WHO CAN USE THE OVERSEAS BRIEFING CENTER?

State Department employees, contractors, and family members, and US government employees of any agency and their families assigned to or returning from US embassies and consulates overseas are eligible to use the Information Center and take the OBC training courses.


WHERE DOES THE INFORMATION CENTER OBTAIN ITS MATERIALS?

Most of the material comes directly from US embassies and consulates, most often from Community Liaison Office Coordinators and/or administrative personnel. It also comes from other government offices and the Internet. The Information Center purchases a small number of commercial books and resource materials.


WHAT COURSES ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE OVERSEAS BRIEFING CENTER?

The Overseas Briefing Center offers a wide variety of courses designed to assist foreign affairs personnel and their family members in adjusting to, and enjoying, foreign service life. These courses are specifically designed to address the concerns of the mobile employee, spouse and children. Check the list of OBC's Popular offerings.

In addition, OBC offers the Security Overseas Seminar, Advanced SOS, and SOS for TDY personnel on a frequent basis for employees, spouses, and children grades 2 - 12.


WHEN AND WHERE ARE THESE OBC COURSES OFFERED?
Depending upon demand, courses are offered one or more times a year. Many courses are offered on Wednesday evenings and Saturdays in order to accommodate more students' and their families' schedules. Courses are also offered on weekdays. All classes meet at the Foreign Service Institute at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, 4000 Arlington Blvd., Arlington, VA 22204.


WHAT ARE THE TUITION FEES?

All courses are free to US Department of State employees and their family members. A fee is charged to employees and family members of other agencies for some courses. All OBC workshops are free to United States Government employees and eligible family members planning or returning from overseas postings. Call the OBC at (703) 302-7268 or e-mail for more information.


HOW DO I REGISTER FOR A COURSE?

For tuition-based courses, non-State employees/family members submit an SF 182 (with fiscal data) through their Training Officer to the Office of the Registrar at FSI; State employees submit a DS-755 through their CDO. State Department family members register for all courses through OBC. For non-tuition presentations, all employees/family members, regardless of agency, register through OBC at (703) 302-7268.


IS BABYSITTING AVAILABLE?

Unfortunately, at the present time, child care is not available at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. OBC maintains a list of child care facilities located near NFATC. E-mail the OBC Information Center for a copy of the list.


WHAT IS THE SECURITY OVERSEAS SEMINAR?

The Security Overseas Seminar (MQ-911) is a two-day course during which security and safety experts provide guidance on personal security as well as United States Government employment-related security and safety issues. Topics include Personal Security, Counterintelligence, Surveillance Detection, Evacuation, Crisis Management, Bomb Recognition, Fire Safety and Sexual Assault.

The Advanced Security Overseas Seminar, ASOS (MQ-912), is a one-day course offered to update safety and security issues facing experienced officers. MQ-911 is a prerequisite for this course.

The Youth Security Overseas Seminar (YSOS, MQ-914) is a summer program that teaches children grades 2-12 about personal safety, street smarts, fire, evacuation, and other crises.


HOW CAN YOU TEACH MY CHILD/ME ABOUT SECURITY WITHOUT SCARING US?

The Security Overseas Seminar programs reduce anxiety by making the threats known and offering successful tips to avoid those threats. We use age-appropriate techniques for each age group (puppetry, arts/crafts, role plays, case studies, etc.) to reinforce the teachings and give all ages the confidence needed to ask the right questions and formulate a personal security plan.


I UNDERSTAND THAT SECURITY TRAINING IS MANDATORY FOR ALL EMPLOYEES. I'VE BEEN OVERSEAS BEFORE, AND I AM AWARE OF THE CONCERNS; DO I STILL NEED TO TAKE IT?

The requirement for security training for employees and the recommendation that family members be trained as well is found in PL 99-399, the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Anti-terrorism Act of 1986, sec. 103, para (a) and section 105, para (7).

SOS is required for all foreign affairs agency employees going overseas for the first time. SOS or ASOS must be taken every five years in order to meet the Department's requirements for security training.


HOW DO I REGISTER FOR SECURITY TRAINING?

Employees must register for all security courses through their Career and Assignments Officer (CAO) or training officer. Registration for family members may be performed by the family member or employee directly through the OBC at (703) 302-7269. Name, date of birth, Social Security Number, and daytime phone number of the family member and the name, Social Security Number, Agency, and post of assignment of the employee are required for registration.


WHY IS COMING BACK TO THE U.S. SO HARD?

Repatriation is difficult for a number of reasons. For an employee, it typically means a reduction in both the responsibility and the independence of the employee's work environment. For all family members, it means coming back to a place that you know and remember very well. But two things will have - perhaps surprisingly - changed. Our country's culture changes. Every year at the Briefing Center, we go through and develop a list of new words, ideas, products that anyone in America will have been exposed to and perhaps absorbed, that people re-patriating from overseas may find strange. Maybe it's this year's hot Christmas toy. Maybe it's a new computer product, service, or distribution chain. Maybe it's just a new way of doing discount coupons at the Safeway or Giant, but no matter how closely you've tried to stay in touch with the United States, it will have changed.

Moreover, you will have changed while overseas. Your experiences are broader, and your attitudes, personal tastes, and expectations may well be different. What's hard about this is that we all think we know exactly what we will find when we return, and none of us can ever really know what we will actually find, how different our culture has become and in what ways we ourselves change. That can make for an unsettling feeling. That's why coming back can be hard.


DOES OBC HAVE COURSES TO HELP ME WITH THE TRANSITION TO WASHINGTON?

Yes, the Overseas Briefing Center has re-entry information. Staff members will answer specific questions about the process of returning to the Washington area after serving overseas, and the OBC has helpful resources available. Personnel and family members of all United States Government agencies are welcome to call (703) 302-7268, e-mail OBC, or visit the Information Center.


I' M INTERESTED IN THE " DO'S AND DON'T'S" OF THE CULTURE - YOU KNOW, ETIQUETTE AND PROTOCOL - IN COUNTRY X. DO YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION?

Yes, but there is more to it than you might imagine. There are several publications and books available that give good thumbnail sketches of some of the basics of doing business in other countries. You might look at those approaches as offering some insight on but one aspect of another culture - one layer of a giant onion.

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