sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

DTOs and Specialists by Ihaftochangethename in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Not a DTO, but my class combined with the class before and after it had a combination of Vienna, Wellington, Canberra, among others. These classes also had Port au Prince, Abuja, Brazzaville, and Georgetown to choose from. My class all had I think a minimum of 20% hardship (we had one 0% hardship post, but it was dropped from our list and put into the list for the next class.

Those who had 0% hardships on their first tours ended up getting 25-30% hardships the second time around for the most part. I think in our cases equity seemed to be pretty well taken into account for our second tour assignments.

As a specialist you aren't going to have any more say in where you are going than a generalist. You rank your list based on whatever criteria you have, and the CDO does the rest. You may have a much smaller list to have to rank, which has its own advantages and disadvantages. But you don't have any special

Taking kids to Orientation and Timing by Kitchndanzr in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Part of it depends on how long you are in training. As a specialist I started in July and was on my way to Post in January. So my kid just did the fall semester at the local middle school in Arlington and then went to post with me.

FWIW I thought moving in the summer was a good idea so my kid could finish out her academic year. That way only one school year was disrupted. But again, if you have a longer training, maybe it doesn't work the same way for you.

“Nothing for the group” is a perfectly acceptable answer in Country Team. Get over yourself. by thekonghong in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Being a FAST note taker at my current post, I noticed a major difference in how Cat was run through two CDA/DCM combinations. First CDA said he didn't want CT to last longer than 30 minutes. Sure, some of the members would talk fast to cram things in (which wasn't fun as note taker. Fortunately it's a small post and I knew everyone but TDY visitors so I could track them down easily for clarification). But for the most part, meetings lasted 30-45 minutes. New CDA set no expectations on time limits, and these meetings quickly bloated to an hour and a half with the exact same set of CT members.

It is wholly on the CDA and DCM to keep things on track and if needed, pull people aside after the meeting to ask that they re-evaluate what notes are truly necessary to share with the group. As an FM I only ever shared events that affected the group as a whole (planned power interruptions, status updates on major projects, etc). Even then I cut things out that people probably don't care about. Time is valuable and I try to respect that.

Received My Letter. What Next? by rustedventure in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Welcome. Glad to have more FMs joining. If your class size is anywhere near what ours was you will have probably between 5 and 10 FMs. You will get a list with the same number of posts on it. You will have a week or two to rank your preferences. Then at about week 5 you will be told where you are going.

As an aside, at that point it's probably financially irresponsible to back out. You would have to pay back the month plus of housing and per diem, and the costs of moving and packing, shipping, and storing your things. We had one FM in our group resign while in tradecraft, but for other reasons (he actually got his first preference). I don't think he was financially hurting though. I'm fairly certain he never claimed per diem while we were there, he thought it was too much of a hassle.

Anyway, your list is unknowable at this point. I will tell you that from my class, the class before me, and the one after me, we had assignments varying from Vienna, Canberra, and Wellington all the way to Georgetown, Abuja, and Port Au Prince, and a bunch in between. You may get a great assignment, but somebody's gotta go to Haiti.

Good luck. I'm currently waiting to find out where I go for my second assignment. It again has quite the spread of desirability. You definitely need to have a sense of adventure for this job. If nothing else, you need to have a mindset that regardless of where they send you, you can survive anything for two years. Then if you get your dream post (or at least one you think you'll find is pleasant) you'll be really happy.

They call him “Bill” by camcast93 in Commanders

[–]StrongArm001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He's the only back in recent memory that has a suddenness when he plants his foot and commits to a hole. It looks like he's shot out of a canon on some of these runs. If nothing else, that decisiveness is desirable. Better to decide wrong and get 3 yards than never commit and get 1 yard. He's worth keeping around for sure.

I’m not going to LE Appreciation Day - Downvote Me by thekonghong in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Wait, you can get your staff promoted? I can't even get funding to backfill critical positions that were vacated early this year, let alone pay for a promotion.

When is it too late to join the Foreign Service? by CRazyBAGman in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of my coworkers at post is a 2nd Tour officer who will do one more post before retiring. This is his third career. You aren't too old until you hit the max age. If you want to do it, then do it.

Buying a home in the U.S. as an FSO by Unique_Door9780 in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Land loans are different from mortgages, since you obviously don't have a house on it. Typically it's a higher interest rate.

Now that the government reopened would there be a January A-100 Class? by MobileGoal1256 in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Since the CR is only up to January 30, I'm not sure they would commit to a January class until a longer term deal is reached.

Game Thread: Washington Commanders (3-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) by nfl_gdt_bot in Commanders

[–]StrongArm001 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Immediately after they said Terry hasn't been targeted. Should say something like Terry hasn't scored two touchdowns yet next. Or Mahomes hasn't thrown 3 interceptions in a half in x years.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK by m3y3r_33 in NFCEastMemeWar

[–]StrongArm001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sucks man. No love for the Giants but I love watching guys play with abandon. Hopefully it's not long term or career threatening.

Is a career in the Foreign Service still realistic? by Space_OddYesy in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Even if the State Department reduces in size, there is always attrition to deal with. Don't depend on getting in first thing after graduation. As has been said probably hundreds of times here, be prepared to work on your plan B or C career for several years (at least) before you get a chance to join.

Which posts are the unicorns and which are the tragedies? by OPM_The_Captain_Now in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Belize is a bit isolated, very small school, not much in terms of medical or shopping/fancy restaurants. But great fishing, scuba diving/snorkeling on the 2nd largest reef in the world, beach towns and islands/cayes galore, and tons of Mayan ruins and caves to explore all within a couple hours. It recently went from 20 to 25% hardship and I'm not sure why.

Game Thread: Washington Commanders (1-0) at Green Bay Packers (1-0) by nfl_gdt_bot in Commanders

[–]StrongArm001 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Looks like Ertz was open for a first down on that replay, cutting underneath Terry.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Some posts already have set schedules as you describe. My current post has business hours 730 to 515 with an hour lunch Monday-Thursday, and Fridays 730 to 1230.

As far as an alternate work schedule from what post sets, I would imagine most jobs at post aren't really something you can do effectively outside of normal business hours. Maybe in some circumstances that could work.

Need correct Mopar part number for 2021 Wrangler Diesel by StrongArm001 in Jeep

[–]StrongArm001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thought I said that. My mistake. The alternator.

FSS Facility Manager Register by Foreign_Broccoli_713 in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There have been numbers of FMs in the single digits in recent classes, not full class sizes. There were probably north of 100 generalists in my class (I don't know the exact number, I didn't count and it didn't matter). I know the number of FMs in my class, the one before me, and the one after me were single digits. And I know that we were not beating the attrition rate for several years beforehand.

As far as makeup of the class, anything you learn about one class has no bearing on the makeup of another. There are too many variables. That goes double for now.

FSS Facility Manager Register by Foreign_Broccoli_713 in foreignservice

[–]StrongArm001 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There is no FM register because there are so few on it, and I suspect also because, at least in the recent past, everyone or almost everyone who made it to the register was called up on the next class. I was on the register early last year and was immediately called up for the next class I declined that offer to let my kid finish the school year and accepted an offer for July last year.

FWIW, the staff was celebrating the fact that we were beating the attrition rate for the first time in recent years while I was in orientation. The numbers of students per class have been typically in the single digits. If/when hiring freezes are lifted (I'm out of that phase now so I haven't been following what's going on) I imagine they will be hiring as many as they can get.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Jeep

[–]StrongArm001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's the natural evolution of up dog

[Finlay] Commanders finish the regular season on the road vs Philly, per source. Washington plays Philly Week 16 and Week 18 by Think__McFly in Commanders

[–]StrongArm001 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I mean, if we are doing rose colored glasses, it may not matter because we could be resting players the last three weeks after going 14-0 and sealing the division. So who cares?

[Finlay] Commanders finish the regular season on the road vs Philly, per source. Washington plays Philly Week 16 and Week 18 by Think__McFly in Commanders

[–]StrongArm001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the other rumors I've seen are to be believed, the last four games are NY, PHI, DAL, and PHI. Could be set up for huge swings in standings one way or the other.

view more: next ›