November 1, 2008 - I'm
usually careful to avoid the use of acronyms, but the following is for fellow
employees of the State Department, with perhaps some applicability to other
employees of the Federal Government, so I am not going to try to explain the
terminology that might be confusing to others.Because the terms and conditions of service for Iraq are fairly unique, I wanted to describe
some of the decisions that you will have to make before or during your service
in Iraq,
and explain some of the factors that you might want to weigh.
First, of course, is
the decision whether or not to serve in Iraq.The decision is always a personal one and
generally involves a mix of altruistic and self-serving motivations.My wife believes that I made the decision to
volunteer for Iraq
for purely careerist reasons, to improve my chances for promotion and a good
follow-on assignment.In fact, the
decision to do so was more complicated and, being more abstract, probably
harder to understand.First of all, I'm
doing this because I can.My oldest kids
are in college or would have no longer been at home, and our youngest, a
13-year-old daughter, could handle the separation better than someone
younger.If I volunteered, perhaps
someone else who could less easily afford to do so would not have to.Second, I wanted the experience.I've spent a lot of time in transitional
democracies, and I wanted to the opportunity to better understand what was
happening in Iraq.As a diplomat, I didn't want to say that I
stayed on the sidelines when I had the chance to be involved in an important
event.Third, I wanted to make a
contribution.I didn't agree with the
way that we got into Iraq, but now that we are here, I wanted to part of the
U.S. Government effort to ensure that the U.S. intervention leaves Iraqis
better than they were under Saddam.Experienced professionals needed to step up.
In my conversations
with colleagues here, family considerations have also motivated people to
choose an Iraq
assignment.The Iraq Service Recognition
Package (ISRP) currently allows a family to stay a fourth year at a foreign posting while
the employee serves in Iraq,
which, for example, could allow a child to finish high school or a spouse to
continue a particularly desirable job.For
those who are Washington-based, an employee's service breaks the Washington
assignment so that the clock starts ticking again on the five-year rule, so
that, for example, a child with special needs education can stay longer in
Washington or an employee can remain close by to aging parents.
In general, however,
the decision to serve in Iraq,
Afghanistan,
or another unaccompanied post becomes harder to make as one's family
obligations and ties increase, so that, for example, A-100 classes with younger
and often single officers typically have more volunteers for such assignments
than are available.The decision
becomes harder for a couple to make and harder still for a couple with
children.Couples with young children
probably have the hardest choice.The
ISRP rightly recognizes these difficulties and provides adjustments and offer
some compensatory benefits.
Tandem couples should
keep in mind, however, that some of the ISRP benefits apply only to families on Separate
Maintenance Allowance and does not address the specific issues that confront
tandem couples.The problems do not
arise when an employee volunteers to serve in Iraq, curtailing his or her current
assignment, and the employee spouse remains at post.In such a situation, I understand the
employee can proceed to Iraq
on TDY and then return to his/her original post upon completion of the
assignment, so that the tandem couple proceeds to the next assignment
together.The problems would also not
arise if the tandem couple is serving in Washington and the employee receives a
Washington assignment upon completion of the Iraq assignment, or if the tandem couple serves
together in Iraq.The particular difficulties arise when one
employee elects to serve in Iraq
and the second employee serves elsewhere, as my wife and I did so that she
could care for our 13-year-old daughter.Tandem couples might consider whether they would also encounter the same
complications involved in our assignment, as they consider their choices, and
perhaps time a bid on Iraq
under more favorable circumstances.
Our complications
involved questions of assignment timing and logistics.We were serving at a service-needs
differential post, and we both had extended a third year to receive the SND
bonus, but we wanted to transfer at the same time to be on home leave
together.(My wife was also in language
training for her first year, so having her just do one year in her job, if we
had not extended, struck us as a waste of government resources.)I received a fairly routine waiver of the
need to repay either the SND bonus (which is substantial) or R&R travel
since I needed to shorten my tour by one month.Although I was fairly confident the process would also be
straightforward for my wife, and it was, she agonized over the possibility that
her waiver request might be refused, particularly since she was likely to
overlap with her predecessor.The second
issue involved our transportation and weight allowances.If I went on a direct transfer to our last
post of assignment in Europe and my wife were to receive a Washington
assignment, then I would not be authorized to ship my household effects to
Washington, so that my wife could not take everything that we had brought to
our overseas assignment with her or ship our second car either.We solved the problem by my being assigned to
Washington and TDY to Baghdad.
The problem we had then
and face now of coordinating my follow-on assignment with hers is mitigated for
other bidders by the possibility of linked assignments.Although I had expected my wife to seek an
assignment in Washington (which is what our
daughter dearly wanted), she surprised me by getting an assignment in Frankfurt to be closer to me.Not being a German speaker, I have
practically nil possibilities of securing an assignment in Germany.We had trusted that the Department would
appropriately recognize my Baghdad service so
that I could at least secure an assignment in Europe.This has not proven to be a simple task.The early Iraq/Afghanistan bidding season,
and then the regular season, passed by without my getting a handshake.Although the regional bureaus might be
suffering from "Iraq
fatigue," one basic problem is that Iraq
and Afghanistan
bidders are jostling with each other to land one of a small pool of desirable
assignments.Although I am among the
Department's limited number of Italian speakers, for example, I lost out on my
bid for an assignment in Rome
to a bidder from an Iraq PRT.I was also
very disappointed, however, when I heard that I lost a bid for an assignment in
Vienna, for
which I was very highly qualified, to a bidder from a non-danger post.My efforts continue.
My current situation
points to another choice - whether to serve in Iraq,
Afghanistan, or another
unaccompanied post and, if choosing Iraq, whether to serve at the
Embassy or at a PRT.Right now, the benefit of
serving at a PRT is the boost in getting a follow-on assignment.Now that we have moved into the NEC
apartments, the difference in the conditions of service is more marked.Not having served in a PRT or yet visited
one, all I can offer is the impression that the conditions among the PRTs
differ, sometimes substantially, but getting information about the specific
conditions is not easy.Careful research
is important before making one's choice.
I am here on a TDY
basis for the reason noted above.Anyone
who wants to receive SMA to house a family outside of Washington,
on the other hand, will not be able to be TDY to Iraq and will have to direct
transfer instead.Others will have a
choice.The advantage to being here TDY
is that you will receive Washington
locality pay of nearly 21% and your danger and hardship differentials will be
calculated on that basis, a substantial amount.The disadvantage is that you will not receive TDY payments while
you are in Washington, including during the
two weeks of mandatory Iraq
orientation training and two days of consultations.Some colleagues have said the break-even
point is seven months.If you expect to
be on TDY in Washington for longer than seven months, for example for language
training, then you should have a direct assignment to Iraq and forego the
Washington locality pay boost.In
addition, if you are assigned to Washington
from an overseas assignment (and then go TDY to Iraq), home leave is allowed but
not mandatory, which might give you some additional flexibility on the timing
of your transfer.
Another choice is
whether to opt for 3 R&Rs or take a 2 R&R/3 RRB package.With either option, the time on an R&R or
RRB outside of Iraq cannot exceed 63 days.This means that each R&R should be about three weeks in duration (21
days each x 3 = 63 days).With five
trips out of country, each trip should be about 12 days long, which is a short
break, especially since some of it is travel time.If you take three weeks of R&R, then the
RRBs can only be a week long.On the
other hand, you can take a break out of country about every two months.In addition, on an RRB, the traveler is
responsible for making and paying for all arrangements after arriving in Amman and on the return
until boarding the milair flight back.Whether R&R or RRB, arranging travel is a big administrative
hassle.For my RRB, I had to: request
travel orders, submit a country clearance request, deal directly with the
Amman-based travel agency to make flight reservations and pay for them, reserve
a hotel room, request a helo seat out and back, reserve a room at Sully
Compound on my way out, and arrange for a vehicle to pick me up from Marka
airport and to take me to Marka airport from my hotel on the way back.On R&Rs, the Iraq Support Unit (ISU) will
handle a number of the arrangements.As
a result, my impression is that a great majority of people choose 3 R&Rs.
Finally, on your
departures, you will also have the choice of going through Amman
or Kuwait.I've never gone through Kuwait, but I understand that a non-stop flight
to Dulles is possible through Kuwait
with a more convenient timing.In
transiting through Amman, you will have to
transit through Europe to get to the U.S. and, with the exception of the
Royal Jordanian Air flights, the departures often occur in the early morning
hours.In addition, the milair flight to
Kuwait flies five times a
week, while the milair flight to Amman
is available only on Thursdays and Sundays.On the other hand, you are not now required to wear your Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE, i.e., flak jacket and helmet) on the milair flight
to Amman, but you will have to on your way to Kuwait.(And, by the way, you will have the option to
transit several gateway cities in Europe on your arrival in Baghdad.People say that the connection in Paris
is so short that luggage is often lost.I've already written about my experiences transiting Heathrow.)