(NC, SC, Southern VA)
Career Track: Political
Years of Service: 32
Prior Experience: Merchant Mariner. Limited Master, 1600 tons
Languages: English, French, Spanish, and very rusty Indonesian and Nepali
Education: BA Oberlin College (Biology and Religious Philosophy); MPP Princeton University (International Relations)
Interesting Experience: Here is one memorable story from each of my overseas postings: 1) In my first consular tour I was issuing immigrant visas. One day a woman came in with triplet daughters aged about 12. After my interview I issued them their visas and – assuming they stayed and thrived in the United States – there are now three women in their 40’s living here named (drum roll) Veni, Vidi, and Vici! Every post has memorable stories, some joyful and funny, but others tragic. 2) In my second tour a flight came to Kathmandu just at the time when school was starting. The weather was bad and it was directed back south to land in Dhaka. Then it disappeared. For several days we searched in puzzlement until we got word that, in some strange confusion, the pilots had headed north in the roiling clouds by mistake, directly into the wall of the Himalayan mountains. Several hundred people perished instantly, including a lovely Japanese colleague of mine on the Lincoln School Board – along with her five children. Heartbreaking. 3) In Jordan it was wonderful to affirm our common humanity hosting Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli colleagues together around our dinner table where we ate and drank and discussed how the limited water in that region might be shared equitably. Alas, over twenty years have passed and these issues are, if anything, more fraught now than they were then. 4) In Calcutta at the height of the AIDS epidemic the consulate hired “baul” singers – sort of wandering gypsy minstrels who ride the trains in India performing for whatever change they can obtain – to sing AIDS awareness songs. We met with them to track their progress in a remote rural area where it was pouring monsoon rain. So we huddled under a small thatched hut and they sang me their songs and then I surprised them – I had written my own “baul” song in English and performed it back to them. 5) While in Madagascar, our embassy took over representation to the Comoros, a tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean. I was Chargé (acting Ambassador) when the Comoros experienced an attempted coup by the leader of one of its islands. For ten months we supported the union government and the African Union in their attempts to negotiate a peaceful solution. At the end, I personally traveled to face the warlord and warn him that our patience was drawing to an end and we would support a military option if he did not accept exile. Alas, he did not accept our offer, although before his final defeat he managed to flee the island, disguised as a woman, in a speedboat. 6) Opening a new diplomatic office is exciting, but I discovered that closing one can be professionally rewarding, even if a bit sad. I took over Provincial Reconstruction Team Ninewa in Mosul just when we decided to close it. I had a team of 30 persons who thought they had long-term jobs and had the painful duty to tell them we would be closed in 90 days. We sustained our government relations, closed down our development projects – from electrical substations to beehives — and my team found jobs elsewhere and gradually departed. I was the last civilian to lower the flag on our last day. Less than three years later ISIS had taken control of the city. 7) As Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs in India, I led a team of 35 – both American officers and local staff. One young officer arrived to head our “Environment and Science” Unit in his first experience managing others. He botched it badly. However, with great determination and integrity, he recognized his mistake and proceeded to read, attend brown bag sessions on management skills, and take courses in developing as a manager. Through honest self-appraisal (and with just a little guidance from me) he succeeded in turning a serious weakness into a real strength. As we rise in the ranks, we spend less time on issues and more time on people. I wish these stories all turned out so positively! 8) The last may be the hardest. I arrived in Rangoon just a month before the military committed horrible atrocities that led 740,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh. For the last three years we have struggled to obtain some accountability while also sustaining a democracy that is just emerging from fifty years of military dictatorship. As if that were not hard enough, we are now dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, wearing masks on my back patio, I met with four young activists struggling for human rights and free speech in Burma. They told me the United States, despite our flaws and our problems, remains a beacon of hope for their struggle. Even in the darkest times, there are heroes risking their lives and their freedom for those truths that we hold to be self-evident. When the United States stands up to support them, this is the best job in the world.
Last Post: Rangoon, Burma (also known as Yangon, Myanmar) where I left as Chargé d’Affaires
Why I Chose a Foreign Service Career: The Foreign Service was my second career. For 11 years I served in the U.S. Merchant Marine, at one point helping to lay the first submarine fiber optic cable in human history. Three things pushed me to change careers. I got married, and my wife suggested that having me away on ships for eights months of the year or more was going to be hard for her. I had always been interested in international relations, and the possibility of living in a series of foreign countries and learning about their culture, politics and economics fascinated me. Finally, I believed service to my nation was a noble calling, to promote U.S. interests and especially U.S. values – democracy, free markets, human rights – around the world. One thing cemented my patriotism. In most countries a merchant mariner of eleven years would have zero chance of becoming a diplomat. In the United States, however, neither age, prior experience, educational background, race, creed, or gender mattered in becoming a Foreign Service Officer. If you could pass the tests and obtain a medical clearance and a security clearance you were in. I am immensely grateful to have had the amazing opportunity that has been this career.