Know Thyself

Good afternoon! I wanted to also recognize joining us on the dais is the Director General of the Foreign Service, Ambassador Bob Pearson. Bob, thank you for joining us today. It’s a pleasure to be here this morning. It’s a beautiful day in Washington and it’s a pleasure to welcome 21 new members of the Diplomatic Security family. It is very fitting that they have this ceremony here in the Benjamin Franklin Room. The bookstores are filled with new Benjamin Franklin biographies – he is the subject of renewed interest by Americans. Certainly his influence on our country’s political, social, and moral development cannot be underestimated. His numerous sayings immortalized by Poor Richard’s Almanac are still appropriate in these modern times:

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man (and woman) healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Now, you recognize that we don’t put you to bed early and we don’t let you go to sleep ‘til late in this business but it worked for Ben Franklin.
“Success has ruined many a man.” Or woman. The woman part I just added to be politically correct.
“Fish and visitors stink after 3 days.” Wise man.

Benjamin Franklin is long deceased but today we welcome 21 new diplomats to carry on the traditions that Ben Franklin began over 2 centuries ago as America’s first diplomat. Just as he advanced American foreign policy during a critical time in the formation of our great country, you have important roles to play in America’s foreign policy today. As America expands its diplomatic presence into developing new countries, Diplomatic Security’s mission to provide a safe and secure environment for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy takes on new, indeed, perilous meaning.

Yesterday, the Iraqi interim government assumed sovereignty of Iraq for their people. As Ben Franklin said, “Tis easy to see, hard to foresee.” We cannot know what will occur in Iraq over the next few years. We see a country in its infancy, struggling to define itself and to become independent. Infant nations are like infant people, they need assistance and guidance from their families, in this case the family of nations. The international community has a responsibility to ensure that Iraq is a country that we want in our family of nations and it stands ready to help the Iraqi people develop their country into one that adheres to international standards and treats all its people fairly and justly. America will exercise its responsibilities to the Iraqi people through our new U.S. Mission in Iraq.

Just as Iraq is about to enter the family of nations, today you are entering the State Department family. You are beginning the infancy of your new Foreign Service career. Just as Iraq will need help in its development, so too will you. It was John Donne, not Ben Franklin, that said, “No man is an island, entire of itself.” Look around this room and you will see your new friends and colleagues in the Diplomatic Security Service here with you today. They have taken time from their busy schedules to come and see you graduate, to welcome you to our family because they recognize their responsibility to help you grow and develop into a professional they would be proud to call a member of the Diplomatic Security family. Only the foolish think they know all and there is nothing more for them to learn. Therein lies your responsibility--to reach out, observe, listen, and learn. Throughout your careers, senior officers, not just special agents but security engineering officers, diplomatic couriers, Foreign Service and Civil Service officers, will assist you as you learn. You will return the favor by doing the same for your juniors as they come behind you. The mentoring relationship could span years or just a moment in time, but both you and the other person will take something away from the experience, both as teacher and student. Appreciate new insight and different perspectives. Respect the knowledge and experience your seniors seek to impart and reciprocate. Diplomatic Security has a responsibility to provide you with the building blocks so that you can become the best security professional that you are able to become. But you bear the burden also. That responsibility is to continually seek to become a better officer, to make DS a better organization, and to hold yourself to the highest standard and expect the same from your colleagues and your organization.

Today you will take your oath and receive your credentials. Both represent those high standards that we expect from you and that you should expect from yourself:

The moral courage to stand up for what is right, not what is easy.

“There are 3 things that are extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know thyself.” Know what your values are and how far you, as an individual, are willing to accept a violation of those beliefs before you believe you must act. Have personal and professional integrity.

Respect your colleagues, those you are sworn to protect, and most importantly, the American people you represent, your hosts in foreign lands, and the people you are arresting. With your badge comes the authority that impacts lives, careers, and families. You are dealing with individuals, human beings, and they deserve the same respect that all human beings are privy to, regardless of where they come from, their religious beliefs or political convictions or the crime that they commit.

We expect you to be impartial, showing neither favoritism nor bias. Your job is to collect information and report it fully for the people who need it. Innuendo, speculation, and inference have no place in your reporting.

Finally, you must work hard. Luck and savvy and good looks can get you only so far (didn’t help me either!) but persistent hard work and a sound work ethic will make the difference. There are many people with great ambitions, only a fraction of them are willing to work hard enough to make their dreams into reality.

Finally, I want to leave you with another quote from Ben Franklin. I had to think about this as I wrote it to make sure I understood so listen very carefully.

Strive to be the greatest man (or woman) in your country, and you may be disappointed;
Strive to be the best, and you may succeed:
He may well win the race that runs by himself.

Welcome to the State Department family and Diplomatic Security!