Nice Job If You Can Get It

A few days ago I attended one of the periodic welcome briefings for all new non-military embassy personnel. The vast majority are State Department folks, but there are some from other agencies, as well as contractors and the like. We got briefings on security, HR, medical issues, mental health ("come to us before you go crazy here"), IT, Finance, Consular Services, and a few others -- such as the contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), which runs everything from the dining hall to laundry, office supplies, and MWR.

The briefing was led off with a welcome from the Deputy Chief of Mission, the "vice-ambassador," Patricia Butenis (whose signature got me my badge) and was organized by a familiar face. It turns out that the "front office" executive secretary is a guy who was the graduate assistant to my policy task force my junior year of college -- and was one of our "chaperones" for various official meetings in Brussels for spring break 1998 ("Eurocrats Gone Wild"). He went into the foreign service after his MPA and here he is. Small world.

Much of the briefing was either inapplicable to me or I'd already picked it up in my short time here. (Believe it or not, given the turnover, I'm already "established.") One of the more interesting inapplicable tidbits to pick, however, was the compensation package folks staffed here receive.

There's a 35% hazard pay bonus, followed by a 35% "location" bonus, plus per diems and overtime pay, plus several two-week paid vacations and 5-day local R&Rs (taken in Qatar or Rome, I believe). It's pretty sweet, and seems to be a lot better than what the military guys get.