U.S. Embassy Yemen Now on Evacuation … No, on Temporary Reduction of Staff Status

— Domani Spero
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On September 25, the State Department finally ordered the evacuation temporary reduction of USG personnel from the US Embassy in Yemen.  Below is an excerpt from the updated Travel Warning:

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest.  The Department urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those U.S. citizens currently living in Yemen to depart. This supersedes the Travel Warning for Yemen issued on July 21, 2014.

On September 24, 2014, the Department of State ordered a reduction of U.S. government personnel from Yemen out of an abundance of caution due to the continued civil unrest and the potential for military escalation. The Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in an emergency and provide routine consular services may be limited. Embassy officers are restricted in their movements and cannot travel outside of Sana’a. In addition, movements within Sana’a are severely constrained and may be further constrained by the fluid security situation.

The security threat level in Yemen is extremely high. The Embassy is subject to frequent unannounced closures.  In May 2014, the Embassy was closed for almost five weeks because of heightened security threats.

Demonstrations continue to take place in various parts of the country and may quickly escalate and turn violent. U.S. citizens are urged to avoid areas of demonstrations, and to exercise extreme caution if within the vicinity of a demonstration.

Read in full here.

In related news, the Official Spokesperson of the State Department released a statement emphasizing that “The Embassy did not suspend operations and will continue to operate, albeit with reduced staff” and that “Consular services have not been affected by this temporary reduction in personnel.”

Serious question — when the USG declares that post is on “temporary reduction” or on “temporary relocation” of personnel, which seems to be the trend these days, are affected personnel considered “evacuees” for allowance and travel purposes?  Or are all the affected personnel put on TDY status to their designated safe havens?  We’re having a hard time locating the citation for “temporary reduction”or “temporary relocation” in the Foreign Affairs Manual.

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Photo of the Day: First Parent-Daughter Assistant Secretary of State

— Domani Spero
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President Obama announced Ms. Crocker’s nomination in October 2013. The WH released a brief bio at that time:

Bathsheba N. Crocker is the Principal Deputy Director in the Office of Policy Planning at the Department of State (DOS), a position she has held since 2011.  Previously at DOS, she served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State from 2009 to 2011.  From 2008 to 2009, Ms. Crocker was a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer for International Affairs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  She was the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support at the UN Peacebuilding Support Office from 2007 to 2008.  From 2005 to 2007, Ms. Crocker was the Deputy Chief of Staff to the UN Special Envoy at the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.  Ms. Crocker worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project as a Fellow and Co-Director from 2003 to 2005 and as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2002 to 2003.  Ms. Crocker was an Attorney-Adviser for the Office of the Legal Advisor at DOS from 2001 to 2002 and from 1997 to 1999.  From 2000 to 2001, she was Deputy U.S. Special Representative for Southeast Europe Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy.  From 1999 to 2000, Ms. Crocker was Executive Assistant to the Deputy National Security Advisor for the National Security Council at the White House.  She has served as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and American University.  Ms. Crocker received a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.A. from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Ms. Crocker’s father, Chester Crocker is a career diplomat who served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1981 to 1989 in the Reagan administration.  Click here for his ADST oral history interview (pdf).

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This is late, but here is the Senior Foreign Service Promotion List

— Domani Spero
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This is late, but we’ve only recently found the list from the congressional records.  We believed these were some of the nominees who were promoted last fall but did not get the Senate’s confirmation until April 2014.  See this for an explanation of the ranks in the Senior Foreign Service.

Nomination: PN1381-01-113
Date Received: January 30, 2014 (113th Congress)
Nominees: One hundred and ninety-three nominations, beginning with Gerald Michael Feierstein, and ending with David Michael Satterfield
Referred to: Senate Foreign Relations
Reported by: Senate Foreign Relations

Legislative Actions
Floor Action: January 30, 2014 – Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Floor Action: April 10, 2014 – Reported by Senator Menendez, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report.
Floor Action: April 10, 2014 – Placed on Senate Executive Calendar. Calendar No. DESK.
Floor Action: April 11, 2014 – Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.
Organization: Foreign Service

List of Nominees:

The following named Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the Department of State for promotion into and within the Senior Foreign Service to the classes indicated:

Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States of America, Class of Career Minister:

  • Gerald Michael Feierstein, of PA
  • Robert S. Ford, of MD
  • David M. Hale, of NJ
  • Stuart E. Jones, of VA
  • Linda Thomas-Greenfield, of LA

 

Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor:

  • Ronald D. Acuff, of FL
  • Douglas A. Allison, of VA
  • Marjorie Ann Ames, of FL
  • Whitney Young Baird, of NC
  • Erica Jean Barks-Ruggles, of VA
  • Kristen F. Bauer, of MA
  • Paul S. Beighley, of DC
  • Kate M. Byrnes, of FL
  • Floyd Steven Cable, of NY
  • Aubrey A. Carlson, of TX
  • Anne S. Casper, of NV
  • Todd Crawford Chapman, of TX
  • Karen Lise Christensen, of VA
  • Susan R. Crystal, of PA
  • Karen Bernadette Decker, of VA
  • Kathleen A. Doherty, of NY
  • Mary Dale Draper, of CA
  • Michael J. Fitzpatrick, of FL
  • Robert W. Forden, of CA
  • Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, of CO
  • Thomas Henry Goldberger, of NJ
  • Mark A. Goodfriend, of CA
  • Robert Daniel Griffiths, of NV
  • Kelii J. Gurfield, of WA
  • Peter David Haas, of FL
  • Daniel J. Hall, of TX
  • Dennis B. Hankins, of VA
  • Kathleen D. Hanson, of DC
  • Clifford Awtrey Hart, of VA
  • Jennifer Conn Haskell, of FL
  • Donald L. Heflin, of VA
  • Leo J. Hession, Jr., of CA
  • Catherine M. Hill-Herndon, of PA
  • Perry L. Holloway, of SC
  • John F. Hoover, of VA
  • Christine L. Hughes, of FL
  • Thomas J. Hushek, of DC
  • Michael Joseph Jacobsen, of TX
  • Julie Lynn Kavanagh, of VA
  • Michael Stanley Klecheski, of VA
  • Kent D. Logsdon, of FL
  • Matthew Robert Lussenhop, of MN
  • Michael William McClellan, of KY
  • Robin D. Meyer, of DC
  • Jonathan M. Moore, of IL
  • Wendela C. Moore, of VA
  • Kin Wah Moy, of NY
  • Warren Patrick Murphy, of VA
  • Julieta Valls Noyes, of FL
  • Larry G. Padget, Jr., of TX
  • Virginia E. Palmer, of VA
  • Beth A. Payne, of DC
  • Mary Catherine Phee, of DC
  • Claire A. Pierangelo, of CA
  • Lonnie J. Price, of VA
  • Robin S. Quinville, of CA
  • Elizabeth H. Richard, of TX
  • Adele E. Ruppe, of MD
  • Sue Ellen Saarnio, of VA
  • Christian J. Schurman, of VA
  • Kristen B. Skipper, of CA
  • Paul Randall Sutphin, of VA
  • Mara R. Tekach, of FL
  • Michael Stephen Tulley, of CA
  • David A. Tyler, of NH
  • Thomas Laszlo Vajda, of VA
  • James E. Vanderpool, of CA
  • Paul Dashner Wohlers, of WA
  • Steven Edward Zate, of FL
  • Timothy P. Zuniga-Brown, of NV

 

Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States of America, Class of Counselor:

  • Kelly Adams-Smith, of VA
  • Steven P. Adams-Smith, of VA
  • Jorgan Kendal Andrews, of VA
  • Virginia Meade Blaser, of VA
  • Scott Douglas Boswell, of DC
  • William Harvey Boyle, of AZ
  • Matthew Gordon Boyse, of CT
  • Bridget A. Brink, of DC
  • MaryKay Loss Carlson, of TX
  • James A. Carouso, of NY
  • Melissa Clegg-Tripp, of WA
  • Theodore R. Coley, of VA
  • Kelly Colleen Degnan, of CA
  • Leslie Stephen Degraffenried, of TX
  • Jill Derderian, of MD
  • Thomas M. Duffy, of CA
  • Stuart Anderson Dwyer, of ME
  • Andrew S. E. Erickson, of CA
  • Thomas R. Favret, of PA
  • Tara Feret, of VA
  • Patricia L. Fietz, of VA
  • Frank Jonathan Finver, of MD
  • Dehab Ghebreab, of VA
  • Paul G. Gilmer, of CA
  • Joshua D. Glazeroff, of VA
  • Anthony F. Godfrey, of VA
  • Katharina P. Gollner-Sweet, of VA
  • Francisco Javier Gonzales, of NJ
  • Laura Marlene Gould, of VA
  • Eric F. Green, of DC
  • Allen S. Greenberg, of TX
  • Michael Nicholas Greenwald, of CA
  • Henry Harrison Hand, of DC
  • Todd C. Holmstrom, of MI
  • Henry Victor Jardine, of VA
  • Lisa Anne Johnson, of VA
  • Elizabeth Jane Jordan, of FL
  • George P. Kent, of VA
  • John Stuart Kincannon, of DC
  • Michael B. Koplovsky, of NY
  • Steven Christopher Koutsis, of MA
  • Dale A. Largent, of WA
  • Laura Anne Lochman, of NC
  • James L. Loi, of CT
  • Theodore J. Lyng, of CT
  • Jean Elizabeth Manes, of FL
  • Andrew Cooper Mann, of WA
  • Carlos F. Matus, of MD
  • Wayne Amory McDuffy, of VA
  • David Slayton Meale, of VA
  • David Mees, of MD
  • Christopher Midura, of VA
  • Keith W. Mines, of NY
  • Sarah Craddock Morrison, of VA
  • Susan Butler Niblock, of MD
  • Karen L. Ogle, of MI
  • Kevin Michael O’Reilly, of VA
  • Inmi Kim Patterson, of NY
  • Brian Hawthorne Phipps, of FL
  • Thomas C. Pierce, of OR
  • John Mark Pommersheim, of FL
  • John Robert Post, of DC
  • Lynette Joyce Poulton, of CA
  • Timothy Joel Pounds, of NV
  • Jean E. Preston, of DC
  • Monique Valerie Quesada, of FL
  • David J. Ranz, of NY
  • David Reimer, of VA
  • Richard Henry Riley, IV, of VA
  • Lynn Whitlock Roche, of VA
  • Elizabeth Helen Rood, of VA
  • Kathryn M. Schalow, of VA
  • David Jonathan Schwartz, of VA
  • Dorothy Camille Shea, of DC
  • Adam Matthew Shub, of MD
  • Lynne P. Skeirik, of NH
  • Michael H. Smith, of NJ
  • Thomas D. Smitham, of MD
  • Andrew Snow, of NY
  • Sean B. Stein, of ID
  • James Kent Stiegler, of CA
  • Martina A. Strong, of TX
  • Stephanie Faye Syptak-Ramnath, of TX
  • Gregory Dean Thome, of WI
  • Laurence Edward Tobey, of NJ
  • Laurie Jo Trost, of VA
  • John Michael Underriner, of OH
  • Denise A. Urs, of TX
  • Peter Hendrick Vrooman, of NY
  • Gary S. Wakahiro, of CA
  • Jessica Webster, of DE
  • William J. Weissman, of CA
  • Eric Paul Whitaker, of CA
  • Frank J. Whitaker, of SC
  • Henry Thomas Wooster, of VA
  • Thomas K. Yazdgerdi, of FL
  • Paul Douglas Yeskoo, of VA
  • Marta Costanzo Youth, of MD

Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, and Consular Officers and Secretaries in the Diplomatic Service of the United States of America:

  • Raymond Bassi, of VA
  • Mark S. Butchart, of MD
  • Richard A. Capone, of VA
  • Janet A. Cote, of NV
  • Carolyn I. Creevy, of VA
  • Jill E. Darken, of IL
  • Bartle B. Gorman, of VA
  • Aleen Janice Grabow, of WI
  • Robert Allen Hall, of PA
  • Ralph A. Hamilton, of OH
  • Roger A. Herndon, of PA
  • Bruce J. Lizzi, of MD
  • David Lee Lyons, of MD
  • Michael M. Mack, of VA
  • Kathleen A. McCray, of VA
  • Alex G. McFadden, of FL
  • Beverly Doreen Rochester, of NV
  • Thomas Gerard Scanlon, of VA
  • Dean K. Shear, of VA

The following named Career Member of the Foreign Service of the Department of State for promotion within the Senior Foreign Service to the class indicated, effective October 12, 2008: Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States of America, Class of Career Minister:

David Michael Satterfield, of MO

Control Number: 113PN0138101

 

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