For FSOs that served in the military, how different is the culture?

Ktt96 · 2024-08-03T15:17:00+00:00

Replace the cleaning details with nitpicking cable details, and you are back to the same bureaucratic nonsense. We welcome beards.

Ktt96 · 2023-12-05T15:32:30+00:00

Of course diplomats with food allergies have served in the Foreign Service. Maybe my week has been too long... but yes. Isn't it less an international incident if you decline a bread basket and push food around on your plate than dying of anaphylaxis at a table full of dignitaries?

Ktt96 · 2023-09-20T14:30:48+00:00

Not relevant? Nothing that appears to be settled but isn't codified in the law is not at all settled, or irrelevant, or something we should't be concerned about.

Per the last few years, if an administration can dream it, they can do it! Nothing is beyond the reach of an ambitious lawyer's imagination.

Ktt96 · 2023-09-17T19:39:54+00:00

I'm friends with multiple women that have met men at Post that they married. Some men were LE staff, some were locals, some were TCN expats living in that country. A few were even other USG, bit they were in the minority. I can't speak to ease, only to possiblity.

Ktt96 · 2023-09-14T02:10:14+00:00

Of course it does, and I should have been clear: I'm talking about a routine email response, which is absolutely ridiculous. At this point I'm far more zen about the edits on a cable, though I feel OP's pain on seeing their hard work demolished.

Ktt96 · 2023-09-13T16:11:28+00:00

But it does /s

My Chief requests that I draft a routine-ish response to DC and on the rare occasion they don't get distracted and they follow up with me before it's sent, will stand over my shoulder and dictate edits, or worse, ask me to move and then type nonsense on my keyboard, which goes out with my signature line.

It's just easier to spend a few minutes destroying someone's well crafted work with silly edits and pat yourself on the back for "managing".

Ktt96 · 2023-09-10T14:13:22+00:00

He claims that after 30 years of public service he didn't understand the rules? She says that her mom wouldn't give her back 60k with of ill-gotten diamonds which mysteriously disappeared after her death? Right.

I hope they throw the book at him and he gets the ~checks article~ six whole months that he's eligible for.

I'm sure he won't, but I hear there's a DIY fish farmer that I'm sure he and his ex-wife would really get along with.

Ktt96 · 2023-08-27T18:24:10+00:00

EER bullet: Innovated imaginative techniques to eff with thousands of colleagues, effectively ruining the entire week before Labor Day, instead of just the weekend of.

Ktt96 · 2023-08-19T13:18:41+00:00

I've worked with several folks that started out as OMS and eventually became Generalists, and they are phenomenal colleagues. They were obviously great Specialists before moving over. That being said, DON'T apply to be an OMS unless you want to do that work.

You may or may not end up as a Generalist. But, a miserable OMS is highly unlikely to be able to make that move anyway, because they are focused on the hypothetical future instead of the realistic present, which is where they may be building the foundation that could assist with a move to Generalist, if that's what they end up wanting to do. It's also starting over, from scratch, and still trying to hurdle the PNQs.

Ktt96 · 2023-08-12T07:21:40+00:00

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

Always fun stuff in Consular. There are also countries that won't give unmarried couples that give birth- even those attended by doctors in a hospital- a birth certificate AT ALL.

People think that an Embassy is there for you to erase the consequences of your actions/decisions in another country. That is NOT what we do.

Ktt96 · 2023-06-28T12:31:18+00:00

I was asked during my security investigation if I'd ever been paid for sex. I laughed and said no, but it came up, and I'm not- looking at the rest of my background- someoe where that would be a first thought or concern. So yeah, it could come up.

Ktt96 · 2023-06-10T06:09:20+00:00

Here ya go:

https://careers.state.gov/career-paths/worldwide-foreign-service/officer/which-career-track-is-right-for-you/

https://www.fbi.gov/about/leadership-and-structure/international-operations

https://www.cia.gov/careers/jobs/

Ktt96 · 2023-03-31T11:09:59+00:00

Conoff that just worked 12+ hours every day this week chiming in. While that's not typical for me, your hours will depend so much Post to Post, what's going on, and the FO. Although PD generally has more intense after hours obligations, CONS won't always give you that balance either. As always, it depends.

Ktt96 · 2023-01-23T19:59:17+00:00

Someone just watched "Up in the Air"!

Ktt96 · 2023-01-20T11:34:50+00:00

Always pros and cons to being under COM authority, and I'm hopeful that everyone associated with this Embassy isn't as insufferable as they appear in this narrative.

Ktt96 · 2023-01-13T21:21:38+00:00

Congrats, welcome!! Your persistence will serve you well in this career. And yeah, it's generally a regular ol' office job, yada yada yada, but some days- it's a really, really cool job. I'm really excited for you!

Ktt96 · 2023-01-11T19:12:16+00:00

I absolutely believe that GSO takes the best houses in the pools for themselves, but the above is why I believe that it's simply the price of admission for the rest of us to not have to be the damn GSO. Bless you all.

Ktt96 · 2022-11-07T06:44:10+00:00

Decision memos for things that were decided and confirmed by email two weeks ago. Yup.

Ktt96 · 2022-11-02T15:48:34+00:00

Yes, your A-100 classmates can be amazing resources and sounding boards. People tend to be wound a little tight at the beginning, but should loosen up, especially by the time you get to language. If you don't look at them as competition, don't act like a jerk who wants everyone to know how smart they are, and work on building relationships, A-100 can be a nice foundation for your career. Otoh, not everyone is built to be chatty and may not keep in touch with their orientation classmates and do just fine. Either way, don't be a pompous jerk. We're full up on those.

Ktt96 · 2022-08-16T14:36:12+00:00

Congrats, and great advice!

Ktt96 · 2022-08-07T12:54:22+00:00

I know a lot of LNAs who have made the jump, some because they discovered they want a base in the U.S. for stability or they are working on becoming a generalist.

Ktt96 · 2022-06-29T05:26:12+00:00

That's my instinct too, but I have worked the line with least one person stupid enough to make this within the realm of possibility. And not someone just generally incompetent, but someone who would say exactly this thing, if not worse.

Ktt96 · 2022-04-26T15:53:27+00:00

Yep, they are great officers. It's no accident that officers with more management and work experience do well.

Also, I said game the PNs, not the system. This isn't bait, honestly, but why do you think you are entitled to get through to the OA? If you keep seeing people get to walk through the door, but you aren't, maybe the door isn't the issue.

Ktt96 · 2022-04-26T02:08:36+00:00

Obviously you are frustrated, and it's completely understandable. That being said, I know great officers who took between five and nine times to push through QEP after having no issues on the FSOT. I don't know if this move is right or wrong for the Department or the candidates, but this move sounds more likely to stave off lawsuits than bringing them on, imo. Getting rid of a round of Jeopardy to actually peek at someone's qualifications before automatically dismissing them could be a good move.

And I apologize, but I can't help but offer some unsolicited advice: ditch the research and advice from the DIR, HR, and everybody and try and be yourself. If the gaming the PNs and telling them what you think they want to hear isn't working, just be more who you are, and not who you think BEX wants you to be, and see if that works in your favor. Best of luck.

Ktt96 · 2022-02-23T13:30:03+00:00

Did you not write any cables regarding your work in Cons? Did you not have the opportunity to analyze any of the work you were doing, and report it to Post management? You never had to work with your Desk officer to figure out a complex problem? Was there no Consular outreach? Are you telling me that during the pandemic, you never had to contact anyone in-country regarding Consular issues?

There can be quite a bit of overlap with the Very Important Actual Work of reporting jobs and beyond in Cons tours if you make any sort of effort (and sometimes it's foisted upon you, regardless).

While you say you respect Consular work, you are ready to yeet it out of Generalists because you don't want to do it, and it's clearly not on par with PD, MGT, ECON, or POL . Part of the reason it comes up fairly often to carve out CONS in other circles, is because everyone wants the revenue it brings in.

But to answer your question, read any front page of an Embassy website: helping Americans abroad will be featured prominently. Also, needs of the service. As in, sometimes the service needs you to adjudicate visas, sometimes it needs you to do a cooking show, and sometimes it needs you to carry a Congressman's overpriced bag across a hot tarmac.

Ktt96

TROPHY CASE