In the same article where the above stats is extracted, the Office of Civil Rights says that “the Department wants its workforce to reflect the diversity of the country we represent to the world.” It also reports the EEO complaints for fiscal year 2012:
Formal complaints: 133
Top three protected bases:
reprisal (57), race (40) and sex (38)
Top three issues:
non-sexual hostile work environment (51)
performance evaluation/appraisal (19)
promotion/non-selection (18)
Findings of discrimination: 3
And — to State Department-affinity groups who requested the demographic stats from DG/HR and are repeatedly told that this is not available, you’ve got one stop if DG/HR would not budge – the Office of Civil Rights, S/OCR, Room 7428, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520; Email: socr_direct@state.gov Tel: (202) 647-9295 or (202) 647-9294, Fax: (202) 647-4969. An executive agency’s workforce demographics is not protected, secret information and should be public record, good grief!
“High-profile targets like ambassadors have always been in danger because they’re the symbol of the United States.”
[...]
The primary responsibility of the Marine Corps’ Embassy Security Group states that its “primary mission” is “to prevent the compromise of classified material vital to the national security of the United States,” while their “secondary mission” is to “provide protection for US citizens and US government property” during “exigent circumstances.” Their first responsibility is to guard secrets, not diplomats.
[...]
It’s currently unclear to what degree mismanagement, security lapses, or intelligence failures meant the United States failed to anticipate the attack on the consulate in Benghazi. But no matter which party is in office, no matter who is president, terrorism and violence are always going to be a potential risk for foreign-service officers serving in troubled areas.
As of early July, according to DoS, 15,007 personnel were supporting the U.S. Mission in Iraq:
1,235 U.S. government civilian employees (includes full-time and temporary government employees and personal-services contractors)
13,772 contractor personnel (U.S., Iraqi, and third-country nationals), 5,737 of whom were providing security services
In a change from its past reporting practice, DoS said that it obtained this quarter’s data on the number and role of contractors from the Synchronized Predeployment and Operational Tracker (SPOT) database maintained by DoD. SIGIR also obtained data from the SPOT database that showed 12,477 employees of U.S.-funded contractors and grantees were working in Iraq as of July 2, 2012—1,295 fewer contractor personnel than reported by the Embassy. The data may have been accessed on different dates, but SIGIR does not know if that would completely account for the difference in reported number of contractor personnel.
Reconstruction Staff Down to 6, But Wait –
According to DoS, only 6 personnel—the number of staff in the Iraq Strategic Partnership Office—support “reconstruction activities.” DoS estimated that 67 contractors also support reconstruction programs. However, in its tally of reconstruction personnel, DoS excludes the entire staff of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I), which manages Iraq Security Forces Fund (ISFF) projects and the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs; DoS Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) personnel working on the Police Development Program (PDP); and personnel working on U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs.96 DoS contends that it excludes these individuals because they work on “traditional assistance programs (assistance programs that are found in embassies worldwide).” However, SIGIR takes the position that Economic Support Fund (ESF) and FMS, for example, are reconstruction programs in Iraq—a position supported in a March 31, 2011, letter by the Chairmen of the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Foreign Affairs to the Secretary of State.
Less Expensive Staffing/Life-Support Options
DoS is working to reduce direct-hire staffing by 25%–30% by the end of 2013. Moreover, the Embassy is continuing to hire more Iraqis to fill direct-hire positions, reporting that 240 of the planned 400 were on board, as of June 28.
With regard to life-support contractors, DoS’s goal is for 50% of all life-support contractors to be Iraqis. As of late June, Iraqis made up about 24% of life-support contractors.
US Consulate Kirkuk Closes Today, Maybe…
The U.S. Consulate in Kirkuk—which has been operational, though not providing most traditional consular services, for about one year—has been scheduled to close by the end of July 2012. The consulate, which had been colocated with the OSC-I site on the grounds of an Iraqi Air Force base, will transfer most of its personnel to the Erbil Diplomatic Support Center (EDSC). To accommodate this move, the EDSC is preparing additional containerized housing-units that will serve as living quarters and office space for those personnel relocated from Kirkuk. About 30 private-security contractors will move from Kirkuk to Erbil as part of this plan. U.S. facilities in Kirkuk had been subject to regular indirect fire attacks since they opened. OSC-I will close its Kirkuk site by the end of September.
That’s a “maybe” because nowhere in US Mission Baghdad’s website or social media digs is there an announcement or an indication that the consulate in Kirkuk is about to close. In fact, the embassy’s lengthy job vacancy list, still has the following:
An FSN-8 at $40,102 USD per year. Not bad for a local rate in a country where the average annual income is $3,500. But Iraqis may still not want their neighbors to know where they work. The job was originally published in February and republished in May.
This is a snapshot extracted from the Foreign Service Grievance Board Annual Report to Congress for 2011. Seventy new cases were filed with the Board in 2011, a 25% increase over the 56 cases filed in 2010 (which was a 30% increase over the cases filed in 2009). All but 11 cases were filed by Department of State officers.
Yes, it’s mid-June 2012, but the report had only recently surfaced online. The annual report is submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations at the United States Senate (SFRC), the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the House of Representatives (HFAC) and the Director General of the Foreign Service at the State Department (DGHR).
Note: Agency Decision Affirmed means that the grievance filed with the Board was denied and the grievant did not prevail. Agency Decision Reversed means that the grievance was sustained in whole or in substantial part. Dismissals refer to cases in which the Board found no proper basis to proceed (e.g., dismissal due to mootness, denial of motion for reconsideration, lack of jurisdiction, timeliness, etc.).
Average time for consideration of a grievance, from the time of filing to a Board decision: 41 weeks.
Pending before the Board as of December 31, 2011: 59 cases
The 70 new cases docketed in 2011 involved Foreign Service personnel from the following agencies:
Department of State 59
U.S. Agency for International Development 5
Department of Commerce 4
Department of Agriculture – FAS 2
No cases were filed in 2011 involving the Peace Corps or the Broadcasting Board of Governors (which includes Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, TV Martì, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks).
The FSGB cites the challenge of electronic documents:
The Board members’ responsibilities for managing case documentation have grown increasingly challenging as paper documents have been supplanted by electronic documents transmitted as e-mail attachments. The time-consuming and frustrating task of organizing and working with a body of information dispersed into hundreds of inconsistently-named electronic files does not represent the best use of Board members’ limited and valuable time. In the closing months of 2011, the Board’s staff confronted this problem by devising a system for consolidating, organizing and naming electronic case documentation in a way that will significantly simplify this aspect of Board members’ work – and which will also provide them with better tools for working with the ROP and related documents. Our implementation of this system commenced in January 2012, and next year’s report will include a more detailed description and assessment of the Board’s Electronic Record of Proceedings (eROP).
The Foreign Service Grievance Board (FSGB) by the way, functions as the primary dispute resolution entity for the Foreign Service. And its importance is shown by the lack of resources for the FSGB website, and its stone-age search function. Straight from the FSGB:
“We have not been able to make planned improvements to the FSGB website (FSGB.gov) because of a lack of resources and logistical considerations, but we have managed to keep the site current with recently decided cases and other information for both public and internal use. We hope to implement some of the planned improvements during the current year.”
At least the more recent records of proceedings or ROPs are now available in PDF files and not just Word docs. We’ll be in the lookout for website improvements in the next six months or the next annual report, whichever comes first.
Below is the most updated published report on US Mission Iraq staffing via SIGIR’s Quarterly Report to Congress dated April 2012:
The number of personnel supporting the U.S.Mission in Iraq declined this quarter from almost 14,000 to 12,755—89% of whom are contractors. As of April 3, DoS reported that there were 1,369 U.S. government civilian employees under Chief of Mission authority, down 8% from last quarter (1,490). DoS estimated that approximately 11,386 contractors (U.S., local national, and third country national) were supporting Mission Iraq as of early April, down more than 7% from last quarter (12,300). Of these contractors, DoS estimated that about 2,950 provided security-related services for DoS sites, down more than 22% from last quarter (3,800).
The Department of Defense (DoD) Synchronized Predeployment and Operational Tracker (SPOT) database, however, showed that, as of April 1, 2012, 16,973 employees of U.S.-funded contractors and grantees supported DoD, DoS, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other U.S. agencies in Iraq; and the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I) reported that 3,577 private security contractors were operating in Iraq supporting both DoS and OSC-I sites, as of April 17.
According to U.S. Embassy-Baghdad, only 6 U.S. government employees—those serving in the Iraq Strategic Partnership Office (ISPO)—work on reconstruction programs, as well as 48 contractors (down from 56 reported last quarter). These totals do not include U.S. government employees and contractors of all nationalities who support the Police Development Program (PDP), which is staff ed by least 86 U.S. advisors and several hundred contract workers. Nor does it count any employees or contractors supporting USAID, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), or other federal agencies in Iraq.
There’s a lot more in the report herebut we can only take this continuing Iraq project in small bites or we’ll choke to death in frustration.
In the past, we have seen a smattering of ambassador video greetings usually posted on embassy websites, urging host country nationals to visit the website and check out embassy services. Like this welcome message by then U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro Roderick W. Moore, which is noisy and and could stand some improvement.
In December 2010, then U.S. Ambassador-designate to Thailand Kristie Kenney sent a video message greeting the people of Thailand, while she was still in Washington, D.C.. The video is in English with Thai subtitle; approximately 16,000 views.
On Dec 9, 2011, Ambassador Adrienne O’Neal also sent a video message to the people of Cape Verde prior to her arrival in the country, in Portuguese; some 385 views.
According to a recent OIG report, before the Ambassador’s arrival in Hanoi, he recorded “a video of his preliminary thoughts and goals for his tenure in Hanoi, some of it in Vietnamese, for a television interview. An estimated 20 million viewers watched the interview. Another 6 million people viewed it after it was posted on the Internet.” We have not been able to find a video of that interview. In August 2011, Ambassador David Shear did have a video greeting for the people of Vietnam (some Vietnamese, English with subtitle) posted in the mission’s YouTube channel; it has 8,310 views.
OnJan 12, 2012, US Embassy Moscow posted Ambassador Michael McFaul’s introduction video, in English with Russian subtitle; some 76,500 views.
On April 3, 2012, the US Embassy Bridgetown and the Eastern Caribbean posted an video message from Ambassador Larry Palmer, who was confirmed by the Senate on March 30. Video in English, approximately 200 views.
On April 16, 2012, the US Embassy in New Delhi followed with a video greeting from DC by Nancy Powell, Ambassador-Designate to India, also done prior to her arrival at post; 4,301 views.
Last week, it was US Embassy Cambodia’s turn with a video on YouTube of Ambassador-Designate William Todd introducing himself to the Cambodian people; some 3200 views.
This appears to be a video trend in the Foreign Service, no doubt created in Foggy Bottom. You can tell from looking at these videos that they have become more sophisticated. The sounds are better, the graphics are more snazzy, the editing more professionally done, etc. New shop at Foggy Bottom busy with these videos, huh?
We do wonder what kind of views would be considered a satisfactory return of investment for the production of these videos? We’re not saying these intro videos are bad, we are simply pointing out that it cost staff hours (also known as manhours in govspeak) and money to produce and edit these videos. At what point are they considered successful – at 200 views, 500 views, a couple thousand views?
Is this something that the Evaluation & Measurement Unit (EMU) under Office of Policy, Planning and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (R/PPR) even looks at? We know not. But this is the unit that “advances the culture of measurement in U.S. public diplomacy.”
According to the Prime Award spending data from USAspending.gov, the following organizations are the State Department’s Top 10 Assistance Recipients in FY2010.
|05/20/13| "With respect, yes, we ought to acknowledge that Chris decided to go to Benghazi. But there's another question that needs asking. He was a rookie Ambassador. Greg Hicks was a rookie DCM. Who decided it was okay to send two rookies into a war zone?."
RT @SpyTalker: Fmr WH terrorism advisors Brennan & Clarke & Rep. Peter King 1st to mention 'double agent' in leak case, not AP. http://t.co…Noted 3 hours ago
