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zonewombatThe Department of State is busy re-structuring its policies in order to force staff to go to Afghanistan and Iraq. There's a lot of discussion back and forth about whether this is wise, whether it's helpful, what it means to be a commissioned officer in a disciplined service (hey, at least State officers can resign if they don't want to go), but the main point is that both these posts are unaccompanied: Your spouse and children cannot go with you.
In a recent informational cable, State mgmt responded to the question "Does this signal an end to State's "Family Friendly" policy?" The answer: "Absolutely not. We have produced a handbook for children whose parent has been assigned to one of these posts."
A handbook.
That'll help.
We're trying to figure out what the handbook could be. I'm kind of hoping it's a coloring/activity book, with pages like "Here's Mommy's car! Where would you put the bomb?" and "You're the first responder after the terrorist attack - which mark would you put on the foreheads of each of these victims?" Other folks think it will be dry reading, something along the lines of "Who Needs Two Parents Anyway?" (which will then be utilized according to the Republican Playbook to show how State lacks family values).
It's just tough. A friend who is a Marine just left for his second tour in Iraq. He's kind of hoo-ah anyway (Marine), but his comment was "Better me than the guys that have kids." Another Army officer I know is on his third tour in Iraq. He has two children; he's never seen one of them, almost 4. He's missed over half the other one's life. He's rabid in his belief that there are WMDs, that he's fighting terrorists, that he's doing the right thing. He has to be.
As for us, we are still waiting. When we accepted Athens as a post, it counted as a hardship post (just barely, but it did). We chose it in large part so we could do a hardship tour. That status was removed while we were here (in an accounting maneuver to give more money to folks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and rightly so), but now we, and others like us, don't know whether we count as having taken a hardship assignment or not. If not, Robert's bound for Iraq. We won't know for months, as it's in the Department's interests to delay that decision.
In a recent informational cable, State mgmt responded to the question "Does this signal an end to State's "Family Friendly" policy?" The answer: "Absolutely not. We have produced a handbook for children whose parent has been assigned to one of these posts."
A handbook.
That'll help.
We're trying to figure out what the handbook could be. I'm kind of hoping it's a coloring/activity book, with pages like "Here's Mommy's car! Where would you put the bomb?" and "You're the first responder after the terrorist attack - which mark would you put on the foreheads of each of these victims?" Other folks think it will be dry reading, something along the lines of "Who Needs Two Parents Anyway?" (which will then be utilized according to the Republican Playbook to show how State lacks family values).
It's just tough. A friend who is a Marine just left for his second tour in Iraq. He's kind of hoo-ah anyway (Marine), but his comment was "Better me than the guys that have kids." Another Army officer I know is on his third tour in Iraq. He has two children; he's never seen one of them, almost 4. He's missed over half the other one's life. He's rabid in his belief that there are WMDs, that he's fighting terrorists, that he's doing the right thing. He has to be.
As for us, we are still waiting. When we accepted Athens as a post, it counted as a hardship post (just barely, but it did). We chose it in large part so we could do a hardship tour. That status was removed while we were here (in an accounting maneuver to give more money to folks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and rightly so), but now we, and others like us, don't know whether we count as having taken a hardship assignment or not. If not, Robert's bound for Iraq. We won't know for months, as it's in the Department's interests to delay that decision.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 11:48 pm (UTC)You and your husband and little one have been in my thoughts since I saw you in May, but I haven't commented here because I haven't known what to say. I still don't know what to say, but it's important that you and your family know that I care deeply about what happens to you (plural), and that I admire all of you so very much for doing this very dangerous work at a time when we need every single sane American abroad we can possibly get.
All of that said, I hope very much that Athens is counted as a hardship post for you -- diplomacy in Afghanistan or Iraq under the current administration: I can't think of a more Sisyphean task.
My thoughts and prayers are very much with you and yours; I am immensely proud to have you and your family representing the United States in the eyes of the world.
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Date: 2006-09-13 09:57 am (UTC)