State Magazine, December 2008

DECEMBER 2008

MAGAZINE

U . S . D E P A R T M E N T O F S T A T E

Save theTigersBureau helps target illegalwildlife trade.

16Post of theMonthNagoya, Japan, is openfor U.S. business.

22Love ofGivingCFC campaign volunteerssay they like to help.

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DEC2008S T A T E M A G A Z I N E | I S S U E 5 2 9

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10 ‘Voting Central’Embassy gets out the vote amongArgentina’s resident Americans.

14 Stronger PartnersProgram celebrates 25 years offighting terrorism.

18 Holiday OutreachEmbassy uses Ramadan to supportnation’s female leaders.

20 Mercy’s MissionForeign Service officers help Navynavigate political shoals.

28 Fertile GroundReconstruction team promotesgrowth in Iraqi province.

30 HelicopterHouse CallsU.S. medical team treats nearly1,000 in Costa Rica.

32 Shades of GreenGlobal Publishing Solutions usesbest environmental practices.

34 Fire ProtectionDepartment’s foreign and domesticstrategies differ—but work.

36 Comfort ZoneAmbassador’s wife soothes woundedservice men and women.

38 Good TidingsSafety Scene offers tips on havingsafe and happy holidays.

FEATURES

ON THE COVERThis universal message reflects theultimate goal of all diplomacy.Photograph by Corbis

2 From the D.G.

3 Letters

4 In the News

9 Diversity Notes

37 State of the Arts

40 Appointments

41 Retirements

42 Obituaries

44 The Last Word

COLUMNS

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2 | STATE MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2008

I wish all of you a joyous holiday season.Our Foreign Service and Civil Service

colleagues, not surprisingly, have onceagain come forward to answer the call inIraq and Afghanistan. As a result, we havemet our staffing goals in both countriesand are making excellent progress in fillingthe remaining summer 2009 ForeignService positions worldwide.

I would like to thank our bravevolunteers for their admirable service toour nation. I also applaud the men andwomen in our Career Development andAssignments Office for all of their efforts.Their work, together with that of ourcolleagues in NEA and SCA, was key tomaking this a successful endeavor.

Our Career Development andAssignments officers are the face of theBureau of Human Resources to the ForeignService. The work they do affects thecareers of all Foreign Service members andthe wider Department.

At the entry level, they have aparticularly critical role to play. As newrecruits come on board, our entry-level

career development officers introduce them to theForeign Service and guide them through their first toursand assignments. Under the able leadership ofAmbassador Joe Mussomeli, the CDOs arrange theassignments and training schedules that will developour new employees and guide them to success at themid levels.

At the mid and senior levels, under the strong leader-ship of Jean Bonilla and Ambassador Bill Monroe,respectively, they see that the right people with the rightskills go to the right jobs in spite of sometimesconflicting demands and pressures.

Employees need job-specific skills, language skills and,especially at the mid and senior levels, leadership andmanagement skills to excel and, more practically, to besuccessful in their jobs. On the assignments officer sideof CDA, the AOs, headed by Joyce Currie, are the chiefrepresentatives of the serviced bureaus up until panelingand, at that point, are critical to work out the timing andtraining for onward assignments.

Our CDOs and AOs are mentors. They are problemsolvers. They enforce the rules and are voices forcompassion. While we all tend to focus on one job at atime, CDA helps us see the broader picture so that wefulfill the requirements of the career development plansinstituted over the past few years.

Due to the exceptional leadership of AmbassadorScott DeLisi, the director of HR/CDA since spring, wehave made great progress. We have streamlined theassignment process, brought the number of advertisedjobs into better balance with the number of bidders andtried to ensure that our foreign policy priorities aresupported more effectively by our assignments.

We have placed an even stronger emphasis on sharingthe burden of hardship assignments and, in response tocalls for more timely assignments, I am pleased to tellyou that the assignment cycle is currently at least twomonths ahead of last year’s pace.

The work of CDA makes a real difference in the livesof our Foreign Service employees and to the smoothrunning of the Department. I am proud of the workthey do in meeting both the needs of our employees andthe needs of the Service.

We in HR want to serve you efficiently and well. Ifyou have comments or suggestions, please feel free tosend them to me via unclassified e-mail at DG Direct. ■

CDA Keeps the AssignmentProcess on Track

D.G. HARRY K.THOMAS

DECEMBER 2008 | STATE MAGAZINE | 3

Hanoi RenovationThe picture of the ambassador’s

residence in Hanoi in the article aboutculturally significant property in theSeptember issue of State Magazine causedme to reflect on the renovation of thisproperty prior to its occupancy by thefirst U.S. ambassador to serve in Vietnamsince the war. The renovations wereperformed by a Vietnamese-Americancontractor, Lat Nguyen. He was ahelicopter pilot in the South Vietnamesearmy who ended up in Savannah, Ga.,without money or English-languagecapability. He started working as a janitorand construction handyman, and eventu-ally owned his own company thatrenovated historic properties in Savannahand Augusta.

He was uniquely qualified for thisproject because of his Vietnamese-language ability and cultural knowledge,as well as his experience with historicrenovations.

The contract was awarded under theSmall Business Administration’s BusinessDevelopment Program. My office wasintimately involved with the contract. It isa wonderful example of the opportunitiesoffered by our great country for people ofhumble backgrounds who are willing towork hard to succeed in life. In 1996, Iaccompanied Lat Nguyen on his first visitto Vietnam since fleeing from there. Hewas extremely proud of his project.

Louis H. PruittOffice of Small and Disadvantaged

Business UtilizationRetired Foreign Service officer

Paper vs. OnlineAs much as I enjoy receiving the paper

edition of State Magazine—and I do readit cover to cover—I can’t help but feelbadly when eventually it goes in the recyclebin. It would be nice in these green days topromote unsubscribing from the paper

edition and elect to view online editionsonly. Maybe a post could be recognized ifeverybody elected to view the magazineonline or maybe only receive 10 percent ofthe paper copies it now receives.

I know the State Intranet portal israther cluttered, but certainly a link to themagazine can be promoted there insteadof burying it with an unfriendly URL(http://hrweb.hr.state.gov/prd/hrweb/er/statemag/). I understand that’s not HR’sfault, but maybe that can be addressed, aswell. Maybe the site’s name should bestatemag.state.gov, which would be mucheasier to promote.

Dominic “Doc” MeyerInformation Management Specialist

Montevideo, Uruguay

To our readers: What do you think?Should we reduce hard-copy distributionof State Magazine and “publish” only theonline version?

Via E-mail: [email protected] /// Phone: (202) 663-1700 /// Fax: (202) 663-1769Mailing Address: 2401 E Street, NW, HR/ER/SMG, SA-1, Room H-236, Washington, DC 20522-0108

Letters should not exceed 250 words and should include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number. All letters becomethe property of State Magazine. Letters will be edited for length, accuracy and clarity. Only signed letters will be considered.

Let Us Hear from You

Letters

The July/August issue’s coverage of the Diplomatic ReceptionRooms was great for a reader who did not know how much thecollection had expanded in recent decades. I recall that when thearea was first introduced to the Washington diplomatic corps witha reception, an undiplomatic and uncharitable Frenchambassador’s wife looked at the rather assertive carpet andquipped, “I’ll accept a glass of champagne, but you are not going toget me upstairs.” Congratulations to Collections Manager LynnTurner, and may I suggest that the early efforts of Clem Conger atgiving the area its initial momentum should in a small way bememorialized, if this has not already happened.

John HowisonRetired Foreign Service officer

Americana Collection

Embassy Kuwait StaffersJoin Memorial Run

In August, more than 150 employees ofthe U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City and U.S.military personnel from all five militarycamps around Kuwait participated in amemorial event called the Run for theFallen. U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait DeborahK. Jones and Army Lieutenant GeneralJames Lovelace also participated.

The participants were running the final

mile of what had been a 10-week cross-country run in the United States tocommemorate the members of the U.S.military killed in Operation Iraqi Freedomand Operation Enduring Freedom. Thatrun, which began on Flag Day, June 14,went from Fort Irwin, Calif., to ArlingtonNational Cemetery in Virginia.

As the cross-country runners were

completing their final mile at ArlingtonNational Cemetery on August 24, theparticipants from the U.S. Embassy inKuwait City and more than 250 otherorganizations worldwide also ran a mile.The event involved more than 9,000 partici-pants from nine countries and 43 U.S.states. In all, they collectively ran 35,725miles to remember the fallen.


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Ambassador Laura Kennedy worked in the general services officeat the U.S. Embassy in Moscow when the building caught fire in 1977.

“For all of us in Moscow at that time, the fire and its aftermathwere imprinted in our memories,” said Kennedy, now deputycommandant of the National War College.

Three years ago, those who had served at the embassy then beganholding annual reunions hosted by Terry and Jerry Ellis. Attendeeshave included then-Ambassador Malcolm Toon (now 92), formerDeputy Chief of Mission Jack Matlock (later U.S. ambassador to theSoviet Union) and other staff and family members of the agenciesrepresented there at the time. The latest reunion was in September.

“We are a strong group that has continued to serve theDepartment for many years,” said Ellen C. Langston, now manage-ment officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kolkata, India.

Another reunion attendee, then-Administrative Counselor TomTracy, recalled that the fire started on the embassy’s eighth floor.Since the fire occurred on Friday, the embassy had been largelysecured for the weekend, but embassy team members, Marines andSeabees stood watch while Soviet firefighters put out the fire.Because communications were destroyed, a telex was briefly the solemeans of written communications until emergencycommunications gear arrived the next day.

The U.S. business community and the staff of a visiting U.S.Information Agency exhibit offered help—exhibit guide John

Beyrle is now the ambassador to Russia—but it was months beforeembassy operations returned to normal. A new chancery wasfinished in 2000, and the old embassy building now housesconsular and other staff.

Moscow veterans keep meeting each fall to celebrate theircommunity spirit. Those who served in Moscow from 1977 to 1979and wish to be invited to future reunions may e-mail AmbassadorKennedy at [email protected].

Embassy Fire Veterans Hold Reunion

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the Department’sDistinguished Service Award to the two American leaders in Iraqwho she said were most responsible for helping that nation achievestability: then-commander of Coalition forces General DavidPetraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Just two years ago, she said, violence in Iraq was “spiraling out ofcontrol.” Today, she continued, “one is struck, not by the dailycarnage, but by the silence…of Iraq returning to normal.”

“It’s been a very, very long road in Iraq…but that road has turnedin a positive direction,” she said, and Gen. Petraeus and AmbassadorCrocker “have been a very big part of that story.”

The Secretary called Crocker “a lion of America’s Foreign Service”and Gen. Petraeus “an intellectual warrior and a warrior intellectual.”

Gen. Petraeus said the award was not won by any one person orleader—“It’s won by the team.” He lauded the “the tremendousquality of the diplomatic contingent” and asked those in the

audience who had served in Iraq to stand for a round of applause. The awards ceremony was video-conferenced with a gathering in

Baghdad where Deputy Secretary John Negroponte presented theaward to Ambassador Crocker. Crocker said he accepted it on behalfof his colleagues, as it was “well beyond my merits” to accomplish allthat has been done. He also lauded Gen. Petraeus.

“No ambassador could have had a better military wingman,”he said.

Crocker said the challenges facing U.S. diplomacy call forincreased political-military cooperation. “Nowhere are thesechallenges and the need for unity greater than in Iraq,” he said,adding that he expects he will continue to work with Gen. Petraeusin the general’s new role as commander of U.S. Central Command.

The award recognizes exceptionally outstanding leadership,professional competence and significant accomplishment over asustained period in foreign affairs.

Petraeus, CrockerHonored forDistinguishedService Secretary Rice presents the

award to Gen. Petraeus.


It’s beginning to look a lot like the holidays in the halls of StateDepartment facilities in the Washington, D.C., area.

For one, there’s the arrival of more than 50 Toys for Totsdonation bins at 25 buildings where the Department has operationslocally. Employees may drop new toys into the bins, and onDecember 19 a high Department official, possibly Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice, will host a 10 a.m. event at Main State where thetoys will be presented to the United States Marine Corps Reserve.The Marines sponsor the campaign and will give the toys to low-income D.C.-area children.

Each year, employees donate an estimated 5,000 toys, whichmeans the holidays will be brighter for approximately 2,500 localchildren, said Reserve Marine Lt. Col. Jonathon Myers. He serveswith the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Uniformed ProtectionDivision, which runs the Department’s collection effort. He said heand other volunteers used to individually count the donated toysuntil “we started getting so many toys.”

He does know that the campaign got 50 bikes last year and that ittakes two or three large trucks to haul them all to the Marine CorpsReserve’s distribution point after the presentation ceremony.

Another seasonal event is the decorating of the Ben Franklin andThomas Jefferson rooms on Main State’s eighth floor. The rooms,which the Secretary uses for holiday entertaining, will likely haveseasonal lighting and music, said April Guice, a ceremonials officerin the Office of the Chief of Protocol. Last year, there were lightedsnowflakes and trees decorated with small musical instruments.

For many employees, the holidays mean serving the lessfortunate. In that light, the helping hand may be that which writesa check to the Combined Federal Campaign, now under way, orwhich serves a hot, nutritious breakfast to the homeless everyweekday morning at Miriam’s Kitchen, a CFC participant locatedacross Virginia Ave., N.W., from State Annex 1. There, at mid-month, at least four employees serve breakfast—and those whowish to help may contact Lauren Krizner at [email protected].

DEPARTMENT GETS THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Clockwise from above: A jack-in-the-box might brighten a Washington, D.C.,child’s holidays, thanks to the Toys forTots campaign; seasonal decorations

adorn the Diplomatic Reception Rooms;ready to serve at Miriam’s Kitchen are,

from left, Lauren J. Krizner, Katherine Brill,Heather Wild, Chris Kisco, Rod Mackler

and Rachel Mikeska.


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Diplomatic courier Andy Perez, aboard a Boeing 747 cargo plane on its way from Brusselsto Bahrain, encountered more excitement than expected in May when the plane, full ofDepartment of State mail and supplies, crashed on takeoff and broke into three pieces.

In the panic that ensued, Perez rapidly escaped the plane, which had just been refueled. Hesaid the plane was traveling down the runway at 158 knots when “I heard a loud poppingcoming from its right side, and the engines powered down. A few seconds later, we ran out ofrunway and started bouncing as we hit rough terrain.”

Amazingly, considering the damage to the plane, no one was injured. At the time of thecrash, Perez had been on duty for 26 hours, having left Washington, D.C., at 6 a.m. with twocontainers and a pallet of diplomatic pouches in a tractor-trailer truck headed to New York’sJFK Airport. After a long wait there, his flight left at 10:30 p.m.

Plane Crash Ends aCourier’s Long Day

At the commemoration, attendees listenintently to Ambassador Stephen G.McFarland’s remarks.

In August, U.S. Ambassador toGuatemala Stephen G. McFarland led ashort ceremony in recognition of the 40thanniversary of the murder of AmbassadorJohn Gordon Mein, who was killed byGuatemalan rebels during a kidnappingattempt. Ambassador Mein was the firstU.S. ambassador to be assassinated in theline of duty.

The ceremony took place at the site ofthe murder, which is on a busy boulevardjust a few blocks from the embassy. Thepastor of the church that AmbassadorMein and his family attended offered ashort prayer, and Ambassador McFarlandspoke and laid a wreath near whereAmbassador Mein fell.

Embassy Honors Fallen Ambassador


MAGAZINE

Rob WileyEditor-in-Chief

Ed WarnerDeputy Editor

Bill PalmerWriter/Editor

David L. JohnstonArt Director

Advisory Board Members

James A. ForbesExecutive Secretary

Kelly Clements

Annette R. Cocchiaro

State Magazine (ISSN 1099–4165)is published monthly, except

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The U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, had only two days to plan its Breast Cancer Aware-ness event in October, but these photos indicate the event was a colorful success. The postwas decorated in pink, the color of the breast cancer awareness effort. There was pink at themain entrance to the chancery, the visa waiting area and the club where Ambassador Clif-ford Sobel and his wife joined staff for a get-together over coffee to increase awareness andraise donations for the cause.

Embassy BrasiliaTurns Pink for BreastCancer Awareness

Above, embassy employees are in the pink; below, pinkballoons form a large breast cancer awareness ribbon.


I am excited about the opportunity tolead the Office of Civil Rights and to serveas the Department’s second Chief DiversityOfficer. The Chief Diversity Officer positionwas established to advance theDepartment’s commitment to diversity.The Department continues to be the onlyCabinet agency to have an established ChiefDiversity Officer position with oversightauthority to integrate diversity principlesinto practice in all of the Department’soperations.

Modern definitions of diversity begin formany with the Civil Rights Act of 1964’sprohibiting of discrimination on the basisof race, color, national origin, sex and reli-gion. Additional legislation, presidentialExecutive Orders and regulationssubsequently provided protections on thebasis of age, disability, status as a parent,sexual orientation, political affiliation andeven genetics. Most institutions and corpo-rations, including the Department, havemoved today from simply monitoring oper-ations to prevent discrimination to an activeunderstanding and appreciation that the

diversity of America in all dimensions is most bene-ficial to a responsible and respectful community, avibrant workplace and ultimately acivil society.

We acknowledge that American society andinstitutions have not always recognized the valueof diversity, nor have America’s leaders routinelyexercised vigilance to prevent discrimination.Although we cannot redress America’s negativehistory on these issues, we can direct that, for all ouremployees, disrespect for other persons,groups, races, religions and cultures simply willnot be tolerated.

While the Department has been championingdiversity in recruitment, hiring and retention, itmust continue to promote diversity in all forms,assuming a proactive approach that actively recruitsthe best and the brightest from across America andrespects and appreciates diversity in its broadestcontext—cultural background, ethnicity, race,gender, language proficiency, orientation, abilities,ideas and expertise. We must do more in addressingdiversity in succession planning, career developmentand incorporating diversity in leadershipdevelopment and accountability. Annual censustrends confirm that the talent pool is becomingincreasingly ethnically and culturally diverse. Oursuccess will depend in part on our ability to valuethat diversity, our proficiency in protecting the prin-ciples of equity and fairness for all groups andclasses of people, and our ability to lead in anincreasingly diverse community. As Chief DiversityOfficer, I will work to continue to promote fairnessand inclusion at the Department of State and toensure respect for all persons, groups, races,religions and cultures.

Next month I will discuss the business case fordiversity and how that affects the average manager. ■

John Robinson joined the Department in March of2008 after establishing the Equal EmploymentOpportunity and Diversity Office for the Director ofNational Intelligence. A Vietnam-era veteran/formernaval officer, he has held leadership positions in theDepartment of Labor, Department of Energy and theInternal Revenue Service.

Diversity Makes for aVibrant Workplace

DIVERSITY NOTESFrom John Robinson

The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires,Argentina, became “voting central”in early October as more than 800U.S.-citizen voters dropped off absentee ballots, completed federalwrite-in ballots and joined in astar-spangled party.

The turnout appears to have beenthe largest at any of the StateDepartment posts worldwide holdingevents to promote voting by Americansliving overseas (see sidebar story).

At the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires,the American Citizen Services unit

staged the event to provide voters witha taste of home and encourage them tocast their absentee ballots in time forthe embassy to forward them to theUnited States for counting.

Americans overseas do not vote attheir embassy or consulate, but if theyvoted early enough some were able tohave the embassy send their ballotsback to the United States in the diplo-matic pouch or via APO mail.Typically, Americans overseas mailtheir absentee ballots directly to theirhome state’s election authority, which

explains why ACS has no figures onthe number of Americans voting over-seas, said ACS Director MichelleBernier-Toth.

“American citizens living overseascan sometimes feel left out during theelection season,” said Jennifer Noronha,consul general at Embassy BuenosAires. “We wanted to give voters achance to put their votes in a ballot boxalongside their fellow citizens.”

Though the post’s “voting day”wasn’t supposed to start until 9 a.m. onOctober 8, one American, 89-year-old

EMBASSY GETS OUT THE VOTE AMONG ARGENTINA’SRESIDENT AMERICANS BY ROSEMARY MACRAY

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‘Voting Central’

U.S. citizens who cast absentee ballots on VotingDay received "I Voted Absentee Stickers."


Jack McLeod, arrived at 7 a.m. McLeod, aWorld War II veteran and former prisonerof war, said he was dropping off hisabsentee ballot because he was “proud tobe an American.”

Joining McLeod were hundreds ofAmerican college students who were inArgentina on exchange programs, somecasting their ballots for the first time in apresidential election. All together, about900 persons gathered in the consularsection’s waiting room and the balloon-laden embassy courtyard to join in thecelebration of democracy.

Before he dropped his Marylandabsentee ballot in the big blue box set upby the post—and got his “I VotedAbsentee” sticker—Ambassador E.Anthony Wayne addressed the crowd.

“Though we may be voting far fromhome, we are united with each other andwith our friends and family through theact of voting,” Ambassador Wayne toldthe diverse group of Americans. “By livingin or visiting foreign nations, we have theopportunity to carry our new perspectivesand experiences back to the United States,enriching our country’s wealth ofdiversity and varied opinions.”

To accommodate the large number ofvoters who had not yet received theirabsentee ballots and needed to completefederal write-in ballots, ACS enlisted thehelp of seven community members whohad trained as voting assistance officersvia video conference in August. A five-piece jazz band serenaded the crowd withAmerican tunes, and various private-industry food providers joined bakersfrom embassy families to provideattendees with all-American foods.

Representatives from 21 local mediaoutlets and journalists from U.S.television networks filed reports.American citizens thanked embassy stafffor planning a party just for them.

John L. Gibson and his wife PatriciaGasave attended the party, although theyhad already mailed their absentee ballotsfrom home. Gibson said Gasave, arecently naturalized U.S. citizen, cast herfirst U.S. ballot this year.

“The excitement of her first votereached its pinnacle at the party today,”Gibson said. ■

The author is chief of American citizen serv-ices at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires.

The U.S. Embassy in BuenosAires was not the only Departmentpost to promote absentee voting byresident Americans. The U.S.Embassy in Berlin’s informationfair for citizens attracted 250 peopleand similar events at the U.S.embassies in Beijing and Accra,Ghana, attracted approximately150 and 110 attendees, respectively.

Those figures are from theDepartment’s Office of AmericanCitizen Services in the Bureau ofConsular Affairs. The office said itexpanded voter outreach this yearto the estimated 5 to 6 millionAmericans living overseas,including launching its get-out-the-vote promotion earlier than in pastelection years.

Several overseas posts held activ-ities during ACS’s Absentee VotingWeek, October 12–18. The U.S.Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia,held a voting day at the city’s American Club that attracted morethan 300 voters; the U.S. Embassyin Tegucigalpa, Honduras, set upvoter information tables at threehotels and a school; and the U.S.Embassy in Doha, Qatar, held avoting day and collected ballotsfrom 250 voters.

Several posts also placedinformation about absentee votingon their Web sites and linked towww.fvap.gov, a Department ofDefense Web site with overseasvoting information and forms foran American overseas to downloadto request an absentee ballot.

Although many posts abroadmade laudable efforts to get outthe American vote, ACS DirectorMichelle Bernier-Toth had a specialthank-you for the U.S. Embassy inBuenos Aires. “They did a greatjob,” she said.

Posts WorldwidePromote Voting

Consul General JenniferNoronha helps 89-year-oldveteran Jack McLeod deposithis ballot nearly two hoursbefore the start of Voting Day.


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What motivates employees to take on apart-time volunteer position with theCombined Federal Campaign when theyalready have full-time jobs?

For Frances Waller and otherDepartment CFC coordinators, it wasthe enjoyment derived from workingwith others.

“I love to help people,” said Waller, aprogram specialist in the executive office ofthe Bureau of Administration. Waller is aformer Pentagon police officer who said sheassisted burn victims and victims’ familiesin the wake of the 9/11 attack.

Each bureau has a CFC coordinator torecruit and assist the bureau’s “keyworkers,” who call on employees individu-ally and provide them with CFC pledgeforms. With the CFC hoping to have a ratioof one key worker for every five employees,the coordinator’s role can involve lots ofoversight. Waller is unusual in that she iscoordinator for two bureaus, A and theBureau of Information ResourceManagement.

This year, the CFC campaign aims toapproach every Department employee, toaddress what the Department’s “loaned

executive” Yvonne Sims said was a majorfinding about the 2007 CFC campaign:62 percent of employees polled afterwardssaid they would have donated but no onecontacted them.

This year, Hersel Gunn, a key workerin A bureau, said he’s aiming for 100percent participation by those heapproaches for contributions, even if theyjust give one dollar.

“It’s like voting,” he said. “I don’t carewho you vote for, just vote.”

To cast his or her philanthropic “vote,” anemployee can choose from more than 4,000

CFC CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEERS SAY THEY LIKE TO HELP BY ED WARNERLOVE OF GIVING

Hersel Gunn, left, a CFC keyworker in the Bureau ofAdministration, chats withFrances Waller, the bureau’sCFC coordinator.

charities and may split the donation amongseveral, using the CFC pledge form to indicate howmuch will go to each. The donation can be madein a lump sum or withdrawn from the employee’spaycheck during the year.

Sims herself is a volunteer. She was loaned bythe Department of Labor to the Department ofTransportation in 2005 to help with that agency’sCFC campaign and said she enjoyed it so much sheasked to be loaned again this year. She trains theDepartment’s 600 key workers and coordinators.

Experience in lending a hand also motivatedJamila Gantenbein to become a CFC coordinator.Gantenbein, who will coordinate 10 to 15 keyworkers in the Bureau of East Asian and PacificAffairs, has helped with a New York City charityfounded after 9/11, the Memorial ScholarshipFund, which lets city youth compete athleticallyon the national and Olympic levels.

Gantenbein is new to EAP’s executive office—she is on rotation from her home office,Recruitment, Examination and Employment—andsaid she sees CFC volunteerism as a way to get toknow her new coworkers better.

Another CFC coordinator, Rebecca Schaeffer ofthe Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration,also was drawn to the work because of herbackground in helping others. She built houseswith Habitat for Humanity while in college and inhigh school in North Carolina.

“Volunteering has always been a part of my life,”she said. ■

The author is deputy editor of State Magazine.

If employees are responding to the current economic situation by goingout less, the October kick-off event of the Combined Federal Campaignwas prepared. On display in the Exhibit Hall at Main State were two giftbaskets full of at-home entertainment options that were being sold to raisefunds for the CFC. One included a DVD player, flat-screen television andseveral movies.

The wicker gift baskets heightened the “county fair” feel of the kick-offevent. Several CFC charities had tables to explain their work, and the event’skeynote speaker, Ambassador Nancy Brinker, told of the importance of giving.Brinker is director of the Office of the Chief of Protocol but may be bestknown nationally as the founder of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, whichshe established to fight breast cancer, the disease that killed her only sister.

“We’ve seen the greatness of America…through the generous donation of[peoples’] time and energy,” she said as she urged the roughly 200 employeesand visitors who attended to support the CFC campaign.

These difficult times, she said, are also “opportunities to make a difference.” The CFC, which runs through early next year, hopes to raise $2.195 million

from Department employees. Among the charities with tables at the kick-off event were the Yellow

Ribbon Fund, which helps the families of patients at Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center, and the American Foreign Service Association’s ScholarshipFund and Fund for American Diplomacy. The latter fund operates public- andmedia-education efforts such as a recent speech on diplomacy at AmericanUniversity by retired diplomat Ambassador Thomas Pickering.

The AFSA scholarships, which range from $1,000 to $4,000, now are avail-able to those studying at colleges outside the United States. Applications aredue by February 6, said AFSA Scholarship Director Lori Dec.

AFSA’s Lori Dec explains the scholarshipto a visitor to the AFSA table.


CFC Charities on DisplayAt Kick-off Event

This year marks the 25th anniversary ofone of the Department of State’s mostsuccessful programs to train civilian lawenforcement personnel from friendlygovernments in procedures to prevent,respond to and investigate terrorism.

The Antiterrorism Assistance program,authorized by Congress in 1983, aims tobuild counterterrorism capacity, enhancebilateral relationships and increase respectfor human rights.

ATA has trained allied nations’ lawenforcement personnel in such disciplines as

bomb detection, crime scene investigation,critical infrastructure protection, maritimesecurity and VIP protection.

Although the program started with asmall staff and modest budget, it expandedsignificantly after the August 1998bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenyaand Tanzania and the September 11, 2001,attacks in the United States.

Since its inception, the program hastrained and assisted more than 61,000foreign security and law enforcement offi-cials from 154 countries. In fiscal year 2007

alone, ATA trained 4,671 participants from68 countries in 213 courses.

Americans ProtectedATA-trained law enforcement

professionals have applied their newlyacquired skills to respond to and mitigatethe impact of terrorist attacks in or aimedat their nations. By strengtheningantiterrorism capabilities of lawenforcement agencies in participating coun-tries, ATA also has helped protectAmericans living or traveling overseas.

PROGRAM CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF FIGHTING TERRORISMBY JEFFREY W. CULVER

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At an ATA bomb-disposal course in 2006, a police officerfrom Senegal’s Guardians of the Peace law enforcementunit learns to use a laptop computer to “see” via thebomb robot’s camera, guide the robot and operate thedisarming equipment.

ATA-trained law enforcement agencieshave scored several dramatic successesagainst international terrorism and transna-tional crime. These include:

• In Indonesia, an antiterrorism unittrained and equipped by ATA killed one ofSoutheast Asia’s most wanted terrorists,dismantled his organization, arrestedseveral other suspected terrorists and seizedseveral explosive devices and a large quan-tity of bomb-making material. Separately, italso assisted in the arrest of Abu Dujana,the military leader of the Jamaah Islamiyah

terrorist group, and five cohorts.• In Pakistan, investigators trained by ATA

recovered from a bombing site a cellularphone, from which an ATA-funded Pakistaniforensics lab unearthed data that led toseveral arrests and the seizure of two bombs.

• In Thailand, an ATA-trained Royal ThaiPolice team rescued a kidnapped Americanand arrested eight suspects.

• In Liberia, ATA-trained SpecialSituation Services personnel assisted localpolice in resolving a hostage-taking at thehome of a former Liberian minister and

rescued the hostages.• In Afghanistan, ATA

organized, trained, equipped andmentored the 340-person detailthat protects Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai. The new force hason several occasions thwartedassassination attempts against theAfghan president.

• In the Philippines, graduatesof the ATA’s Identification andSeizure of Digital Evidencetraining course played a major rolein the successful 2007 prosecution

of a Manila hacker group that defraudedU.S. telecommunications firms of approxi-mately $55 million. Philippine authoritiessaid the defendants had engaged in large-scale telephone fraud, money launderingand possibly terrorist financing.

Managing PartnersThe ATA program is managed as a part-

nership between the Department’s Office ofthe Coordinator for Counterterrorism,which provides policy guidance, and theBureau of Diplomatic Security, whichmanages its operational implementation.The program, now funded at approximately$130 million annually, requires no quid proquo from partner nations. However, partici-pating nations must agree to use thetraining effectively and develop educationalinstitutions to sustain their newly acquiredcapabilities.

The program headquarters is staffed withapproximately 100 DS special agents, CivilService employees and contractors. Theirroles range from assessment team leader,intelligence analyst and regional programmanager to training manager and instruc-tional systems designer. They all have onemission in common—helping partnernations stamp out terrorism. ■

The author is director of the Office ofAntiterrorism Assistance.

Left: A Trinidad and Tobago policeofficer, right, fires a training roundat a target while an ATA instructorobserves. The officer is with apolice unit that protects domesticand foreign dignitaries. Bottom:Personnel from the PhilippineNational Police and NationalBureau of Investigations practiceexecuting a search warrant involv-ing computers during ATA’sIdentification and Seizureof Digital Evidence training.


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BUREAU HELPS TARGET ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE BY BILLIE GROSS

Save the Tigers

The illicit trade in wildlife is a growingblack market valued at $10 billion or morea year globally and thought by many to be agreater threat to wildlife than the loss ofhabitat. This illegal trade is fueled byunchecked demand for live wild animals asexotic pets or for their body parts, whichare used as rare foods or trophies or intraditional medicines.

For instance, the endangered Sumatrantiger faces extinction because of the trade intiger parts in Indonesia, according to aFebruary report from the wildlife trade-monitoring group TRAFFIC. The groupsaid its 2006 survey in Sumatra, an island inIndonesia, found 23 tigers had been killedfor their body parts.

Ending this trade is an importantpriority for the Bureau of Oceans and Inter-national Environmental and ScientificAffairs. It participates in the U.S.-led Coali-tion Against Wildlife Trafficking, along withsix other governmental groups and 13 inter-national nongovernmental organizations.CAWT works with international anti-trafficking law enforcement andconservation organizations. For instance, itassisted the Association of Southeast AsianNations and the nations of South Asia insetting up wildlife enforcement networks.

A Public ServiceIn November 2007, actor Harrison Ford,

who sits on the board of CAWT partnerConservation International, filmed threepublic service announcements for CAWT.In the effort, OES also collaborated withCAWT partner WildAid. The videos, which

are aired by broadcasters at no cost, aim toencourage people to stop buying illegalwildlife products.

The State Department launched the PSAsworldwide on World Environment Day inJune. The event at the United Nationsinvolved OES Assistant Secretary Claudia A.McMurray and representatives fromCAWT’s partner nations and NGOpartners, and the Secretary of State’s SpecialEnvoy on Wildlife Trafficking Issues, actressBo Derek, introduced the PSAs.

OES has provided 215 U.S. posts in 137countries with copies of the PSAs, and morethan 80 media outlets—with a combinedaudience of more than 580 million peopleworldwide—reported on the launch oraired the PSAs. The PSAs have since been

used on television and radio, in movietheaters and on the television systems ofhotels and airlines. Hundreds of millions ofviewers in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,Jordan, Mongolia and Thailand have seenthem. They also received media coverage inAustralia, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica andTrinidad and Tobago.

In the United States, 13 newsorganizations reported on the launch. TheUnited States is the second largest marketafter China for illegal wildlife and wildlifeproducts.

Second LaunchAnother launch event was held in Beijing

by U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T.Randt in July. There, Assistant SecretaryMcMurray, Derek and others spoke onwildlife trafficking and the U.S.commitment while introducing the PSAs.

OES and WildAid have since filmed twonew PSAs on wildlife trafficking featuringconservationist Dr. Jane Goodall. The PSAswill be distributed worldwide with the helpof U.S. embassies.

Through this and other public educationefforts, future generations won’t learn abouttigers or elephants only from books—they’llstill be able to see them alive and well intheir natural habitats. ■

The author is a public affairs specialist in theBureau of Oceans and InternationalEnvironmental and Scientific Affairs

At left, the PSAs were screened in thecentral square in Vladivostok, Russia,during the 9th Annual Tiger Day parade.

From left are WildAid director Peter Knights, Harrison Fordand OES Assistant Secretary McMurray.


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Though Sierra Leone is still struggling with the repercussions ofa brutal decade-long civil war, the people of this lush country havemade tremendous progress in recent years toward democraticgovernance and development.

Sierra Leone’s population is more than 60 percent Muslim. Sothe U.S. Embassy in Freetown used Ramadan, the Islamic month offasting, to hold programs celebrating the country’s advances indemocracy and women’s empowerment.

To kick off the September-long holiday and commemoratePatriot Day on September 11, Ambassador June Carter Perryhosted more than 30 newly elected female members of local coun-cils from around the country. All of the council members had

participated in a program funded by the U.S. Agency for Interna-tional Development to increase women’s involvement in thepolitical process. The women said they believe their positionsafforded them opportunities to improve their local communities.

The most recent elections saw a 65 percent increase in thenumber of women sitting on local councils, due in part to USAID’sefforts and those of its nongovernmental partners.

Local ConnectionAs Ramadan progressed, embassy staff members took the annual

Iftar celebration, the breaking of the daytime fast, outside theembassy walls into the heart of Sierra Leone’s Muslim community.

EMBASSY USES RAMADAN TO SUPPORT NATION’S FEMALE LEADERSBY DANNA VAN BRANDT

Holiday Outreach

From left, Office Management Specialist Becky Cheney, Foreign ServiceHealth Practitioner Laura Kustaborder, the author and Public AffairsSection Program Assistant Marilyn Kamara at the Masjid Aqsa Mosque.

They observed the celebration’s Salaatprayers and distributed food, focusing onwomen in the rear of the mosque. Membersof the Muslim community expressed appre-ciation for the embassy’s initiative. Thechief imam of the Freetown municipality

praised American tolerance and diver-sity, and local Islamic radio stationscovered the event.

Throughout Ramadan, the embassyalso fed the keen local interest in thecoming U.S. presidential elections. Thefirst presidential debate fell on Laylatal Qadr, which celebrates when thefirst verses of the Quran were revealedto the Prophet Muhammad and is anight of prayer for salvation. Thatevening, the embassy showed thedebate live at local cinema centers,which usually broadcast BritishPremier League soccer.

More than 1,000 people watched thedebate, many going back and forthbetween it and their prayers. Opendebate, typical of American democracy,provides a contrast to elections inSierra Leone, where open policydisagreement between candidates is

rare and can divide the country.

Debate NightThe same night, members of Women in

the Media-Sierra Leone joined theembassy’s public affairs officer at her hometo watch the debate on a big screen. Thecrowd was divided regarding the candidates,with each woman cheering her favorite. Theaudience was lively, despite the late hour—the debate started at 1 a.m. local time.

Ramadan is a time for reflection, learningand hope. The staff of Embassy Freetownused the holiday to join the people ofSierra Leone in reflecting on the stronghistorical ties between that nation and theUnited States and the two nations’ devotionto democracy. ■

The author is a public affairs officer at theU.S. Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone.


Top: Members of Women in the Media-Sierra Leone watch the U.S. presidentialdebates at the PAO’s residence. Center:From left, embassy employees SamuelVandi, Alice Clarke, Sam Foday and JenebaTucker pack food packages for the Iftar dis-tribution. Bottom: Members of the publicwatch the U.S. debates at a cinema center.

Natalia Dos Santos, a 10-year-old from the nation of Timor-Leste, suffered from severe nausea and acute headaches for as longas she could remember. Lack of modern medical facilities in herhomeland prevented her from receiving badly needed care. So theJuly 12 arrival of a floating hospital—the USNS Mercy—into theport of Dili was a dream come true. Like more than 9,000 otherTimorese, Natalia was diagnosed and treated by the ship’s interna-tional team of medical personnel who participated in thisfour-month mission to the Philippines, Vietnam, Timor-Leste,Papua New Guinea and Micronesia.

Six Foreign Service officers—Jeff Collins, Christine Jackson,Melissa A. Brown, Kristine Pelz, Trevor Monroe and Tim Davis—

served as political advisers for each leg of the mission. Theyprovided political advice to the mission commander, CommodoreWilliam Kearns, and helped educate the Mercy’s crew about thepolitics, cultures and social norms of the countries visited. Thecrew included medical staff from Australia, Canada, Chile, India,Indonesia, Japan, Portugal and the Republic of Korea.

The officers found the experience exciting and fulfilling. Vietnamdesk officer Brown briefed mission staff on the fast-progressingU.S.-Vietnam relationship, including Prime Minister Nguyen TanDung’s June visit to Washington and bilateral cooperation toaddress legacies of the Vietnam conflict, such as POW/MIAaccounting and the impact of Agent Orange. As a result, in interac-

FSOs HELP U.S. NAVY NAVIGATE POLITICAL SHOALS BY JEFF COLLINSP

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Mercy’s Mission

tions with the Vietnamese government and media, CommodoreKearns could have the support of provincial authorities and articu-late U.S. policy, which received wide media coverage.

The ship’s band played at a medical site, which marked the firsttime a U.S. military band had played in Vietnam in the more than30 years since the end of the Vietnam conflict.

Brown said her contributions energized her about the ForeignService and gave her a fresh perspective on interagency cooperation.

To provide a sense of what life was like for those on this mission,let me offer my experiences. I joined the mission in Timor-Leste,Asia’s youngest and poorest country. After adjusting to life on aNavy ship (where breakfast is served at 5 a.m. and roommates’alarms ring throughout the night), I helped coordinate visits to theship by that nation’s foreign minister, minister of health, secretaryof state for security and members of the national parliament. I alsoorganized soccer games with local teams, recruited universitystudents to assist with interpretation, drafted press articles and keptmission leadership abreast of local political events.

The excursion provided an exciting diversion from my job inAnkara, but what was most gratifying was the opportunity to work

with a multinational group of military and civilian officers and seetangible results.

For Natalia, the visit meant the chance for a new life. U.S. NavyLieutenant Commander Kathleen O’Mara, a general pediatrician,examined the youth and noticed her eyes had a see-saw-like motioncalled a nystagmus. A team of ophthalmologists and techniciansconducted a brain scan that revealed a mass that could result in asevere neurological event or death. Working with the PortugueseEmbassy and Timor-Leste government, the Mercy’s staff arrangedfor Natalia to be flown to Portugal for surgery, which doctorsbelieve has a high chance of success.

More important, the Mercy’s visit provided many Timoresepatients their first opportunity to meet an American and receivequality medical care. The goodwill generated from the visit wasimmeasurable.

Helping patients like Natalia improve their quality of life epito-mizes the transformational diplomacy necessary to confront newchallenges in the 21st century. ■

The author is a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

At left, the USNS Mercy arrives in Dili; below, Admiral Robert Willard,commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, gives a coin to a Timorese child.


The Nagoya Station area has some ofJapan’s most expensive real estate.


Known as the land of monozukuri, or makingthings, Nagoya is the heart of Japan’s manufacturingsector. The city is the capital of Aichi Prefecture andthe center of commerce, industry and culture incentral Japan. Greater Nagoya has more than 12million residents, making it Japan’s third-largestmetropolis after Tokyo and Osaka. Economic activityin central Japan is such that, if separated from therest of Japan, it would still have one of the world’s 10largest economies, producing about 2 percent of theworld’s gross domestic product.

Nagoya is also the cultural center of the region,hosting the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts, theTokugawa Art Museum and many top institutions ofhigher learning, including Nagoya University, NagoyaInstitute of Technology and Nanzan University.

Nagoya and its residents have long beenassociated with commerce and manufacturing.Located along historical transportation routesbetween eastern and western Japan, the town pros-pered from trade with both regions. Its earlyindustries included textiles, steel and ceramics, alegacy reflected today in the region’s cutting-edgeresearch and development in next-generationceramics and other industrial technologies.

The first of Japan’s Tokugawa shoguns, TokugawaIeyasu, was from the Nagoya area. He recognized thetown’s strategic importance in the early 17th centuryand built an imposing castle in its center. Nagoyagrew in economic and political importance duringthe long, peaceful Tokugawa era, becoming thecommercial and industrial hub of central Japan. Thecastle, along with almost all of downtown Nagoya,was leveled by Allied bombing toward the end ofWorld War II. The castle was rebuilt in 1959, and therest of Nagoya rose from the ashes of war with an

enhanced industry-friendly infrastructure, includingwider streets and easier market access.

Located close to the Pacific Ocean, Nagoyafeatures mountain hiking and some of Japan’s toponsen, or hot-spring baths, which have helped itbecome one of Japan’s top cities for tourism as wellas industry.

The U.S. Consulate in Nagoya has six Americanofficials and a Japanese staff of 10, plus four part-time contract guards. Two of the American officialsare from the Department of State, one is from theDepartment of Commerce and three are from theDepartment of Homeland Security. The seniorForeign Service officer is the principal officer, andthe other FSO is the public affairs officer, who alsohandles Nagoya’s limited consular operations.

SUPPORTING U.S. BUSINESSConsulate Nagoya monitors and reports on polit-

ical, economic and societal developments in centralJapan, including elections, party politics, relationswith China and North Korea, macroeconomictrends, infrastructure and business aviation. Theconsulate also supports U.S. interests on a number ofregion-specific matters, including:

• Automotive sector: About one in twelve carsmanufactured in the world is produced in the greaterNagoya area, and approximately half of Japan’s autoand auto-parts production occurs there. Americanfirms have had increasing success in supplying thesector with such parts as transmission chains,stereos, hoses, gas tanks, auto-dimming mirrorsand gears.

• Aerospace: Greater Nagoya is the center ofJapanese aerospace manufacturing. About 35 percentof Boeing’s next-generation 787 Dreamliner,

>> An actor portrays Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Nagoya festival’s“Three Feudal Lords” parade.


>> >>Vehicles march down a computerized assemblyline at Toyota’s Motomachi plant.

The consulate staff poses behind visiting Deputy Chief of Mission James Zumwalt,seated at left, and Principal Officer Max Kwak, seated at right.

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including the wings and forward fuselage, is manufactured in thearea, as are H-IIA rockets, Japan’s primary satellite launch vehicle.

• Defense production: Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi HeavyIndustries produce PAC-3 Patriot missile systems in Nagoya.MHI produces the F-2 fighter in Nagoya under license from Lock-heed Martin.

Due to the strong economy, there are about 50 percent morejobs than workers in the greater Nagoya area. In response, theJapanese government has allowed foreigners of Japanese heritageto receive special work visas. These foreign workers have becomethe key to the manufacturing power of central Japan. There arealso nearly 200,000 Brazilians and 19,000 Peruvians in the region.As the population of Japan continues to age and decrease, thisimmigration trend will likely spread to the rest of Japan. Howimmigrant workers adapt to living in Japan and how Japan adaptsto hosting them will be important factors in determining if Japancan maintain growth in the face of a declining population.

NAGOYA AMERICAN CENTERNagoya’s public affairs section, also known as the Nagoya

American Center, produces a robust schedule of speaker programsand cultural events throughout its district, which has a populationof 20 million. NAC audiences include multinational corporationexecutives, Japan Self-Defense Force officers and professors andstudents from central Japan’s top universities. Because Nagoya isJapan’s industrial heartland, a good deal of NAC programmingconcerns economic and trade issues. The NAC also focuses onsecurity, political and legal issues.

The NAC has established “American shelves” in six local juris-dictions. Located at public libraries, these public shelves includehundreds of award-winning, English-language children’s booksand American Studies materials. The American shelves give theNAC a springboard to develop programming outside of Nagoya in

areas not usually reached by Mission Japan. For example, workingwith the city of Nissin, one of Japan’s fastest growingcommunities, the NAC recently presented a blues concertfeaturing American singer/songwriter Steve Gardner.

The NAC regularly works with major media outlets in theregion, including the newspaper Chunichi Shimbun, with a circu-lation of 2.5 million, and the Japan Broadcasting Corp.

Routine American citizen services such as notarials, reports ofbirth and passport renewals are provided at Consulate Nagoyaby consular staff from Consulate General Osaka-Kobe who visitNagoya monthly. Nagoya’s public affairs officer/consul and oneLocally Employed staff member provide emergency servicesto approximately 3,000 American citizens. Consulate Nagoyadoes not issue visas to foreign nationals or passports toAmerican citizens.

Nagoya’s Foreign Commercial Service office helps U.S. compa-nies learn about opportunities in the region and navigate hazardson the road to success. U.S. companies have made tremendousprogress here in areas as diverse as television marketing, industrialmachinery and aerospace. One service FCS Nagoya has refined inrecent years is the single-company promotion. This is a “trade fairof one” in which a single U.S. firm is showcased in a half-dayseminar/product exhibition oriented to an invitation-only groupof potential buyers or business partners.

The largest port in cargo volume in Japan, the Port of Nagoya isone of 58 ports worldwide participating in the DHS ContainerSecurity Initiative. The initiative aims to prevent terrorist use of ashipping container by screening the manifest at the foreign port oforigin before the shipment goes to the United States. In fiscal year2007, CSI Nagoya reviewed approximately 86,000 bills of lading. ■

The author is director of the Nagoya American Center and publicaffairs officer at the U.S. Consulate in Nagoya.

From left, Minae Suzuki, Chikako Onabe and Miyuki Ikeyama greet guestsat the Consulate’s Independence Day celebration.

Nagoya Tower and the futuristic Oasis 21 shoppingarea are two downtown landmarks.>> >>


At a GlanceCountry Japan

Capital Tokyo

Total area 377,835 sq km

Approximate size Slightlysmaller than California

Government typeConstitutional monarchy with aparliamentary government

Population 127 million

Language Japanese

Currency yen (JPY)

Per capita income $33,500

Unemployment rate 3.8 percent

Import partners China (21 percent),United States (11.6 percent) and SaudiArabia (5.7 percent)

Export partners United States (20.4percent), China (15.3 percent) andSouth Korea (7.6 percent)

Internet country code .jp

Nagoya

China Russia

NorthKorea

SouthKorea

Opened in 1907, thePort of Nagoya ranks

first in Japan in tradevolume and value.

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RECONSTRUCTION TEAM PROMOTES GROWTH IN IRAQI PROVINCEBY AARON D. SNIPE

Fertile Ground

Iraqi veterinarians inoculate livestockat a PRT-sponsored event.


Muthanna Province rarely makes inter-national headlines. Roughly the size ofMaine, Iraq’s second-largest province isthat nation’s least economically developed.A place where temperatures can reachupward of 140 degrees, unemployment ishigh and agriculture supports a largepercentage of residents, Muthanna facesmyriad challenges.

Located far from the decision-makers inBaghdad, the province might seem fertileground for violent extremism, but in thealmost two years since the troop surge inIraq, the Provincial Reconstruction Teamin Muthanna has seen residents embracingpeace, striving for a brighter future andeagerly starting to rebuild.

“We benefited from the surge,” PRTTeam Leader Brad Lynch said, “but thereare provinces in Iraq where the citizensdecided, even long before the surge, thatthey would not stand for violence andextremism, and Muthanna is one of thoseprovinces.”

Stable EnvironmentThe stable security environment gave the

PRT the chance to spend a great deal oftime in the province and to interact withresidents at every level. Additionally, thePRT’s work has been very well receivedbecause years of neglect had left thisprovince with few resources. Whereas manyessential services elsewhere were destroyedor disrupted by war and sectarian violence,Muthanna simply lacked many of theseservices to begin with. In many cases, PRTMuthanna is helping provide citizens accessto clean water, electricity and health care forthe very first time.

PRT Muthanna is involved in multipleprojects that affect practically every sectorand has a diverse bench of experts in suchareas as agriculture, government and publicdiplomacy. One of the sectors where thePRT has engaged with the community isjournalism. Soon after the new teamarrived, it reached out to the local mediaand conducted a training seminar for localjournalists. This training helped expand theimportant relationship with the FourthEstate established by the prior team. Led bythe PRT’s public diplomacy officer, thetraining was held in a “mudhif,” ortraditional Iraqi meeting house, the PRTconstructed. Completed in January, themudhif has been an integral part of theteam’s engagement with local Iraqis.

“Building a traditional Iraqi meetinghouse where PRT members and Iraqis canassemble, break bread and discuss the busi-ness of the province in a culturally sensitiveatmosphere was a terrific investment madeby the previous team,” Lynch said. “MeetingIraqis on their own turf reinforces ourmessage that we are doing all that we can tounderstand and help remedy the concernsof all Iraqis.”

Not long after this training, members ofthe PRT were invited to give an hour-longinterview on the province’s most-watched

television station, where they briefed thepeople of Muthanna on the role andprojects of the PRT.

Agricultural EffortOf all the reconstruction assistance and

goodwill the PRT has generated inMuthanna, no sector has benefited morethan agriculture. The team’s agriculturaland water experts have traveled theprovince and beyond, working with therelevant Iraqi ministries to tackle thecomplex challenges in both fields. InAugust, the PRT’s senior agriculturaladviser led a delegation of high-rankingIraqi agricultural officials from Muthannaand Maysan provinces on a 10-day research

trip to India that focused on agriculturaldevelopment. The visit reflected how thePRT leverages its expertise to reach beyondIraq’s borders.

Within the province, the PRT is workingon an important bovine artificial insemina-tion program. The decline in the number ofbreeding bulls has created an agriculturaland financial crisis for Iraq’s farmers.Government neglect, war and othereconomic factors have forced many of themto slaughter their livestock to feed theirfamilies. The PRT-inspired and Iraqi-led

artificial insemination program will helprevitalize a central part of Muthanna’s agri-cultural sector and economy.

Measuring the impact of development isoften difficult to do quickly. However, at arecent visit to a project on the banks of theEuphrates, Lynch said, “Helping Iraqisrepair this water pumping station that thegovernment is now helping maintain iswhat our work is all about. This irrigationproject has had an impact on thousands ofpeople, and it was brought to you by theIraqi government with a little help fromthe PRT.” ■

The author is a public diplomacy officer withthe PRT in Muthanna.

PRT Team Leader Brad Lynch and tribalsheikhs participate in a ribbon-cutting fora water pump in rural Muthanna.

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he isolated communi-ties of Costa Rica’sPunta Burica region,including some indige-

nous groups, receivedmuch-needed medical care fromU.S. military and Costa Ricancivilian doctors who arrived atthe remote area in September viaBlackhawk helicopters. Manypatients and local elders said theynever dreamed they wouldreceive such medical treatment.

Village leader Kanaki Carreracalled it “a dream come true.”

In just three days the MedicalReadiness Training Exercise team

addressed two years ofbacklogged medical problems,including tooth decay, parasites,skin infections, tooth extractions,prenatal care, diarrhea and respi-ratory infections. Inhabitants ofthe region abutting Panama alongCosta Rica’s southernmost Pacificcoast are too poor and too farfrom doctors to receive regularmedical care.

The MEDRETE team consistedof 36 members of the Honduras-based U.S. Joint Task Force-Bravo, 40 Costa Rican medicalpersonnel and six translatorsfrom the U.S. Embassy in San

Jose. U.S. Ambassador to CostaRica Peter Cianchette, the CostaRican minister of public security,three national legislators andseveral embassy officers alsovisited the treatment sites.

The U.S. Embassy in San Jose’sOffice of the Defense Represen-tative coordinated theMEDRETE mission, supportedby the post’s administrative,political, regional security andpublic affairs offices. Theembassy also held a food collec-tion drive, and several hundredpounds of food were donated tothe region’s people. Many Costa

U.S. MEDICALTEAM TREATSNEARLY 1,000IN COSTA RICA

BYSTACY L.COMPANDROBERT B.ANDREW

Helicopter House Calls

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Rican government ministries alsoworked behind the scenes tosupport the MEDRETE visit.

MEDRETE member LuisJimenez, a dental assistant with aCosta Rican group, said, “Itwould have been very difficult forus to provide care to these areaswithout the (airlift that JTF-Bravo) provided.”

Due to the rough terrain andlack of roads, local residentsneeding emergency care face athree-hour trip by horseback tothe nearest medical facilities,across the border in Panamawhere medical care is not guaran-teed to Costa Ricans. Village

leader Carrera said some die onthe arduous journey. Routinehealth care languishes until CostaRican public health workers maketheir infrequent visits.

“We are very thankful for thesupport,” Carrera said of thedoctors’ visit. “It is somethingvery kind.”

Coast Guard CommanderMark Camacho, the embassy’sODR chief, stressed the value ofthese joint projects. “Becausethere is no military in Costa Rica,it is important for people to seehow we can providehumanitarian assistance and jointtraining with the police force in

Costa Rica,” he said.While Costa Rica is relatively

more developed than the restof Central America, it still hasremote, mostly indigenousareas of high poverty, such asPunta Burica.

“The U.S. has prided itself foryears on helping our friends,” saidAmbassador Cianchette. “This isjust another example of how wecan assist where needed.” ■

Stacy L. Comp is a public diploma-cy officer serving as vice-consuland Robert B. Andrew is the politi-cal and narcotics affairs officer atthe U.S. Embassy in San Jose.

Clockwise from above:A Blackhawk helicopterbrings medical personneland equipment and severaltons of food to PuntaBurica; high-tech equipmentis used to provide dentalcare in Punta Burica; a localteenager with long-standingmedical problems is readiedfor medical and dental care;Ambassador PeterCianchette, second fromleft, and a Costa Ricangovernment delegationrecognize Punta Burica forits efforts toward being asafe community.

Even before the new GPS printing facilityin Cairo, Egypt, opened, plant managerstook a “green” view, investing in the rightpaper, inks and environmentally friendlyand safe practices.

Worldwide, GPS’ printing plants usepaper from mills that are certified “green,”meaning they use recycled content and

participate in at least one of several organi-zations’ programs, such as those of theSustainable Forestry Initiative or theForestry Stewardship Council. Theprograms promote sustainable forestmanagement and protect water quality,biodiversity, wildlife habitat and the foreststhemselves.

GPS also evaluates whether the paper ituses contains waste paper from offices andhomes. Some GPS paper has as much as 30percent post-consumer recycled content.GPS also considers whether the bleachingprocess used to make the paper white is freeof chlorine, making it easier to recycle thepaper and complying with the regulationsof the Environmental Protection Agencyand World Health Organization.

Another consideration for GPS: Does thepaper contain fibers that do not come fromtrees? Paper can be made without using trees.In fact, U.S. currency is made from cotton.Some papers use sources other than treesfor as much as 60 percent of their content. P

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The Bureau of Administration’sGlobal Publishing Solutions printsmany colors, but its environmentalview is decidedly green.

GLOBAL PUBLISHING USES BEST ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICESBY THE GLOBAL PUBLISHING SERVICES STAFF

Shades of Green

GPS uses inks based to some degree onvegetable or soybean by-products that arelow in volatile organic compounds. Thisreduces the amount of hydrocarbonsreleased in printing, minimizing toxicemissions.

GPS ink is largely environmentallyfriendly. In fact, its four-color inks haveextremely low levels of volatile organiccompounds, and vegetable-based oils makeup 35 percent or more of their content.

In addition to using environmentallyfriendly paper and ink, GPS has been

actively greening its operations. It hasreplaced fluorescent lightbulbs in its printshops with new “green tip” low-mercurylamps that last twice as long as those thatcontain more mercury.

GPS also updated its production anddesign computers to models that areEnergy Star-rated, meaning they draw littlepower when idle or asleep and managetheir power more efficiently.

GPS recycles almost everything,including scrap paper and the metal platesused on its presses. Any waste that can’t be

recycled is disposed of by companiesthat use enviromentally friendly wastehandling.

Last year, the White House issued anExecutive Order calling for greater use ofenvironmental management systems bythose printing federal materials. Thismakes the green practices used by GPSmore likely to spread throughout theprinting industry.

For more information on GPS’ greenpapers and how to design a green publica-tion, contact GPS at [email protected]. ■

Paper can bemade withoutusing trees. Infact, U.S. currencyis made fromcotton. Somepapers use sourcesother than treesfor as much as

60 percentof their content.

Global Publishing Servicesproduces a number of the

Department's publications.

GPS Manila Production Manager MikeStinson, left, and Press ManagerSonny Estevanez hold tins of “green”ink in front of their new printing press.

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Donald Traff, chief of the Domestic Environmental and Safety Division’s Fire Protec-tion Section, said the network lets someone at the control center see when a smokedetector goes off at, say, the Global Financial Services Center in Charleston, S.C., andidentify what GFSC personnel are doing in response. If necessary, the control center candirectly communicate with employees near the potential fire or cut the power inside aroom where no firefighter can go without the highest security clearance, he explained.

SECURE NetworkFiber optic systems are unaffected by radio-type interference, which also protects

them from being spied upon, and because the network lets Main State know what’shappening at other locations, Traff said it would be useful were there a concerted attackon Department properties.

The difference arises because a fire-protectionsystem, once installed, must be maintained.Some of the latest high-tech fire-protectionsystems can be maintained only by expert firetechnicians sent out from the United States,said Bruce Sincox, director of the Fire Protec-tion Division in the Bureau of OverseasBuildings Operations. The Department simplyhas too many locations worldwide for the OBO fire systems maintenance engineers totravel around the world to maintain and testsystems, he said.

In the United States, the Department doesn’tface that problem, and it has implementedsystems that might make a fire chief envious.One is an underground network of fiber opticcable linking fire-detection and warningsystems at several of the Department’s chiefproperties with a control center at Main State.

FIREPROTECTION

It makes perfect sense.In the United States, theDepartment of State usessome of the latestadvances in fireprotection. As a result,its fire-detection, fire-suppression sprinklerand emergency voicecommunications systemsexceed the nationalbuilding and fire codes.Overseas, the Departmentuses tried-and-proventechnologies that exceedlocal fire codes.

DEPARTMENT’S FOREIGN ANDDOMESTIC STRATEGIES DIFFER—BUT WORK BY ED WARNER

Donald Traff points to an exitpoint sounder at Main State

systems that show which detector issounding an alarm.

Sincox said the presence of fire sprinklersshould never be underestimated. The sprayfrom just two sprinklers in a sprinkler-protected building is sufficient to put out 98percent of fires, he said. He added that OBOalso trains Marine security guards and otheremployees at post in using fireextinguishers.

In developing nations, the Department’ssprinkler systems typically use a reservoirtank and a pump, not local water pressure.To ensure the sprinklers are the best, OBOinspects the factory that makes the pumpand tanks to certify them at the plant andthen tests them after installation.

Sincox, who represents OBO’s OperationsOffice, said he is in a “constant dialogue”with Stobaugh and his colleagues on thefacility-design side of the bureau. Their aim,he said, is to see that designs promote fireprotection, ensure local fire equipment canaccess a structure and see that nothing getsinstalled that can’t be maintained.

Sincox said his goal is simple: “Get thewet stuff on the red stuff.” ■

The author is the deputy editor ofState Magazine.

“We’re the only complete fiber optic network for fire protection in the United States,”Traff said.

In addition to Main State and GFSC, the network encompasses all 15 buildings at theForeign Service Institute, Navy Hill, the International Chancery Center and the Beltsville,Md., communications center.

Those buildings, plus State Annex-1, are also using new “exit point sounders,” whichprovide employees with a non-visual way to find an exit when evacuating a building. In anevacuation involving lots of smoke, employees need only move toward the rhythmic“whooshing” sound emanating from speakers recently installed near building exits. Thesound’s waves even travel through walls, another advantage over exit lights.

FASTER EvacuationTraff said tests showed the sounders caused people to exit buildings 75 percent faster

than exit signs alone because the sounders make clear which exit is closer. In a testinvolving two nearby exits, Traff said a blind man was regularly able to identify the closerexit to within a few feet.

The technology used is so new, he continued, the Department had to have the housingsfor the sounders custom made.

The Department is also using fire detectors with separatesensors for smoke and heat that advise their site’s controlcenter when they are about to go off. This lets fire protectionemployees rush to the trouble spot before an alarm sounds,Traff said.

Other improvements are less high-tech, Traff said. Forinstance, emergency lighting of Main State’s exits far exceedsthe fire code, and all domestic buildings now have emergencyvoice communication systems with generator power availablefor up to 60 hours, he said.

Overseas, it’s a different story. There, tried-and-provenmakes more sense because if state-of-the-art or advancedtechnologies were used, the Department would regularlyhave to “put a guy on a plane” to come fix them, said OBOfire protection engineer Dave Stobaugh.

“We can’t have high-tech in low-tech countries,” he said.

STRONGEST ProtectionNonetheless, the Department always builds facilities over-

seas to the most stringent fire code applicable, usually that ofthe United States, and it uses centrally monitored fire alarm

Left: Here are the results of a 2007 kitchen firein the deputy chief of mission staff residence inTunis, caused by an electrical short in a portablestereo situated next to the stove. Below: OBOengineer Dave Stobaugh says fire protectionoverseas depends on proven technology.



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Ambassadors’ wives often play active roles in their embassycommunity, engaging in voluntary charitable activities havinglasting impact and paralleling official programs.

Sue Timken is one such spouse. Since she and her husband,Ambassador William R. Timken Jr., arrived in Berlin in the fall of2005, she has visited thousands of U.S. service members, civiliansand contractors receiving treatment atLandstuhl Regional Medical Center forinjuries sustained in operationsEnduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Two to three times a month,Timken begins the day with an earlyflight from Berlin to Frankfurt andthen an hour-and-a-half drive to thehospital, where she spends three tofour hours visiting and listening topatient’s stories. Frequently, she is thefirst and only visitor they will havewhile receiving medical care inGermany. At the end of her day, shereturns to Berlin.

At the hospital, she pushes a chap-lain’s services cart through the wardsand intensive care unit. The cart,loaded with candy and the hundreds ofmagazines she and her husbandpurchase for the troops, is a welcomesight to the medical staff and patients.

Challenging MissionOne of the chaplains who accompanied her at the hospital was

Captain Erik Harp. He said he told Timken when she first arrivedthat visiting the ICU means meeting greatly disfigured patients,some just off the battlefield.

“She unflinchingly said she would like to see all the wounded onevery ward, starting with the most severely injured in the ICU,” herecalled. He said she stood at the bedside of wounded soldiers andMarines and held their hands and comforted them much like aloving mother or friend would comfort someone dear to them.

“I received countless words of gratitude from these families andthe staff for her compassion and being there when they felt aloneand empty,” Captain Harp said.

Demurring, Timken said the visits enrich her life. “These visitsmean more to me than [the service members] will ever know,”she said.

While patients could not speak for the record due to privacyconcerns, First Lt. Andrea Ruff, a nurse, said Timken “brings smiles

to the faces of all the patients and staff, and her gifts anddonations are appreciated by all.”

Commemorative CoinSoon after she began making regular visits, she and her husband

designed a military-type commemorative coin that she now giveseach patient they visit, along with a personal thank-you for his orher service. Six to eight times per year, Ambassador Timkenaccompanies his wife on her visits.

The visits’ scope has expanded in the past two years aftermembers of the National Confectioners’ Association began

contributing truckloads of sweets for the project. This year’s dona-tion exceeded 13 pallets of sweets. Representatives from severalprivate companies accompanied the Timkens on a visit to themedical center in January.

The U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt also has expanded itsvolunteerism. There, the Community Outreach Group now assem-bles teams monthly to provide meals to some 20 guests of the twohouses at the hospital complex that provide free housing forfamily members of hospitalized service members. The post’sgeneral services office is authorized to dispose of surplus furnitureleft over from auctions by donating it to the Warrior TransitionUnit in Wiesbaden, Germany. The COG also challenged theconsulate community to a dollar-for-dollar donation-match tosponsor rooms at the unit. It raised more than $2,500. ■

The author is an office management specialist at the U.S. Consulatein Frankfurt.

AMBASSADOR’S WIFE SOOTHESWOUNDED SERVICE MEMBERSBY ANN E. REHME

Comfort Zone

Sue Timken and Counselor forAgricultural Affairs Bobby Richeywith the chaplain’s cart.

Annual Talent Show EntertainsCapacity Crowd By John Bentel

The Foreign AffairsRecreation Association and theState of the Arts Cultural Seriesrecently presented aninstrumental trio, piano prodi-gies, a tenor, a classical pianistand the much-anticipated yearlytalent show.

Trio Romantica, consisting ofpianist Li-Ly Chang, violinistRonald Mutchnik and cellistKristin Ostling, seamlesslyplayed Max Bruch’s Trio andDebussy’s Trio. The audiencewarmly received these highlyprofessional musicians.

The piano prodigies includedthe winners of the 2008International Young ArtistsPiano Competition sponsoredby Li-Ly Chang. They ranged inage from eight to early teens.Annling Wang, Evelyn Mo andBryan Ho played with an easethat belied their ages. KimberlyHou gave a spectacularperformance of York Bowen’s

Toccata, Op.155 that requiredgreat speed and facility.

Back for his second perform-ance, tenor AntonioNebuchadnezzar Adamsperformed African Americanspirituals with heartfeltsensitivity. Audience favoriteswere Ride On, King Jesus! andHe’s Got the Whole World inHis Hands.

Dr. Sonya Suhnhee Kim, anInternational Steinway Artistwho has performed many solorecitals and chamber musicconcerts over the past decade inGermany, Austria and theUnited States, played Liszt’s Lesjeux d’eau a la Villa D’Este andBeethoven’s Sonata Op.57 in F-minor, “Appassionata,” withgreat aplomb and wonresounding applause.

The 3rd Annual Talent Showplayed to a capacity crowd andproved highly entertaining. As isthe tradition, singer Barbara

Pollard opened the festivitieswith an original song, I ReallyLove the Lord. Ben Perry sang asatisfying You Know I Love You.Paul Hopper recited humorouspoems, some of his owncomposition.

Katie Kirkpatrick’s costumefired up the audience, and thenshe wowed them with Braziliansamba. Robert Byla’s believableElvis impersonation alsodelighted. Dyrone Johnson andCaryl Traten Fisher dancedsome lively steps to What-ever Lola Wants,

Lola Gets from Damn Yankees.And Steve Black and JackkiNewton offered an entertaininginterpretation of popular music.At the end of the show, theaudience was on its feet. ■

The author is a computerspecialist in theExecutiveSecretariat.

Arts

Coming Events

Performances are on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m.in the Dean Acheson Auditorium.

Coming EventsJune 4 The T-Tones, satirical

chorale ensembleperforming holiday music

Fabian Faccio,Argentinian holiday music

December 3

December 17


The holiday season has arrived.For many, this is a time ofcelebration and tradition. Whetherfinding the perfect Christmas tree,setting up a menorah, decking thehalls with holly or entertainingfamily and friends, there’s a lot tothink about to ensure your lovedones stay safe and happy. Here aresome tips:

THE TREEWhether the tree is real or

artificial, consider these tips.Artificial trees should be fire-resistant, and live trees should befresh. Look for flexible needles thatare hard to pull from the branches.Water a live tree daily to keep itmoist. Trees should be placed in asturdy tree stand designed not to tipover. Keep a watchful eye onchildren, and do not let them playwith wiring or lights. Ensure trees donot block doorways or paths to exitsand are placed at least one meterfrom any heat source. When a treebegins dropping needles it should bediscarded, not thrown in the garageor left leaning against the house.

THE DECORATIONSWhether hanging just a few

strands of lights or creating an exten-sive display, plan ahead. Inspect lightstrings for frayed wires, loose orbroken plugs and loose bulb connec-tions before using them. Purchaseonly lights and electrical decorationsthat have been tested by anindependent lab such asUnderwriters Laboratory or FactoryMutual. Ensure lights used outsideare certified for outdoor use, and

plug outdoor lights and decorationsinto circuits or extension cords withground-fault-circuit interrupterprotection. Use no more than threestandard-size sets of lights per exten-sion cord. Do not run cords underrugs or across the floor or mountlights in any way that can damage thewires’ insulation. Use clips to mountstrings of lights, not nails. Avoid elec-trical shocks—never add lights to ametallic tree. Always turn off electricdecorations before going to bed orleaving the house.

THE CANDLESThe top five days for home fires

arising from candles are Halloween,Christmas Eve, Christmas, NewYear’s Eve and New Year’s Day.Thirty-eight percent of home candlefires start in the bedroom, and morethan half start when something thatcan burn, such as furniture,mattresses, bedding, curtains ordecorations, is too close to thecandle. Therefore, keep candles atleast 12 inches from anything thatcan burn, use safe candleholders andnever leave a burning candleunattended. Extinguish candles whenyou leave a room, do not splatter waxwhen extinguishing a candle andavoid using candles in sleeping areas.Always use a flashlight, not a candle,for emergency lighting. Considerusing battery-operated flamelesscandles.

THE TOYSToys are fun for children but can

be dangerous. Before buying a toy orallowing your child to play with atoy received as a gift, read the

warning labels to ensure the toy suitsyour child’s age and ability. Millionsof toys have been recalled recentlydue to lead, small parts and otherpotential dangers. Routinely checkthe Consumer Product SafetyCommission Web site www.cpsc.gov,and send in product registrationcards so you’re notified about toyrecalls. Occasionally, check toys forbroken or torn parts that may resultin sharp edges or a choking hazard.To prevent burns and electricalshocks, don’t give young childrentoys that must be plugged into anoutlet. Electric toys should be UL- orFM-listed or approved. Teach youngchildren that electric toys and waterdon’t mix.

THE TRAVELFor trips, check the weather fore-

cast along your route before hittingthe road. Let others know when youleave and your projected arrival time.Have your vehicle inspected, andpack an emergency car kit thatincludes blankets and warm clothes.Traffic jams, detours and suddenstorms can lengthen the best-planned trips. Pull off the road andrest when you get tired. If your cele-brations will include drinkingalcoholic beverages, find a designatednondrinking driver beforehand. Slowdown, drive according to conditionsand always wear your seat belt.

’Tis the season to make safetyplanning a new holiday tradition,a gift that will keep on giving. ■

The author is a certified industrialhygienist with the Safety, Health andEnvironmental Management Division.

BE SAFE FOR THE HOLIDAYS BY KRISTIN GWINGood Tidings

Assistant Secretary forDiplomatic SecurityEric J. Boswell of the District ofColumbia, a senior U.S. andinternational security and managementofficial, is the new Assistant Secretary forDiplomatic Security, to serveconcurrently as Director of the Office ofForeign Missions with the rank ofAmbassador. Previously, he was assistantdeputy director for security in the Officeof the Director of National Intelligence.He has held senior positions in theUnited Nations system and the ForeignService, from which he retired in 1998with the rank of Minister-Counselor.

U.S. Chargé d’Affairesto BurmaLarry Miles Dinger of Iowa, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. chief of mission to the Union ofBurma. Previously, he was ambassador toFiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu,and earlier was ambassador to the Feder-ated States of Micronesia. Prior to that,he served as deputy chief of mission inKathmandu and Suva. His other postingsinclude Canberra, Jakarta and MexicoCity. He is married and has threechildren.

U.S. Ambassador tothe CongoAlan W. Eastham of Arkansas, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic of theCongo. Previously, he was ambassador toMalawi. Before that, he was director ofthe Office of Central African Affairs. Hisother postings include Kathmandu,Peshawar, Nairobi, Kinshasa, Bordeaux,New Delhi and Islamabad, where he wasdeputy chief of mission.

U.S. Ambassador to theKyrgyz RepublicTatiana C. Gfoeller-Volkoff of theDistrict of Columbia, a career memberof the Senior Foreign Service, class ofCounselor, is the new U.S. Ambassadorto the Kyrgyz Republic. Previously, shewas consul general in Jeddah. Her otheroverseas postings include Poland, SaudiArabia, Bahrain, the Soviet Union,Belgium, Russia and Turkmenistan,where she was deputy chief of mission.She was a Rusk Fellow and wrote a bookon U.S. foreign policy interests in theCaspian Basin. She is married andhas a son.

U.S. Ambassador to FijiC. Steven McGann of New York, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic of theFiji Islands, serving concurrently as theambassador to Nauru, Tonga, Tuvaluand Kiribati. Previously, he was directorof the Office for Australian, NewZealand and Pacific Island Affairs. Hisother postings include Taiwan, Zaire,South Africa, Australia and Kenya. He ismarried and has five children.

U.S. Ambassador to theUnited Arab EmiratesRichard G. Olson of New Mexico, acareer member of the Senior ForeignService, class of Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the United ArabEmirates. Previously, he was deputy chiefof mission at the U.S. Mission to theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization. Hisother postings include Mexico, Uganda,Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, AbuDhabi, Dubai and Iraq. He is married toU.S. Ambassador to Kuwait DeborahJones. They have two daughters.


Appointments

Assistant Secretary forLegislative AffairsMatthew A. Reynolds of Massachusetts, asenior official in Congress and theDepartment, is the new Assistant Secre-tary for Legislative Affairs. Previously, hewas the bureau’s principal deputy assis-tant secretary. He has served as deputyassistant secretary for Senate Affairs anddirector of House Affairs. In Congress, hewas staff director of the House RulesCommittee and on the staff of the HouseInternational Relations Committee andSenate Foreign Relations Committee.

U.S. Ambassador to KoreaD. Kathleen Stephens of Montana, acareer member of the Senior ForeignService, class of Minister-Counselor, isthe new U.S. Ambassador to theRepublic of Korea. Previously, she waspolitical adviser and principal deputyassistant secretary in the Bureau of EastAsian and Pacific Affairs. Before that, shewas deputy assistant secretary in theBureau of European and EurasianAffairs. Her other postings includeLisbon, Belfast, Guangzhou, Busan,Belgrade and Yugoslavia. She has a son.


Appointments

FOREIGN SERVICE

CIVIL SERVICE

retirementsAranaga, Carlos E.Arietti, Michael R.Bagchi, Plaban K.Bainbridge, John R.Barnes, Douglas M.Barnes, Jerald H.Bartlett, William M.Bennett, David R.Bochantin, Dennis W.Bochart, Gerald W.Boris, John J.Boyle, Michael J.Braum, Donald EdgarBrowning, Michael J.Brzozowski, Clifford E.Bustamante, David A.Cason, James C.Charlton, Milton LewisCheever Jr., Francis S.Chermak, Anne M.Christenson, Richard A.Cohen, Efraim AlanColquhoun, Richard AndrewConlon, Margaret A.Connelly, Patrick S.Covington, AnnCroddy Jr., Arnold J.De Soto, Oscar G.Denig, PaulDevlin, Joseph M.Dreher, David RossEreshefsky, Marilyn CaroleEstes, Ellis MerrillEwing, Elizabeth A.Gianfranceschi, Robert E.Glover, Roy A.

Goff, Edward H.Gordon, Ann VincentGorjance, Mary A.Hibben, Barbara A. P.Hill, Leonard A.Hinson-Jones, Robyn E.Hofer, CurtHorning, Raymond W.Imwold, DennisJardine Jr., Clyde LawtonJarrett, Kenneth HowardJewell, LindaJohnson, Donald C.Jones, Richard H.Kelly, Thomas E.Kirchhofer, Damaris A.Koch, Katharine ElsueKowalchek, Kenneth C.Kuehl, Craig L. M.Lemmon, Michael CraigLowther, Charles AllenLuftig, Laura R.MacCurdy, Carol LynnMalloy, Eileen AnneMartinez, Sylvie LynnMcGhee, Janet M.McGrath, Edward PaulMedvigy, Christopher A.Middleton, Victoria SharonMiller, Lavay L.Moore, SandraMorales Colon, Hector E.Morris, Greta N.Nebel Jr., Claude J.Ortiz, Isis MargaritaParent, Ruth E. Bright

Puccetti, Michael DeanRasmussen, Douglas K.Reichelderfer, Thomas S.Rich III, SantiagoRosenblatt, Josiah B.Running, Eric WilliamSaturni, Fabio M.Sawkiw, NickolasSchmidt, John RichardSchuh, Thomas E.Schweitzer, Joleen A.Semmes III, RaphaelSherman, Richard MoreySmith, Stephen T.Smolik, Robert J.Southern, George SmithSteers, Howard J. T.Strotz, Judith A.Sullivan, Joseph Gerard

Syrett, Ann SanbornTaylor, Wade A.Tedford, Terri LeeThomas, Bruce E.Van Laningham, James R.Van Valkenburg, David R.Vancio, William J.Wadley, Harlan D.Wagner, David GoforthWalkley, R. BarrieWard, Christopher D.Ward III, Francis B.Whitaker, Roy L.Witajewski, Robert M.Yamauchi, Emi LynnYoas, Michael J.Young, MarkZetkulic, Jack MatthewZimmerman, Kathryn L.

Abalos, Ligaya J.Argoff, H. DavidBeck, Nancy L.Causey, Paula J.Cernik, JiriChamp, Renee C.Chen, Ying ChihCunningham, Charles S.Drahos, Hazel E.Fannin, Mary C.Farrar Jr., John H.Fitts, James EdwardGlasgow, Gloria J.Hammond, Rose M.Hammontree, John L.Hovey, Susan M.

Hunter, Donald R.Johnson, Jill H.Keefer, Edward C.Lassiter, Immy R.Macon, George C.Margolis, Robin L.Marino, Margot U.Mayo, Wanda DianneMozingo, Donald E.Mylko, Yuriy Nelligan, JoannePatten, Patsy J.Ponomaryova, Marina M.Williams, CarnellaWilson, Barry N.Wood, Rosetta R.

Lawrence Albert BeeryJr., 94, a retired Foreign Service officerwho worked for the Department of Agri-culture and U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment, died June 29 in Lake Wales,Fla., after a short illness. He served in

Brazil, Indonesia, Cameroon, Honduras, Tunisia and Zaire. Heretired to Lake Wales in 1975, where he was active in communityaffairs, especially literacy and the arts.

Halbert Thompson“Hal” Cupps, 92, a retiredForeign Service employee of the Voice ofAmerica, died Feb. 14 in Scottsdale, Ariz.He served in Europe, North Africa, theMiddle East and Southeast Asia. He retired

in 1973. He was an avid ham radio operator and Rotarian. In his80s, he became interested in personal computers.

Irmgard Emmel, 76, a retired Foreign Serviceemployee, died Sept. 1 in Albuquerque, N.M., after a long illness.She served in the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania,Ceylon, Pakistan, Japan, Oman and Nepal. She retired in 1982.She collected shells—which she donated to a museum—and lovedreading and crocheting.

Donna Ruth Houser, 60,died June 26 in Boyds, Md. She served inthe Foreign Service for 10 years. Herassignments included Zaire, El Salvador,Malaysia, Morocco and Switzerland. Shealso was a Civil Service employee for 20

years, working for the General Services Administration in Ft.Worth, Texas, among other positions. She retired in 2001.

Albert Jennings, a retired Foreign Service officer,died July 6 from pneumonia and skin cancer. He lived inBethesda, Md., and loved camping in the Adirondacks. He servedin the Army during World War II.

Thomas E. “Tom” Kelly,48, a retired Foreign Service officer, diedof cancer Oct. 7 in Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic. He was a PeaceCorps volunteer in Sri Lanka beforejoining the U.S. Information Agency in

1998. He served in Nicosia, Havana and Mexico City. He lovedtravel and barbequing. He was married to Foreign Service officerHolly Peirce.

Richard “Dick” Milton,69, a retired Foreign Service officer, diedJune 27 after a long illness. He lived inColorado Springs, Colo. During his 30-year career, he served overseas in Peru,Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Poland,

Thailand and Ecuador. He became a volunteer Court-AppointedSpecial Advocate for abused and neglected children, serving morethan 30 children and becoming Colorado’s 1999 CASA volunteerof the year. He and his family also provided a home tointernational Air Force Academy students.

Joseph Molofsky, 53,a regional training operations managerfor the Africa Contingency OperationsTraining Assistance peacekeeper programin the Bureau of African Affairs,died Sept. 3 of cancer. He managed

ACOTA’s West African training. A retired Marine Corps colonel,he served in the 1991 Gulf War and in Cairo, Jerusalem, Jeddahand Manama.


Obituaries

Carol MessingO’Connor, 42, wife of ForeignService officer Daniel B. O’Connor, diedJune 5 of cancer. She lived in Rockville,Md. She accompanied her husband onpostings to Santo Domingo and Nassau.

Earlier, she had been a prosecuting attorney for the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration, specializing in marinemammal protection.

Helen Steinacker, 93,a retired Civil Service employee in theOffice of Procurement, died Sept. 1 ofnatural causes in Oakton, Va. She retiredin 1981. She volunteered in the gift shopat Arlington Hospital and loved traveling,

sports, her pets, giving to charities and the outdoors.

Jeanne Marie PorrazzoTousignant, 53, wife of ForeignService officer Alan R. Tousignant, diedApril 26 of colon cancer in Sturbridge,Mass. She accompanied her husband andtheir three daughters on assignments in

Brussels, Cotonou, Oslo, Pretoria and Hanoi. A Catholic, shebecame involved in church activities, community aid and schoolorganizations in the countries where they lived.

Anthony H. Wallace, 67,a retired Foreign Service officer, diedSept. 4 at his home in Arlington, Va. Hehad Lou Gehrig’s disease. He served in theArmy before joining the Department in1965. He served in Ecuador, India,

Pakistan, Tunisia and England. After retiring in 1988, he wasdeputy director for international affairs for Westinghouse Electricand an adjunct professor at George Mason University. Hecollected stamps, coins, rare books, prints and maps. He playedthe flute and enjoyed golf and tennis.


Obituaries

Questions concerning employee deaths should be directed to the Office ofCasualty Assistance at (202) 736-4302. Inquiries concerning deaths of retiredemployees should be directed to the Office of Retirement at (202) 261-8960.

In the eventof a death


With the holiday season upon us, let’stake a quick look at some of the good worksour colleagues around the world tackle.

The unlawful trade in wildlife, a blackmarket valued at $10 billion or more a yearglobally, is fueled by unchecked demand forlive wild animals as exotic pets or for theirbody parts. The Bureau of Oceans and Inter-

national Environmental and Scientific Affairsis deeply involved in worldwide efforts toend this trade, and has joined the U.S.-ledCoalition Against Wildlife Trafficking and itspartner WildAid in focusing some seriousstar power on the problem.

Actor Harrison Ford, known internation-ally for various movie roles but especially forhis turn as archeologist-adventurer IndianaJones, filmed three public service announce-ments for CAWT to encourage people to stopbuying illegal wildlife products. OES and theDepartment helped launch the public aware-ness campaign in June by providing copies ofthe PSAs to 215 U.S. posts in 137 countries.OES has since joined WildAid in filming twonew PSAs on wildlife trafficking featuringconservationist Dr. Jane Goodall.

Diplomacy is often where you find it, andthe Provincial Reconstruction Team inMuthanna, Iraq, found success far from thedecision-makers in Baghdad. In the last twoyears, this PRT has seen residents embracepeace, strive for a brighter future and eagerlystart rebuilding. Interacting with residents atevery level in a province with few resourcesand lacking many essential services, PRT

Muthanna helped provide citizens access toclean water, electricity and health care. Andin this predominantly agricultural area, theteam’s agricultural and water experts workedwith relevant Iraqi ministries to tacklecomplex challenges in both fields.

Costa Rica may be more developed thanother Central American countries, but thereare still several remote areas of high poverty.Inhabitants of Punta Burica, the region nextto Panama along Costa Rica’s southernmostPacific coast, are too poor and too far fromdoctors to receive regular medical care. InSeptember, the U.S. Embassy in San Jose’sOffice of the Defense Representative—supported by the post’s administrative,political, regional security and public affairsoffices—coordinated a Medical ReadinessTraining Exercise that brought much-neededmedical care to the area.

Last but never least, a final salute to ourcolleagues en route to their final posting:Lawrence Albert Beery; Halbert Thompson“Hal” Cupps; Irmgard Emmel; Donna RuthHouser; Albert Jennings; Thomas E. “Tom”Kelly; Richard “Dick” Milton; JosephMolofsky; Carol Messing O’Connor; HelenSteinacker; Jeanne Marie PorrazzoTousignant; and Anthony H. Wallace. ■

Coming in January• HR Moves Forward on Shared Services• Post Helps Bermuda Celebrate 400 Years

• Embassy Teaches Democracy by Example... and much more!

Diplomacy Builds Bright Futures

Rob WileyEditor-in-Chief

CorrectionThe story on the U.S. Consulate General in Belfast (State Magazine, November 2008)incorrectly identified the host nation. It is the United Kingdom of Great Britain andNorthern Ireland.

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State Magazine, December 2008

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Transcript of State Magazine, December 2008