he Foreign Service's personnel system is based on the Navy's and has more in common with military personnel systems than the civil service. The corps of Americans who perform the U.S. government's foreign policy work is tiny for a nation this size. The State Department Foreign Service is composed of 7,994 officers, 3,422 of whom are specialists, such as the doctors and nurses who care for embassy personnel stationed abroad. That leaves 112 ambassadors and other chiefs of mission, 661 senior Foreign Service officers, 2,996 mid-ranking officers and 821 junior officers with less than five years' experience. There are also 55 politically appointed chiefs of mission (usually with the rank of ambassador), another 18 political appointees at the mid-career level and 128 specialists with temporary rank. In addition, the USIA, the government's information and cultural service, has 923 Foreign Service officers.
Applicants for both the State Department and USIA Foreign Service start the application process by taking a rigorous written exam. Of the 12,000 people who have taken the exam each time it has been offered in recent years, 2,500 to 3,000 have been summoned to Washington for a full day's assessment, including an oral examination in which they are presented with problems ranging from true diplomatic incidents with another country to setting priorities in an embassy budget battle.
In the past, to make up for discrimination against women and minorities, the State Department and USIA have admitted some applicants with lower test scores or recruited them at the mid-career level without requiring the same exam process. Today, however, all applicants must take the full exam. The Foreign Service does most of its recruiting at 60 colleges and universities, including women's colleges and historically black and Hispanic institutions.
A junior officer class is formed twice a year. Junior officers receive a five-year limited appointment as either a State Department or USIA officer, go through language and other training in Washington, and are sent abroad. A junior officer's starting salary is $33,000 to $35,000, a figure that has not kept up with inflation or corporate salaries. The officers are reviewed after three years and again after four years. Those deemed worthy are permanently commissioned as Foreign Service officers. State Department officers are then assigned to one of four "cones"-political, economic, administrative or consular-and may serve up to 15 years at one rank. They are limited to serving a total of 22 years unless they achieve Foreign Service officer "01" status and apply to enter the Senior Foreign Service. Those who do not advance usually serve their time-in-class and then leave the agency.
Foreign Service officers who achieve "01" status have the option of "opening a window" to the Senior Foreign Service (SFS), which gives them six years to make the grade or be pushed out. Those admitted to SFS can serve another 14 years in jobs such as assistant secretary of State, deputy assistant secretary, ambassador, deputy chief of mission or office director. Senior Foreign Service officers start out as counselors-the officially recognized equivalent of a one-star general or rear admiral-and move up to minister-counselor, career minister and career ambassador-the equivalent of four-star general or admiral. The 661 senior Foreign Service officers are composed of 446 counselors, 304 minister-counselors, 21 career ministers and only three career ambassadors, Frank G. Wisner in India, Thomas R. Pickering in Russia and J. Stapleton Roy in Indonesia.
Officers in the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Foreign Commercial Service are part of the Foreign Service but are not hired under the same examination process. The State Department also employs 5,021 civil servants, mostly in Washington, and another 9,555 foreigners who work at embassies abroad in capacities ranging from cooks and drivers to economists.
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