.

Maybe I'll Stay

I've been giving a lot of thought to not leaving the State Department. I know that sounds weird. I was even asked at a job interview why I was considering leaving, when it was such a plum job.

There are no two ways about it. I was miserable in Jerusalem. And I spent a great deal of time searching USAjobs trying to find a job back in archaeology. But finding a job in archaeology that pays what I make now is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.

But I realized the other day that I was thinking about how content I am right now. Okay, I am not wild about the shifts, but I am already 1/4 of the way through this assignment. And I do like my job. The work, especially when I am the Watch Officer and not the Current Intelligence Officer (that is more like being a copy clerk), is really interesting. I am learning A LOT. And as I am bidding and talking to people about jobs I am bidding for, I am realizing how happy people in my bureau, Intelligence and Research (INR), are. Many have done multiple tours there, some even converted to civil service so they could stay in INR permanently. And with the higher clearance I now have, I could also go work for other agencies if I chose.

I have also realized that I would enjoy any of the six core bids, or bids on jobs that are at cone, in grade (meaning in our career track (cone) and at our rank), that I have picked. Plus, there are a least another six jobs I am bidding on that are not core, that I think I would like. I am bidding on four desk officer positions for the Balkans and one for Germany, plus a press officer position for the Balkans, a consular press officer position, a job teaching the public diplomacy course, a job working with the legislature, two political analyst positions and one press analyst position. There is a staff aide position in INR I may bid on as well. And any of these jobs would be interesting.

Which is to say there is are a lot of places I can go in the Department and find interesting work. And the supervisors for all of these places seem pretty good.

So I have a good job with great benefits and interesting potential for the future. Add to all this that I love our condo, I love being in the states, and I love being here with M. Really I have a lot to be thankful for. We don't have to worry about bills. I can go to the dog park with Noostie. We are developing a network of friends here, including some of our best friends from Jerusalem. I am thrilled that outside of that pressure cooker, we all still like each other.

All of which is to say maybe I will stick with the State Department.

Which of course means I am milli-seconds away from being offered the perfect job in archaeology. But even if that happened, it is not a bad position to be in.

Bidding

I am feeling a bit better about the whole bidding situation, but it is still a major pain. It is hard to meet with so many people about so many different jobs and to keep track of it all.

I had two interviews of a sort today. Both went extremely well and I think I have a good shot at the job I want. But it is technically two ranks higher than me (hopefully only one once the promotion list comes out), which means they can want me but can't tell me with certainty that I will have the job for quite a while. And if someone of the right rank decides at the last minute that they didn't get the job they wanted and want this one instead, I would be screwed. Even if I am the one the office wants. Fortunately, I also think I have a good shot at my second and third choices, which would also be decent jobs. And one of them is at my rank.

Conundrum

When I got home from Jerusalem, I was desperate to find a different job. I had been miserable there and I really wanted to go back into archaeology.

I still want to go back into archaeology. I don't love what I am doing now like I loved archaeology. But that said, I am not miserable anymore. I like my job. I can foresee getting other jobs within the department that I would also like, and I think I have a good shot at them. And I am tenured, so not only do I have a really good salary and great benefits, I have job security. So I am not desperate to leave.

But I put in a number of applications when I first got here. And today I had an interview with a job I think would be fabulous - archaeologist for Mt. Vernon. It is a permanent position with good benefits. I'd get to teach classes, be out in the field...the folks there seem great. The area is gorgeous. Problem? Huge salary cut. Not as big as some of the contract positions I have seen, but close. They said upper 40s. I make a good bit more than that. I could take a salary cut, but how much and at what cost? I put a good bit into my TSP and IRA to plan for my retirement. I couldn't do that with that kind of salary cut. Well, not and keep our condo. But we wouldn't find a place around here all that much cheaper. And hell, I'm not sure we'd have enough to keep the condo even cutting out saving for retirement (which at my age is an admitted dumb idea if I plan to actually retire).

But my conundrum is, where do I draw the line? At what point do I say that being happy now is more important than the money. It isn't a simple question. On one hand, I am SO much less stressed than I was before I got this job because I don't have to worry about my bills. But on the other, I love archaeology and I feel like I have something to offer there. I don't feel special in the State Department. And because my mother died at 48, I know living to retirement is not a sure thing.

I probably won't take this job if it is offered to me. But as the amounts get a little higher, I have to think more and more. And I don't know where line is.

Where Were You?

I was in Chapel Hill, NC, sitting in a graduate anthropology class on chiefdoms six years ago today. We took a short break to go across the hall to our office and Theresa told us all the news. One friend's father was working at the Pentagon. Others knew people in NY. All of us were stunned.

I taught class that day and we mostly sat with the tv on and talked about the attack. In the days and weeks to come, I spent a lot of time thinking about what it all meant and wondering if archaeology was the best way for me to serve my country.

My first impulse was to join the military, but I shouldn't have to lie about who I am in order to serve. They shouldn't make me a security risk by forcing me to be closeted.

So I joined the State Department instead, where I could be open about who I am, and for the last three years I have served my country as a diplomat. I am proud of my service even when I am not proud of my country. But for all its flaws, it is still the best deal going, and having been overseas, I still think America does most things better than anyone else. I still think America is the best country on the planet.

But now, and maybe this is partly a function of turning 40, I wonder if I might better serve my country by going back into archaeology. By teaching people that our country's history did not begin with the landing of the Mayflower or even the various explorers before that. Maybe teaching people about my history, as an American Indian, is also service. Maybe reaching out to other Indians is a good way to serve as well, because we are part of the tapestry of this country and part of what makes this country strong.

I don't know what I will do. I like my job and I continue to be proud to serve. But I love archaeology. It is important to me to serve. I am just not sure how.

Slowly, Some Clarity

I am making some headway with the bidlist. There are some interesting desk positions that are pretty much at the top of my list (Serbia, Albania, Croatia) plus some analyst positions in that same area and in the Israel/Occupied Territories/Jordan area. I can't bid the analyst positions as "core bids," of which I need six, because core bids must be in cone and at grade. In cone means they must either be Public Diplomacy jobs (which is my cone) or Interfunctional. At grade for me means they need to be at the FS 03 grade (I am actually a grade lower than that, an FS 04 (lower numbers are higher ranks), but because I got tenure, I can bid 03 positions as core bids). So the analyst positions can be considered in cone because they are interfunctional, but they are FS 02. I can bid on them, but they won't count as one of the six bids I have to have. The desk jobs will, though.

Other jobs I am considering are slots on the nuclear task force (which would get me a year of Russian) and a position as the Deputy Director of PD Tradecraft, the PD training course.

And, the add a little something interesting to the mix, I spotted a job in academia that I would LOVE to have. It is an assistant professor of anthropology specializing in the archaeology of southeastern American Indians. The applicant needs to have experience in researching race, class and gender (I do), experience in public archaeology (I do), and have PhD in hand by August 2008 (insha'allah, I will). The timing of the job would even allow me to finish my job in INR so I don't have to leave them short-handed.

So who knows? Many possibilities.

It Didn't Help

The waiting is over...the bid list is out. So now I have verification of the jobs I thought would be there. And just as I thought, there are some really interesting ones. Too many. Not sure what to do.

I don't have to have my bids in until October, but I need to lobby for the jobs I want in the meantime.

And then of course, wait....until as late as January....for my assignment.

Just a Really Nice Picture

Not my kids. I just really liked this picture.

Bidding

I swear that sometimes (okay, a lot of the times), the State Department seems like a hurry up and wait sort of place. It starts before you join. You sign up for the written exam and then you wait to take it. You take it and wait to get the results (3 months I think for me). You get the results and then wait for the oral assessment (seven months). You pass the oral assessment and wait to get your medical and security clearances (mine took 2 1/2 months, but only because I have had a boring life! Some take 2 years!). Once you get your clearances, you wait for "the call" to join an A-100 (the orientation class). Depending on your score, that could happen quickly (I got an offer almost immediately, declined it and took the offer for the next class) or you could wait 18 months, not get an offer, and have to start all over again.

Then you wait for the bid list, wait for your assignment, wait for tenure, wait for promotion, wait for your bid list again. It is an OCD's worst nightmare.

And so here I am, less than a week after getting tenure and I am in the holding pattern for not one but two things...promotion and bidding. Promotion I will find out about around Octoberish. The bid list is due out next week. It is weird to be bidding so soon after starting an assignment, but my position in INR Watch is only for one year, and so it goes. Getting tenure opens up all kinds of options for me, because before tenure, you are only eligible to receive one full course of language (I got Hebrew...useful only in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, neither of which I want to bid on after living in J'lem for more than 2 years).

Now I can bid on almost anything at my grade, since I am now considered a mid-level officer (no longer a Junior Officer! Woo hoo!), including language. But what to do? There are some interesting Public Diplomacy (PD) jobs (my career cone is PD), but there are also some desk jobs. I just found out a friend is going to be the Deputy Office Director for Western Europe, and I wouldn't mind working for him. The guy I did my bridge assignment for in NEA/PD (Near East Affairs Public Diplomacy) is now handling PD in DC's South Central Asia (SCA) office, and he was great to work for. There are analyst positions in INR, which would be lots of fun, and then there are any number of overseas posts offering a year of language training before you go to post. This might be my chance to get Russian.

So bidding this time could be fun. Of course, once I bid, it could be as late as January before I actually get my assignment locked in...Sigh.

I Got It!

The tenure cable finally came out. I'm tenured!!

Tenuring Troubles

Yes, I am still waiting. Impatiently. I have been refreshing the ALDACS cable que every few minutes. And sometimes it won't refresh. Maybe between me and all my A-100 classmates, we have broken it.

Like I said before, lots of really good officers don't get it the first time around, and largely for reasons beyond our control. I think that is one of the most frustrating things about this process. They could deny you tenure the first time for not going to Iraq, or not doing our consular work, or doing too much consular work, or having only one boss or not getting a hard language...and we have zero say in whether we get any of that. Our first two tours are directed, completely at the will of the Career Development Officers (CDOs). And yet this decision is made as though we had some part in the decision-making process.

One of my classmates suggested they just tenure everyone who did a good job, since they know they will eventually anyway. A part of me suspects they don't do that because they need to be able to direct people to Iraq or passport duty, and they can't really force tenured officers to go.

The longer it takes, the more edgey I get. It got worse last week when several of my classmates, all of whom I consider good officers deserving of tenure, got emails from their CDOs saying they had been passed over for tenure this time. I am cautiously optimistic because I got an email from my CDO saying I would NOT be getting such an email from her office.

But you never know until the cable is out.

I think I'll go refresh the queue again.

How I'm Feeling when I am Working at 2 am...

Anticipation

I have been trying to convince myself that I didn't care if I got tenure this time around. In the State Department, tenure is basically the same as in academia. If you have it, it is really really hard to fire you. So its job security basically.

You get considered for tenure at the first tenure board that meets after your 3-year anniversary of service. That was March 4 for my class, and the next tenure board met in late May/early June. But it takes a while, usually a couple of months, for the results to come out.

And for most of that time, I haven't given it a second thought. But now that the tenure cable is due any time now, I can think of little else. In my head, I know that it is quite likely I won't get it the first time around. You have to get it within your first five years or they kick you out, but having what the boards want is like shooting at a moving target. So some of the best officers I have served with did not get tenure the first time around and it had nothing to do with them. Some boards don't give tenure to folks who had long-term language training, some only give it to those with long-term training. And some people just have the misfortune of having bosses who couldn't write their way out of a paper bag, much less do a good job on an EER. So it is a crap shoot.

But that said, I know if I don't get it the first time around, I am going to take it personally. I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't. But I will. And what will be even more depressing is that those who get tenure this time get to go up for promotion immediately. But the promotion board, unlike the tenure board, only meets once a year. Sigh.

Shift I is Hard!

Let me tell you, these overnight shifts (they are called Shift I because they technically begin at midnight and so are the first shift of the day) are hard! It is 5:16 am and I'd REALLY like to be in my bed asleep!

Finally Getting Settled

I finally managed to get the condo in presentable shape, just in time for a friend to stop by after we had dinner together at the Indian restaurant down in Shirlington. This was just a few days after we went to dinner at the house of one of my A-100 classmates.

It is kind of interesting, seeing other people's places back in the states. Overseas, we basically all have the same Ethan Allen furniture and the apartments are chosen for us. So while we have some of our stuff with us, everyone's place seems like little more than a variation on a theme. Back in the states, you can see the apartment or home that people pick out for themselves and the kind of furniture they buy. It is sort of interesting to see how different a person's place is from what you might expect. And I wonder what folks think of our place. I wonder if our home looks like what people expect.

Dodged a Bullet?

Some of my friends from my A-100 class have started getting emails re-assigning them to the passport task force. Unless you have been living under a bridge, you probably have heard about how the State Department has a backlog of millions of passports that have to be processed. And since they don't have the people to process them quickly, and can't hire them quickly because you have to have a security clearance, they have been trying to get as many volunteers as they can to help out.

But of course, those volunteers can only work just so much in addition to their 40-hour plus work week, and lots of folks simply want to spend their extra time with their families, not processing passports.

Add to that the work is mind-numbing. I did it while I was in Jerusalem. You literally take a file, check to make sure that the paperwork matches what is in the computer, click to accept and transmit it, and stick on a barcode. Then onto the next file. Seriously mind-numbing. And I only had to do it occassionally to help out in ACS (American Citizen Services) because I was in visas (which has its own challenges, but is less mind-numbing than transmitting passports). I have a friend in Jerusalem who does several hours worth of transmittals a day. I fear for her sanity.

Anyway, they haven't gotten enough volunteers, so now they are drafting people. About to go to your new post? Nope, we need you for 2 months doing passports. Finishing A-100? Here is your assignment for the next two months. Doing an internship? Off to passports. Mostly, but not entirely, they are tapping more junior people who can't say no. Hence, they have gotten to my class. We aren't yet tenured, though we are up for consideration as we speak. And some of us who are coming off consular tours, and thus have training and experience (like me), are especially sought after.

I have gotten an email saying I could get an email assigning me to passports, but so far, they haven't (allhamdulillah!). And insha'allah, they won't. I like my job, and it is a critical needs position. Plus, if they took me out of the rotation, my collegues would be forced to pull more overnight shifts and it would be harder for them to get leave during the very months people like to take leave. I don't want to do that to them. I know my boss is fighting for me.

I hope it is enough.

Stuff!

The HHE finally it, alhamdulillah. But man is the house a wreck! Between us, we had almost 200 numbers. While a few of the numbers were pieces of furniture like bookshelves, most of those numbers are for boxes. So I literally have had to make pathways through the boxes. Last night, I had to clear a path to the bird cage!

On the bright side, I got a good bit unpacked, and I did discover that our parmasan cheese grater made it safely. I don't know how I lived without one (yes I do, I never used fresh parmasan. I always bought the canned crap).

I have to work this weekend, but I have a stretch of three days off next week, so I am hoping to make some good progress on the unpacking then. I unpacked enough yesterday to fill the dumpster with boxes and it still doesn't look like I made a dent!