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United States Foreign Service
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The United States Foreign Service is the diplomatic service of the United States government, under the aegis of the Department of State. It was created under the Foreign Service Act to serve as the principal personnel system under which the United States Secretary of State is authorized to assign diplomats abroad. Members of the Foreign Service are selected from the best and the brightest through a series of demanding written and oral exams. They serve at any of the 265 United States Embassies, Consulates and Diplomatic Missions around the world, as well as the State Department's headquarters in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington D.C.
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Encyclopedia
The United States Foreign Service is the diplomatic service of the United States government, under the aegis of the Department of State. It was created under the Foreign Service Act to serve as the principal personnel system under which the United States Secretary of State is authorized to assign diplomats abroad. Members of the Foreign Service are selected from the best and the brightest through a series of demanding written and oral exams. They serve at any of the 265 United States Embassies, Consulates and Diplomatic Missions around the world, as well as the State Department's headquarters in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington D.C. Foreign Service members represent the United States abroad by implementing the foreign policy of the United States and by directly aiding its citizens.
History and legislative background
On September 15, 1789, Congress passed an Act creating the Department of State and appointing duties to it, including the keeping of the Great Seal of the United States. Initially the Diplomatic Service—providing ambassadors and ministers to staff embassies overseas—and the Consular Service, which provided consuls to assist United States sailors and promote commerce, developed separately.
Throughout the 19th century, ambassadors (or ministers, as they were known prior to the 1890s) and consuls were appointed by the president, and until 1856, earned no salary. Many had commercial ties to the countries in which they would serve, and were expected to earn a living through private business or by collecting fees. In 1856, Congress provided a salary for consuls serving at certain posts; those who received a salary could not engage in private business, but could continue to collect fees for services performed.
The Rogers Act of 1924 merged the Diplomatic and Consular services into one Foreign Service. An extremely difficult Foreign Service examination was also implemented to recruit the most outstanding Americans, along with a merit based system of promotions. Since the Rogers Act, about two thirds of U.S. ambassadors have been appointed from within the ranks of the Foreign Service, and the remaining third have been appointed directly by the President of the United States.
The Foreign Service Act of 1980 was the last major legislative reform to the Foreign Service. It enacted danger pay for those diplomats who serve in dangerous and hostile surroundings along with other administrative changes.
Members of the Foreign Service
The Foreign Service Act, et seq., defines the following "members of the Service":
- Chiefs of mission
- Ambassadors at large
- Members of the Senior Foreign Service, who are the corps of leaders and experts for the management of the Service and the performance of its functions.
- Foreign Service Officers (FSOs), who have general responsibility for carrying out the functions of the Service.
- Foreign Service Specialists (also known as Foreign Service personnel), United States citizens who provide specific skills and services required for effective performance by the Service. An example of these specialist are Special Agents of the Diplomatic Security Service.
- Foreign national employees, foreign nationals who provide clerical, administrative, technical, fiscal, and other support at Foreign Service posts abroad.
- Consular agents, who provide consular and related services as authorized by the Secretary of State at specified locations abroad where no Foreign Service posts are situated.
Foreign affairs agencies
While employees of the Department of State make up the largest portion of the Foreign Service, the Foreign Service Act of 1980 authorizes other U.S. government agencies to use the personnel system for positions that require service abroad. These include the Department of Commerce (Foreign Commercial Service), the Department of Agriculture (Foreign Agricultural Service), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Foreign Service numbers
The total number of Foreign Service members, from all Foreign Service agencies (USAID, the Foreign Commercial Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and the International Broadcasting Bureau) is about 13,000. The State Department Foreign Service employees number approximately 11,500 people, 6,500 Foreign Service officers and 5,000 Foreign Service specialists. Members from the other Foreign Service agencies number about 1,500.
Joining the Foreign Service
For fifty years, Foreign Service Officer applicants who passed an all-day written exam were invited to an oral assessment. In mid-2007, the all-day written exam was shortened and information on a structured resume also began to be considered. Those who pass the Foreign Service Written Exam (approximately 10%) proceed to the Foreign Service Oral Assessment, which is administered in person in Washington, D.C. and other major cities throughout the United States. Passage rates for the Oral Assessment were 20% in 2006. The result is that of the nearly 20,000 annual test-takers, only about 400 are ultimately offered an appointment as a Foreign Service Officer career candidate.
Those persons who receive "the call" to become Foreign Service Officers must take part in a training/orientation course known as the A-100 Class.
Foreign Service Specialist candidates are evaluated by Subject Matter Experts for proven skills and recommended to the Board of Examiners for an oral assessment of those skills. Foreign Service Specialist jobs are currently grouped into seven major categories: Administration, Construction Engineering, Information Technology, International Information and English Language Programs, Medical and Health, Office Management, and Security.
Both Officers (also called generalists) and Specialists selected for hire must pass extensive background and medical clearances. All Foreign Service personnel must agree to worldwide availability -- that is, they may be called on to serve anywhere in the world. They also agree to publicly support the policies of the United States Government.
The popularity in joining the Foreign Service has risen in recent years. In the first half of the 20th Century, the public perspective of the Foreign Service was sometimes characterized as a bunch of Cookie Pushers although factual articles of the day were most often stark as to the duties one was expected to perform. In the last decade, college graduates have had a better respect for career opportunities within State, with the Department and the Foreign Service rising to the fourth most popular employer for graduating seniors in 2007.
Foreign Service life
Foreign Service employees are expected to serve most of their career abroad, working at embassies and consulates around the world. The requirement currently in place calls for a maximum stretch of domestic assignments of six years before resigning or taking a foreign posting. In practice, most Foreign Service personnel prefer overseas work. The difficulties and the benefits associated with working abroad are many, especially in relation to family life. Dependent family members often accompany Foreign Service employees overseas. The incidence of divorce among Foreign Service employees is said to be higher than the national average, but reliable statistics regarding this are difficult to find. The children of Foreign Service members (sometimes called Foreign Service Brats), grow up in a unique world, one that separates them, willingly or unwillingly, from their counterparts living continuously in the states. For both employees and their families, the opportunity to see the world, experience foreign cultures firsthand for a prolonged period, and the camaraderie amongst the Foreign Service and expatriate communities in general are considered some of the benefits of Foreign Service life. Some of the downsides of Foreign Service work include exposure to tropical diseases and the assignment to countries with inadequate health care systems, unaccompanied tours of duty, and potential exposure to violence, civil unrest and warfare. Attacks on US embassies around the world -- Beirut, Islamabad, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, and Baghdad, among others -- underscore the considerable danger these public servants face.
Members of the Foreign Service must agree to worldwide availability. In practice, they generally have significant input as to where they will work, although issues such as rank, language ability, and previous assignments will affect one's possible onward assignments. All assignments are based on the needs of the Service, and historically it has occasionally been necessary for the Department to make directed assignments to a particular post in order to fulfill the Government's diplomatic requirements. This is not the norm, however, as many Foreign Service employees have volunteered to serve even at extreme hardship posts, including, most recently, Iraq.
The State Department has a Family Liaison Office to assist Foreign Service employees and their families deal the unique issues of Foreign Service life, including the extended family separations that are usually required when an employee is sent to a danger post.
Foreign Service career system
The Foreign Service personnel system is part of the Civil Service known as the Excepted Service and certain positions are competitively promoted in a system similar to that of military officers.
List of Directors General of the United States Foreign Service
| Name | Assumed Office | Left Office | President served under |
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| Selden Chapin | November 13, 1946 | April 30, 1947 | Harry S. Truman | | Christian M. Ravndal | May 1, 1947 | June 23, 1949 | Harry S. Truman | | Richard P. Butrick | September 7, 1949 | April 1, 1952 | Harry S. Truman | | Gerald A. Drew | March 30, 1952 | October 18, 1954 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | | Raymond A. Hare | October 19, 1954 | August 29, 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | | Joseph C. Satterthwaite | May 6, 1957 | September 1, 1958 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | | Waldemar J. Gallman | November 17, 1958 | January 31, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | | Tyler Thompson | May 14, 1961 | February 15, 1964 | John F. Kennedy | | Joseph Palmer II | February 16, 1964 | April 10, 1966 | Lyndon B. Johnson | | John M. Steeves | August 1, 1966 | July 31, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson | | John H. Burns | August 1, 1969 | June 15, 1971 | Richard Nixon | | William O. Hall | July 5, 1971 | September 30, 1973 | Richard Nixon | | Nathaniel Davis | November 13, 1973 | March 17, 1975 | Richard Nixon | | Carol C. Laise | April 11, 1975 | December 26, 1977 | Gerald Ford | | Harry G. Barnes, Jr. | December 22, 1977 | February 8, 1981 | Jimmy Carter | | Joan M. Clark | July 27, 1981 | October 24, 1983 | Ronald Reagan | | Alfred Atherton | December 2, 1983 | December 28, 1984 | Ronald Reagan | | George S. Vest | June 8, 1985 | May 3, 1989 | Ronald Reagan | | Edward J. Perkins | September 22, 1989 | May 7, 1992 | George H. W. Bush | | Genta H. Holmes | September 7, 1992 | August 18, 1995 | George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton | | Anthony C. E. Quainton | December 29, 1995 | August 22, 1997 | Bill Clinton | | Edward Gnehm | August 25, 1997 | June 14, 2000 | Bill Clinton | | Marc Grossman | June 19, 2000 | | Bill Clinton | | Ruth A. Davis | June 15, 2001 | June 30, 2003 | George W. Bush | | W. Robert Pearson | October 7, 2003 | February 27, 2006 | George W. Bush | | George McDade Staples | May 25, 2006 | June 27, 2007 | George W. Bush | | Harry K. Thomas, Jr. | September 21, 2007 | | George W. Bush | |
See also
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