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65-522: The four grades, from highest to lowest, with their military and former Senior Executive Service equivalents (i.e., prior to the SES's shift to an open-range compensation system), are: Only one of these ranks, Career Ambassador, is established by law. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 stipulates, "The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, confer the personal rank of career ambassador upon

130-594: A Senior Foreign Service with a rank structure equivalent to general and flag officers of the armed forces and to the Senior Executive Service . It enacted danger pay for those diplomats who serve in dangerous and hostile surroundings along with other administrative changes. The 1980 Act also reauthorized the Board of the Foreign Service, which "shall include one or more representatives of

195-432: A candidate is put on the register, they can remain for 18 months. If they are not hired from the register within 18 months, their candidacy is terminated. Separate registers are maintained for each of the five generalist career cones as well as the 23 specialist career tracks. Technically, there are many registers (one for each Foreign Service specialty and then one for each generalist cone). The rank-order competitiveness of

260-434: A candidate's eligibility being terminated. It can be difficult for a candidate to receive a top-secret clearance if they have extensive foreign travel, dual citizenship, non-United States citizen family members, foreign spouses, drug use, financial problems or a poor record of financial practices, frequent gambling, and allegiance or de facto allegiance to a foreign state. Additionally, it can be difficult for anyone who has had

325-610: A candidate's probability of success. Step 1 for a generalist is the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT). For a specialist, it is an application on USAJobs . Before taking the FSOT, applicants must submit six personal narratives. The FSOT itself is a written exam consisting of four sections: job knowledge, English expression, situational judgement, and a written essay. Specialists fill out applications tailored to their particular knowledge areas. Given how varied

390-658: A career member of the Senior Foreign Service in recognition of especially distinguished service over a sustained period." Otherwise, the 1980 Act states the President shall "prescribe salary classes for the Senior Foreign Service and shall prescribe an appropriate title for each class." President Ronald Reagan established the other three Senior Foreign Service ranks with Executive Order 12293 . According to McCaffree's Protocol: The Complete Handbook of Diplomatic, Official & Social Usage , Career Ministers of

455-428: A clock; if the officer is not promoted into the Senior Foreign Service within a specific number of convocations of Selection Boards (set by regulation in each foreign affairs agency), the officer is mandatorily retired. Like the rest of the Foreign Service, as well as their military counterparts, Senior Foreign Service officers are subject to time-in-class provisions. If not promoted within a specific "time in class" for

520-479: A government agency, including at least 3 years as a Career Minister; (2) rendered exceptionally distinguished service to the government; and (3) met other requirements prescribed by the Secretary of State." Ambassadors were appointed as a rule from the ranks of FSO-2s and FSO-1s, with very senior ambassadorships going to the relatively rare Career Ministers and exceedingly rare Career Ambassadors. Following reform of

585-479: A handful of cases of FSOs on consular assignments selling visas for a price. Members of the Foreign Service must agree to worldwide availability, that is, they must be willing to be deployed anywhere in the world based on the needs of the service. In practice, they generally have significant input as to where they will work, although issues such as rank, language ability, and previous assignments will affect one's possible onward assignments. All assignments are based on

650-413: A large embassy, or as consul general in a large consulate general) as well as in headquarters positions in their respective foreign affairs agencies . In order to be promoted into the Senior Foreign Service, an FS-1 Foreign Service Officer or Specialist must "open his/her window", that is, must formally request in writing consideration for promotion into the Senior Foreign Service. This application starts

715-488: A member's individual performance and/or contribution to the agency's performance. As amended under 5 U.S.C. 5376, Executive Order 12293 prescribes three SFS salary classes linked to the Executive Schedule , ranging from 120 percent of the pay rate for a GS-15, step 1 to the pay rate for ES-II: The Executive Order originally prescribed three SFS salary classes linked to the SES as follows: Prior to creation of

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780-495: A salary could not engage in private business, but could continue to collect fees for services performed. Lucile Atcherson Curtis was the first woman in what became the U.S. Foreign Service. Specifically, she was the first woman appointed as a United States Diplomatic Officer or Consular Officer, in 1923 (the U.S. did not establish the unified Foreign Service until 1924, at which time diplomatic and consular Officers became Foreign Service officers). The Rogers Act of 1924 merged

845-520: A seven-point scale; these individual scores are then aggregated. At the end of the day, a candidate will be informed if their score met the 5.25 cutoff score necessary to continue their candidacy. This score becomes relevant again after the final suitability review. Successfully passing the oral assessment/FSOA earns a candidate a conditional offer of employment. Candidates must then obtain a Class 1 (worldwide available) medical clearance, top secret security clearance, and suitability clearance. Depending upon

910-623: A significant health problem to receive a Class 1 medical clearance. The Foreign Service rejected all candidates with HIV until 2008 when it decided to consider candidates on a case-by-case basis. The State Department said it was responding to changes in HIV treatment, but the policy change came after a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Taylor v. Rice that suggested

975-469: A source of friction. The Foreign Service Act of 1946 also repealed as redundant the 1927 and 1930 laws granting USDA and Commerce representatives abroad diplomatic status, since at that point agricultural and commercial attachés were appointed by the Department of State. The 1946 Act replaced the Board of Foreign Service Personnel, a body concerned solely with administering the system of promotions, with

1040-1097: A specific goal of the rank-in-person Foreign Service personnel system. Executive Order 12293 Look for Executive Order 12293 on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Executive Order 12293 in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use

1105-610: Is appointed by the president of the United States , with the advice and consent of the Senate . The director general is traditionally a current or former Foreign Service officer (FSO). Congress created the position of director general through the Foreign Service Act of 1946 . Between 1946 and 1980, the director general was designated by the secretary of state . The first director general, Selden Chapin , held

1170-659: Is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government , under the aegis of the United States Department of State . It consists of over 13,000 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S. citizens abroad. Its current director general is Marcia Bernicat . Created in 1924 by the Rogers Act , the Foreign Service combined all consular and diplomatic services of

1235-440: Is the tendency of the resident in-country staff of an organization to regard the officials and people of the host country as "clients." This condition can be found in business or government. A hypothetical example of clientitis would be an Foreign Service officer (FSO), serving overseas at a U.S. embassy, who drifts into a mode of routinely and automatically defending the actions of the host country government. In such an example,

1300-419: Is three weeks long. Depending upon the specialty, employees will then undergo several months of training before departing for their first assignment. Members of the Foreign Service are expected to serve much of their career abroad, working at embassies and consulates around the world. By internal regulation, the maximum stretch of domestic assignments should last no more than six years (extensions are possible at

1365-476: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Executive Order 12293 " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try the purge function . Titles on Misplaced Pages are case sensitive except for

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1430-488: The Board of Examiners for an oral assessment based on those skills. This stage of the assessment process also varies for generalists and specialists. For specialists, there is a structured oral interview, written assessment, and usually an online, objective exam. For generalists, the FSOA consists of a case-management exercise, group exercise, and structured interview, The various parts of the oral assessment/FSOA are scored on

1495-420: The Board of the Foreign Service, which was responsible more broadly for the personnel system as a whole, and created the position of director general of the Foreign Service . It also introduced the "up-or-out" system under which failure to gain promotion to higher rank within a specified time in class would lead to mandatory retirement, essentially borrowing the concept from the U.S. Navy. The 1946 Act also created

1560-527: The Consular Service provided consuls to assist United States sailors and promote international trade and commerce . Throughout the nineteenth century, ambassadors, or ministers, as they were known prior to the 1890s, and consuls were appointed by the president, and until 1856, earned no salary. Many had commercial ties to the countries in which they would serve, and were expected to earn a living through private business or by collecting fees. This

1625-624: The Department of Agriculture (specifically the Foreign Agricultural Service , though the secretary of agriculture has also authorized the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to use the system as well), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID, Commerce, and Agriculture senior career FSOs can be appointed to ambassadorships, although the ranks of career ambassadors are in

1690-464: The Department of Agriculture in addition to the existing FSOs of the Department of State, U.S. Information Agency, and U.S. Agency for International Development. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 is the most recent major legislative reform to the Foreign Service. It abolished the Foreign Service reserve category of officers, and reformed the personnel system for non-diplomatic locally employed staff of overseas missions (Foreign Service Nationals). It created

1755-642: The Department of Agriculture. Commercial attachés remained with State until 1980, when Reorganization Plan Number 3 of 1979 was implemented under terms of the Foreign Service Act of 1980. In 1946 Congress at the request of the Department of State passed a new Foreign Service Act creating six classes of employees: chiefs of mission , Foreign Service officers , Foreign Service reservists, Foreign Service staff, "alien personnel" (subsequently renamed Foreign Service nationals and later locally employed staff), and consular agents. Officers were expected to spend

1820-703: The Department of State, the United States Information Agency , the United States Agency for International Development , the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Management and Budget, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and such other agencies as the President may designate." This board is charged with advising "the Secretary of State on matters relating to

1885-688: The FSOT score." The most qualified candidates are invited to participate in the Foreign Service Officer Assessment (FSOA). Formerly known as the oral exam and administered in person in Washington, D.C. and other major cities throughout the United States , the FSOA is now conducted entirely online. Specialists also undergo a QEP, but their essays are collected as part of the initial application on USAJobs. Foreign Service specialist (FSS) candidates are evaluated by subject matter experts for proven skills and recommended to

1950-431: The Foreign Service Act of 1980 in establishing the Senior Foreign Service was to create a cadre of senior, policy-level foreign affairs professionals on a par with the senior, policy-level officers of the military and naval establishments, and with the civil service-based Senior Executive Service, which had been formed a few years prior. The 1980 Act describes the Senior Foreign Service as the "corps of leaders and experts for

2015-561: The Foreign Service Act. The evaluation process for all Department of State Foreign Service officers and specialists can be broadly summarized as: Initial application, Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP), oral assessment/Foreign Service Officer Assessment, clearances and final suitability review, and the register. All evaluation steps for generalist and specialist candidates are anchored using certain personality characteristics. For generalists there are 13, for specialists there are 12. Familiarity with these characteristics dramatically improves

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2080-572: The Foreign Service also staff the headquarters of the four foreign affairs agencies: the Department of State , headquartered at the Harry S Truman Building in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. ; the Department of Agriculture ; the Department of Commerce ; and the United States Agency for International Development . The Foreign Service is managed by a director general who

2145-406: The Foreign Service lifestyle. For both employees and their families, the opportunity to see the world, experience foreign cultures firsthand for a prolonged period, and the camaraderie amongst the Foreign Service and expatriate communities in general are considered some of the benefits of Foreign Service life. Some of the downsides of Foreign Service work include exposure to tropical diseases and

2210-480: The Foreign Service). In addition, the agricultural legislation stipulated that agricultural attachés would not be construed as public ministers. On July 1, 1939, however, both the commercial and agricultural attachés were transferred to the Department of State under Reorganization Plan No. II. The agricultural attachés remained in the Department of State until 1954, when they were returned by Act of Congress to

2275-616: The Foreign Service, and the latter to manage the examination process. In 1927, Congress passed legislation affording diplomatic status to representatives abroad of the Department of Commerce (until then known as " trade commissioners "), creating the Foreign Commerce Service . In 1930 Congress passed similar legislation for the Department of Agriculture , creating the Foreign Agricultural Service . Though formally accorded diplomatic status , however, commercial and agricultural attachés were civil servants (not officers of

2340-584: The Middle East) where assignments are unaccompanied. The children of Foreign Service members, sometimes called Foreign Service brats , grow up in a unique world, one that separates them, willingly or unwillingly, from their counterparts living continuously in the United States of America . While many children of Foreign Service members become very well developed, are able to form friendships easily, are skilled at moving frequently, and enjoy international travel, other children have extreme difficulty adapting to

2405-497: The Senior Foreign Service (i.e., prior to implementation of the Foreign Service Act of 1980) Career Ministers were paid at the same rate as Class 1 Foreign Service Officers. In 1979, an FSO-1 earned from $ 61,903 to $ 65,750 per annum, with the caveat that civil service and Foreign Service salaries were capped at $ 50,112.50 per annum, equal to the pay rate for Level V of the Executive Schedule, per Section 5308 of Title 5 of

2470-485: The Senior Foreign Service are to be accorded the honorific "The Honorable". Career Ambassadors, as ambassadors, are accorded the honorific "Her/His Excellency". The Senior Foreign Service pay system is an open-range, performance-based pay system that is linked to the Senior Executive Service (SES) pay system. SFS members, like SES members, are not entitled to automatic across-the-board increases and locality-based comparability payments. Instead, pay adjustments are based on

2535-708: The Service, including furtherance of the objectives of maximum compatibility among agencies authorized by law to utilize the Foreign Service personnel system and compatibility between the Foreign Service personnel system and the other personnel systems of the Government." The Foreign Service Act, 22 U.S.C.   § 3903 et seq . , defines the following members of the Foreign Service: Additionally, diplomats in residence are senior Foreign Service officers who act as recruiters for

2600-562: The U.S. Code. The top theoretical annual salary, $ 65,750, was equal to that of a GS-18. Prior to passage of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, the Rogers Act and subsequently the Foreign Service Act of 1946 had established a grade system from FSS-22 up to FSO-1. A single "senior" grade, Career Minister, was established by the 1946 Act for Foreign Service Officers who had served with noteworthy distinction in ambassadorships or other, equivalent positions (usually as Assistant Secretary or Under Secretary of State). Since Career Ministers were paid at

2665-529: The U.S. government into one administrative unit. In addition to the unit's function, the Rogers Act defined a personnel system under which the United States secretary of state is authorized to assign diplomats abroad. Members of the Foreign Service are selected through a series of written and oral examinations . They serve at any of the United States diplomatic missions around the world, including embassies , consulates , and other facilities. Members of

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2730-522: The United States Foreign Service. They operate in designated regions and hold honorary positions in local universities. While employees of the Department of State make up the largest portion of the Foreign Service, the Foreign Service Act of 1980 authorizes other U.S. government agencies to use the personnel system for positions that require service abroad. These include the Department of Commerce ( Foreign Commercial Service ),

2795-515: The assignment to countries with inadequate health care systems, and potential exposure to violence, civil unrest and warfare. Attacks on US embassies and consulates around the world—Beirut, Islamabad, Belgrade, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam , Baghdad, Kabul, and Benghazi, among others—underscore the dangers faced. Foreign Service personnel stationed in nations with inadequate public infrastructure also face greater risk of injury or death due to fire, traffic accidents, and natural disasters. For instance, an FSO

2860-505: The ban on HIV-positive applicants would not survive a lawsuit challenging it. Once an applicant passes the security and medical clearances, as well as the Final Review Panel, they are placed on the register of eligible hires, ranked according to the score that they received in the oral assessment/FSOA. There are factors that can increase a candidate's score, such as foreign language proficiency or veteran's preference . Once

2925-480: The bulk of their careers abroad and were commissioned officers of the United States, available for worldwide service. Reserve officers often spent the bulk of their careers in Washington but were available for overseas service. Foreign Service staff personnel included clerical and support positions. The intent of this system was to remove the distinction between Foreign Service and civil service staff, which had been

2990-426: The candidate's specific career track, they may also require eligibility for a top secret sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI) clearance. Once a candidate's clearance information has been obtained, a final suitability review decides if this candidate is appropriate for employment in the Foreign Service. If so, the candidate's name is moved to the register. Failure to obtain any of these clearances can result in

3055-627: The civil service in 1949, when the General Schedule with its three "supergrades" (GS-16 through GS-18) was created, and then following creation of the Senior Executive Service in 1978, however, Foreign Service Officers in senior policy positions found themselves regularly equated to mid-level counterparts in the military and the civil service. The 1980 Act sought in part to redress this imbalance in perceived status versus level of authority and responsibility. The intent of

3120-613: The department rotates FSOs every two to three years to avoid it. During the Nixon administration, the State Department's Global Outlook Program (GLOP) attempted to combat clientitis by transferring FSOs to regions outside their area of specialization. Robert D. Kaplan writes that the problem "became particularly prevalent" among American diplomats in the Middle East because the investment of time needed to learn Arabic and

3185-410: The diplomatic and consular services of the government into the Foreign Service. An extremely difficult Foreign Service examination was also implemented to recruit the most outstanding Americans, along with a merit-based system of promotions. The Rogers Act also created the Board of the Foreign Service and the Board of Examiners of the Foreign Service, the former to advise the secretary of state on managing

3250-419: The first character; please check alternative capitalizations and consider adding a redirect here to the correct title. If the page has been deleted, check the deletion log , and see Why was the page I created deleted? Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12293 " United States Foreign Service#Foreign affairs agencies The United States Foreign Service

3315-481: The last four directors general have been women. On September 15, 1789, the 1st United States Congress passed an act creating the Department of State and appointing duties to it, including the keeping of the Great Seal of the United States . Initially there were two services devoted to diplomatic and consular activity. The Diplomatic Service provided ambassadors and ministers to staff embassies overseas, while

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3380-693: The management of the Service and the performance of its functions." The Act provides, moreover, that for promotion into and within the Senior Foreign Service, the precepts used by selection boards (the bodies responsible for recommending promotions and involuntary separations of underperformers) "shall emphasize performance which demonstrates the strong policy formulation capabilities, executive leadership qualities, and highly developed functional and area expertise" requisite for these positions. In addition to their eligibility to serve in ambassadorships, SFS officers serve in senior positions in U.S. diplomatic missions (e.g., as deputy chief of mission, as head of section in

3445-421: The needs of the service, and historically it has occasionally been necessary for the department to make directed assignments to a particular post in order to fulfill the government's diplomatic requirements. This is not the norm, however, as many Foreign Service employees have volunteered to serve even at extreme hardship posts, including, most recently, Iraq and Afghanistan. FSOs must also agree to publicly support

3510-485: The officer has come to view the officials and government workers of the host country government as the persons he is serving. Former USUN ambassador and White House national security advisor John Bolton has used this term repeatedly to describe the mindset within the culture of the US State Department . The State Department's training for newly appointed ambassadors warns of the danger of clientitis, and

3575-416: The policies of the United States government. The State Department maintains a Family Liaison Office to assist diplomats, including members of the Foreign Service and their families, in dealing with the unique issues of life as a U.S. diplomat, including the extended family separations that are usually required when an employee is sent to a danger post. Clientitis (also called clientism or localitis )

3640-516: The position for less than six months before being replaced by Christian M. Ravndal , who held the position until June 1949. Both men were career FSOs. Beginning on November 23, 1975, under a departmental administrative action, the director general has concurrently held the title of director of the Bureau of Global Talent Management . As the head of the bureau, the director general held a rank equivalent to an assistant secretary of state . Three of

3705-401: The rank encumbered, the officer is mandatorily retired. The time in class for each grade varies both by grade and by foreign affairs agency, and is established by agency regulation. Times in class are now cumulative, so that early promotion to higher grades no longer leads to rapid retirement of rapidly rising officers. These stipulations ensure flow-through of the senior ranks of the service,

3770-455: The rank of Career Minister, accorded to the most senior officers of the service, and established mandatory retirement ages. The new personnel management approach was not wholly successful, which led to an effort in the late 1970s to overhaul the 1946 act. During drafting of this act, Congress chose to move the commercial attachés back to Commerce while preserving their status as Foreign Service officers , and to include agricultural attachés of

3835-603: The register is only relevant within each candidate's career field. Successful candidates from the register will receive offers of employment to join a Foreign Service class. Generalists and specialists attend separate orientation classes. Generalist candidates who receive official offers of employment must attend a six-week training/orientation course known as A-100 at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) in Arlington, Virginia. Specialist orientation at FSI

3900-425: The same rate as senior FSO-1s, however, the "promotion" was merely symbolic. The rank of Career Ambassador "was first established by an Act of Congress on Aug 5, 1955, as an amendment to the Foreign Service Act of 1946. Under its provisions, the President with the advice and consent of the Senate was empowered to appoint individuals to the class who had (1) served at least 15 years in a position of responsibility in

3965-656: The six-year limit for medical reasons, to enable children to complete high school, etc.; the eight year limit is difficult to pierce and is reserved for those who are deemed "critical to the service" and for those persons at the deputy assistant secretary level). By law, however, Foreign Service personnel must go abroad after ten years of domestic service. The difficulties and the benefits associated with working abroad are many, especially in relation to family life. Dependent family members generally accompany Foreign Service employees overseas. This has become more difficult in regions marked by conflict and upheaval (currently many posts in

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4030-691: The specialties are, applications vary. Candidates are asked to rate their own levels of experience, citing examples and references who can verify these claims. The applicant's entire package (including their personal narratives) is then reviewed by the Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP). In July 2022, the State Department eliminated the minimum passing score for the FSOT; the QEP now uses a holistic approach to candidate evaluation, scoring "each candidate based on educational and work background, responses to personal narrative questions, and

4095-424: The vast majority of cases drawn from the Department of State, with a far smaller sub-set drawn from the ranks of USAID mission directors. The total number of Foreign Service members, excluding Foreign Service nationals, from all Foreign Service agencies (State, USAID, etc.) is about 15,600. This includes: The process of being employed in the Foreign Service is different for each of the five categories as defined in

4160-526: Was an arrangement challenged in the first professional survey of the service, David Baillie Warden 's pioneering work On the Origin, Nature, Progress and Influence of Consular Establishments (1813). As acting consul in Paris, Warden had found himself being treated by American merchants as no more than a hireling agent. In 1856, Congress provided a salary for consuls serving at certain posts; those who received

4225-409: Was one of the first identified victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake . For members of the Foreign Service, maintaining a personal life outside of work can be exceptionally difficult. In addition to espionage, there is also the danger of personnel using their position illegally for financial gain. The most frequent kind of illegal abuse of an official position concerns consular officers. There have been

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