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Op-eds
November, 2005
More Ceremony, More History, More Thanks: A Commentary
By Marc Grossman
I have arrived at that point in life where I go to more funerals and memorial services than weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. I worry about these events as I get ready to go. Will I say the right thing to the family? Will it be hard to see the older generation looking frailer? I always leave grateful that the family wanted a gathering and glad that I had a chance to acknowledge my debt to our predecessors.
I confess that something bothers me about these occasions. It's the way the Foreign Service approach still misses the importance of ceremony. It's important first to say that we're doing better. The Diplomatic Security Color Guard opens important events at the Department. Senior leadership swears in new employees and presides over more meaningful retirement ceremonies. But there is still more we could do.
I attended June 18 a memorial service for Ambassador Morris Draper, who was my first boss in the Foreign Service. I recalled similar events for Ambassadors Roy Atherton, Peter Constable, David Ransom and Arthur Hummel and Under Secretary Joseph Sisco. On each occasion I concluded that we need to work harder to bring more history, more ceremony and more acknowledgement of our debts into the regular life of the Foreign Service. In this, our military colleagues have much to teach us.
Here are some ideas about what more we can do.
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We go to great lengths to make sure that a departing Ambassador and an arriving Ambassador are not in their country of assignment at the same time. Why? Let's adopt a version of the military's change of command ceremony. Let the outgoing Ambassador and the incoming Ambassador stand in front of their "troops." Let them acknowledge the past and look forward to the future. Let the flag pass in front of everyone to recognize the importance of the event.
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Why not take the A-100 class to the Foreign Service section of Rock Creek Cemetery, or to Arlington National Cemetery, where some Foreign Service members are also buried, to recognize that we stand on the shoulders of others? While there, why not hear a presentation on what some of these departed colleagues accomplished for our country?
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The Bureau of Human Resources could list the accomplishments of those honored at the Department's retirement ceremonies so that people could leave that event with a booklet which recorded some of the contributions their service made to the United States.
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The Historian's Office could send a note to those leaders taking on new assignments describing the people who served in those positions before them. This might encourage the new incumbent to seek out a predecessor for advice and emphasize the chain of American diplomacy.
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The Director General's Office, working with the Historian's Office, could offer to provide photographs or news clippings at memorial services to supplement family photographs and memorabilia, making an official contribution to honor service to country.
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Regional Assistant Secretaries should keep an eye out for memorial services of those who had served in their region and then send someone to represent the bureau at the service. The person assigned this important task might not even know the person being honored, but that is not the point. The job is a different one: to acknowledge the debt to those who went before.
Some will argue that the Foreign Service will never do this--that this is another "culture" problem--because we are too interested in arranging our next job to take time to recognize the past. Others will say that it's an impossible standard to meet in a system that moves people every two or three years. Even if these are hurdles to overcome, it is time to get out of the blocks.
In fact, our profession is like another track and field event--the relay. We are given a baton by those who came before us and we hold it for our time of service. We then pass the baton to the next generation. It is the moments when the baton is passed that we need to do more to remember, to acknowledge and to celebrate.
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Marc Grossman, who reached the rank of Career Ambassador, retired earlier this year. His last assignment was as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He is now Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group.
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