My Government Career

Summary of my US Government career:

Army (1966-69)
Attended Basic Training and Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, GA; commissioned in the Infantry.  Because of fluency in German, was assigned as Liaison Officer between the 3rd US Armored Division and the 5th German Panzer Division in Germany.

Working for the Congress (1970-78)
First government civilian job was as Management Evaluator (International Relations Specialist) with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), evaluating Executive Branch programs and activities for the Congress. From 1970 to 1973, was with GAO's International Division in Washington. From 1973 to 1977, worked out of GAO's former Frankfurt Office and evaluated programs throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  From1977-78, worked out or the Norfolk, Virginia Office, mostly on projects related to the Navy and the Department of Defense.

Department of State/Foreign Service (1978-2001)
Joined the Foreign Service in 1978 and spent my first four years with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). I was on several Inspection Teams evaluating the management of overseas embassies as well as bureaus and offices in Washington. I received my first overseas posting in 1982 and remained overseas until I retired in 2001.  Overseas assignments included:

1982-84: Director, Regional Budget and Fiscal Office, Yaoundé, Cameroon: responsible for financial management for six embassies in Equatorial West Africa: Yaoundé, Cameroon; Libreville, Gabon; Bangui, Central African Republic; N'Djamena, Chad and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. 

1984-87: Director, Regional Financial Management Center, Nairobi, Kenya: responsible for financial management at 11 embassies in East Africa and the Indian Ocean: Nairobi, Kenya; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Djibouti, Djibouti; Kampala, Uganda; Mogadishu, Somalia; Kigali, Rwanda; Bujumbura, Burundi; Port Louis, Mauritius; Moroni, Comoros; Victoria, Seychelles and Antananarivo, Madagascar. 

1987-90: Director, Regional Financial Management Center, Canberra, Australia: responsible for financial management at five embassies in the South Pacific: Canberra, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; Suva, Fiji; Honiara, Solomon, Islands, Apia and Western Samoa.  Also financial support to the US Peace Corps in Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu.
1990-92: Director, Regional Administrative Management Center, Mexico City: responsible for disbursing, accounting and payroll services for all embassies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Also passed mid-level exam to become a commissioned Foreign Service Officer (FSO).

1992-95: Supervisory General Services Officer, Bonn, Germany: responsible for facilities maintenance, transportation, shipping, customs clearance, procurement, leasing, housing and warehousing.  Also provided logistical support to consulates in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Düsseldorf and Leipzig.  Following German reunification participated in property negotiations with German Government; helped plan the move of embassy back to Berlin.

1995-98: Director of Human Resources, Cairo, Egypt: responsible for personnel management issues for American and Egyptian employees at what was then America's largest embassy.

1998-2001: Management Counselor, Bridgetown, Barbados: responsible for administrative management at Embassy Bridgetown which represents US interests in seven Eastern Caribbean countries -- Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Antigua/Barbuda, St. Kitts/Nevis, and Dominica.

Post-retirement Work (2002-2014)

2002: became a re-hired annuitant for two month to fill a staffing gap as Management Counselor at Embassy Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzogovina.

2003-2006: Agency for International Development: had an on-call contract with USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).  Assignments included several weeks in Kuwait at beginning of Iraq War to prepare for humanitarian assistance program effort.  Spent a month in Monrovia, Liberia overseeing construction of facilities for OFDA staff (Liberia was then a failed state without working infrastructure and with UN Peacekeepers protecting the citizenry from civil war). Also worked in Washington backstopping a West Africa famine relief effort.

2003-2014: Department of State, Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO): traveled 4-5 months abroad each year on part-time contract to audit management and security of approximately 100 embassies.



Languages: Fluent German, some French and Spanish