Tales of Nine: All these Questions

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

All these Questions

I have gotten a lot of strange looks and what, to me, have been strange comments and questions when I have told people about the Foreign Service. So, I thought I would try to answer some of them for those of you who are wondering just what in the world we are up to.

Me: DH is going to be a Foreign Service Officer. Them: Which branch? No, DH has not joined the military. Think of it like this. Non-military government employees work in either the Civil Service or the Foreign Service. A civil servant may work for the FFA, the IRS, or any number of agencies that operate inside of the United States. The Foreign Service is under the Department of State. Foreign Service Officers work out of Embassies and Consulates worldwide. They are diplomats. DH will be an economics officer, which means that after his first 4-5 years of being a junior officer and learning the ins and outs of how embassies run, he will be analyzing foreign economies and helping with trade relations.

Me: We will be going to Virginia while DH trains in D.C. Them: Where are you going to be posted? We don't know where we will be posted. The bidding process starts during training. We will find out after about 6 weeks in a "Flag Day" ceremony. We won't be in one place for very long, either. For junior officers, posts are only 1-2 years, which means that we will be moving a lot over the next 4-5 years. After that, posts last 3-4 years.

Them: Isn't that a strange career move? Yes and no. As the V.P. of Marketing for a tech company, a bishop for our church, and a board member for several non-profits over the past decade, DH has just the kind of experience that the Department of State is looking for. He understands how to do qualitative and quantitative analysis. He is sensitive to people of other cultures. He has international business experience. He knows how to work as a member of a tight team of people toward goals. Also, this isn't an entry-level position. Yes, a person can get into the Foreign Service right out of college, but their pay is commensurate with their experience. The benefits are pretty good.

Them: How do you feel about this (insert funny face here that implies that I must have reservations about uprooting the family and dragging seven children around the world)? I am completely on board. DH has never been happy schlepping electronics. He is happiest when he is making a difference in the lives of others. Not only do I want him to have a career where he can have job satisfaction, but I want this for me and for my kids. I have always liked seeing the world. My kids have not seen the world. They have been stuck in outlying suburban Minnesota for their entire lives, and do not know how good they have it. They will get to see other cultures. They will get to attend some pretty great private international schools, as well as probably get home-schooled when there aren't good schools available. They will get to see places that others just get to read about. Also, this job comes with a lot more vacation time than DH's last one. In addition to accrued vacation time, there will be U.S. Federal holidays, plus all of the government holidays in the country we'll be staying in. Plus, they will "make us" come home to MN for a month every other year or so. We have never had the privilege of much vacation time, so we are pretty excited about it. Of course, we do understand that this comes at the cost of being away from family and friends, and that there will be some long hours at times at some posts. There is a trade-off. We just happen to think that this sounds like a good one. If you have any other questions, leave a comment and I will add to the list.

1 comment:

StefanyApril 24, 2015 at 7:44 AM
So, I want to make a correction. My DH is in his first tour, and was stepped-up to a mid-level job. Since he has so much work experience, they were happy to give him a little more responsibility than your average junior officer. So, when I said that "DH will be an economics officer, which means that after his first 4-5 years of being a junior officer and learning the ins and outs of how embassies run, he will be analyzing foreign economies and helping with trade relations," I didn't realize that he would actually be doing that right off the bat. He still will do a Consular tour next time around, pretty certainly, but right now, he is already into some pretty cool stuff!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

I moderate all comments, so if yours doesn't show up right away, it is because I haven't seen it and approved it yet. This will keep spammers and rude people from tarnishing the experience.

Abbreviation Help

A few readers have asked what DH stands for. They figured out that it had to do with my husband, but didn't quite get it. For anonymity's sake, when necessary, we use the following abbreviations:

DH = Dear Husband

DS = Dear Son

DD = Dear Daughter

I have put numbers after each of the DS's, since there are six of them. I numbered them DS1-DS6, from oldest to youngest.

You may see other abbreviations over time, like MIL (mother-in-law). I'll try to add their explanations here when that happens.

HHE - HouseHold Effects - items that you can't bring to temporary housing with you that are stored in a warehouse, such as Haggerstown, MD. When you leave temporary housing, you get to send HHE items to your new post from storage. You can add anything you don't want from your temporary housing to HHE storage, and anything that isn't going in your UAB or on the plane with you will go into HHE that is going to post. You get to visit Haggerstown once before you leave and take out boxes if you need to go through and remove some things. For example, our packers mixed ice skates with garden tools in one box. I will be removing that box, and will send the skates back to storage (other than any we have outgrown) and send the gardening tools onward. HHE allowance is 18,000 lbs and includes items in storage in Haggerstown or any other government storage facility. 18,000 lbs. can go to a post with no furnishings provided. 7,200 lbs. can go to a post with furnishings provided. The remaining 10,800 lbs. can stay in storage. Weights include packaging materials, and you don't get to pack your own stuff.

UAB - Unaccompanied Air Baggage - When you go anywhere, you get a small shipment sent more quickly than your HHE. This could mean you get it two weeks after arrival or 3 months after arrival, depending on the destination and customs hold-ups. Nothing in UAB can be over 3' long and 2' wide, as this is the approximate size of a UAB shipping box. UAB weight allowance changes with family size, and any amount you don't use can be added to your HHE allowance. Weights include packaging materials, and you don't get to pack your own stuff.

POV - Privately Owned Vehicle - You can also ship one vehicle at the department's expense. Every country has their own guidelines as to what vehicles they will allow to be imported, so don't take this as a blanket rule that you can ship whatever you want to drive. The maximum size the Department will ship on their tab is 800 cubic feet, and you have to pay overages if it is bigger.

CDO - Career Development Officer - The person (which will probably change once while you are a junior officer) who decides where to send you for your first two tours

TED - The date of departure from your current post (even though it is a specific date, for bidding purposes, you can use the whole month, and after that, we hear there is wiggle room up to a month prior to that date, if necessary)