Preface: In Profiles of the Future (1962) Arthur C Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey and others) postulated his three laws. Also an inventor, a philosopher, and a futurist the author’s glimpses into the future changed a lot of opinions. Clarke’s famous three laws best describe his ideas: Law#1: When a distinguished scientist states that something is possible,…
Tag: Foreign Service
Travel Tuesdays in the Middle East | The Only Way to Fly
Travel experts argue that Tuesdays are the best days for travel. They point out factors such as competition, demand, the economy, and seasonality. It’s always nice not to stand in long lines at departures. A flight can be more comfortable with a vacant seat next to you. But there are other reasons for traveling on…
Baghdad, Iraq | Arrival Resistance
April 1978 My cohort at the American Consulate Karachi, Al, had warned me. Regional Communications Officer Bob Roberson was adept at “expanding” our scheduled trips once we got out in the field. Bob’s well-crafted messages not only exonerated him but put the onus on us techs. Robertson’s message referenced the Office of Communication’s “Request for…
American Embassy Damascus | The Effect of Nilsson Schmilsson on African Violets (part II)
Late March 1978 A full day had passed at the American Embassy Damascus and I had yet to deal with the technical problem at the Ambassador’s residence that required my immediate attention. So far I had learned that CRO Wanda H. owned a pocketbook made out of the finest African elephant foreskin, that her African…
American Embassy Damascus | The Effect of Nilsson Schmilsson on African Violets
March 1978 The Foreign Service brochure had actually been correct on this one. The FS was a melting pot of people from all walks of life and all regions of the United States (and sometime overseas). It shouldn’t have been a surprise given that the government advertised that it represented all of the people. No,…
Middle East Travel | The Road to Damascus Ends at the Emerald City
March 1978 (Aboard a Jet Airliner 33,000 feet above Syria) In biblical scripture the “Road to Damascus” referred to the sudden turning point in the life of the apostle Paul (when God shined the light on him) while literally on the road to Damascus from Jerusalem. Prior to that moment, he had been called Saul,…
American Consulate General Karachi | The Return of Tony the Tiger
March 1978–Karachi, Pakistan After several days of fighting “Karachi’s revenge” I awoke in a pool of sweat sans a fever. My steadfast servant Basheer smiled. I asked him what day it was. Friday morning hearkened the beginning of the weekend in Karachi. For the first time since before I got sick I felt hungry. Basheer…
Caught on Film | The CIA Girl Who Waitressed at a Virginia Disco
[Part Three] February 1978 Looking back the CIA girl incident unfolds as a series of scenes, like a one-reel wonder. To bring the reader into the fold I will treat this message as such… <feature photo by lightbulbs.com Scene One—Rewind: The American Consulate General Karachi fourth floor hallway. I first meet the CIA girl… When…
The Pharaoh’s Curse Reaches Out | American Consulate General Karachi
February 1978 [Part One] After an arduous two weeks in Cairo trudging over one sand hill after another (not literally) I packed up and returned to Karachi. The majority of my time at the “sand pile” had been waiting on a radio repeater that was intended to extend the radio network coverage from Am Embassy…
The Cyrus Vance Cairo Detail | Radio Interference of the Third Kind
January 1977 At the Cairo International Airport ARRIVALS hall I looked out for the embassy driver dressed in dark trousers, blue cotton long-sleeve shirt with perspiration patches in the armpits, and a well-worn black tie (the drivers all seemed to wear the same uniform). <feature photo by ghettyimages.com When the American Embassy Regional Security Officer Childress…
Portrait of a Foreign Service Secretary | Welcome Aboard!
January 1978 | Am Consul Karachi—Stuck in an elevator (continued) After claiming she had accidentally sat on LBJ’s ten-gallon hat as an eight-year old youth BJ waited for the smile to melt off my face. Then she continued her autobiography while I fought to keep the elevator walls from inching closer … <Feature photo of…
Portrait of a Foreign Service Secretary | The Early Days
January 1978 | Am Consul Karachi (stuck in an elevator) My cohort Al had said to me on day one: “Watch out for BJ. She’s paddled around the world in a boat with one oar for the past thirty years.” When I got stuck in the Am Consul Karachi elevator with her I cursed myself…
Portrait of a Foreign Service Secretary | The End of a Career
January 1977 | Karachi, Pakistan The Saudi Air flight from Riyadh touched down at Karachi International Airport at close to eleven p.m. The Pakistani embassy driver smiled and took my luggage. It was too bad that I hadn’t stayed here long enough to meet more Pakistani people, but I enjoyed traveling. From what I had…
1977 in Retrospect | An Incredible Year
January 1978 I began the New Year in the air. Ironically, the Thai International flight from Bangkok terminated at Karachi, Pakistan my home base where our Regional Communications Office resided in the American Consulate General. After a two-hour layover at the airport I changed planes to Saudi Arabian Airlines. I was surprised to see foreign…
Political Wars and the Middle East Peace Initiative
Late November 1977 Late in the afternoon Am Embassy Amman Communications & Records Officer Paul Messenger handed me a heads-up confidential message from my boss in Karachi, RCO Roberson. Basically, it stated that my partner-in-crime in Karachi, Al, and myself would be supporting the Secretary of State Cyrus Vance detail during the Middle East peace…
The Lebanese Civil War in Beirut | The Invisible Green Line
November 1977 I woke up early at the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel. Last night’s tense taxi ride from the airport to the hotel was a fractured nightmare. After the drama of the first checkpoint (where I suddenly feared for my life) the second checkpoint had waved us through. Needless to say I was relieved to arrive…
Security Violation | Get Smart
American Consulate General Karachi | Late October 1977 The next morning I was eager to tackle the RCO radio shop. Al and I planned to change into old jeans and T-shirts. Al opened the cypher lock on the door into the tech offices without looking. He turned left to the radio section. The telephone and…
American Consulate General Karachi | The RCO
Late October 1977 When General Zia al-Huq had recently deposed Ali Bhutto’s liberal government during a military coup d’état he declared that Pakistan would return to traditional conservative Sunni Muslim values. The transfer of power did not hinder the operations of Am Consul Karachi’s Regional Communications Office. Because the RCO’s mission was to support the other…
The Consulate General | Chili Beans in Karachi
The American Consulate General | Late October 1977 I worked at the consulate of the highest rank, the American Consulate General in the largest city of Pakistan, the port city of Karachi. Consulate Generals normally served large cities in terms of bilateral relations with the United States (commerce, travel, etc.). <featured photo by pinterest.com My…
The American Consulate General Karachi | Inshallah
Late October 1977 Prior to leaving SECSTATE in Washington D.C. to Pakistan, I had attended a mandatory “in-country” security briefing, and an anti-terrorism symposium. The experts had stressed that Foreign Service Officers abroad should always change daily routes—never repeat. They instructed how to recognize when you’re being followed and what actions to take <feature photo…
Karachi, Pakistan | Echoes of the British Empire
Late October 1977 At half past midnight, the Pakistani Airlines flight rumbled to a halt out on the warm tarmac, inherited from forty-two degrees Centigrade of an overbearing sun. The passengers, mostly Pakistanis, ignored the cabin crew’s instructions to remain seated. Overhead compartment doors plopped down like camels’ saddlebags full of brass asps. <feature photo…
Leaving on a Jet Plane
October 1977 After a year in Northern Virginia learning the basics of my job as a radio technician/diplomat for the Office of Communications/Programs & Engineering (OC/PE) I was ready to move on. I had checked off the 60% part of my mentor Norm Bates’ “60/40 Hypothesis:” Completed technical schools Supported SY (State Department Security) Protective Details…
The Send Off | Haitian War Story
In October of 1977, the “OC Bandits” (inspired by the movie “Smokey and the Bandits”) gave me a send off regarding my impending assignment at Am Consul Karachi, Pakistan. The radio group chose the pizza restaurant near Springfield, Virginia to allow our boss Norm Bates to call his wife when his gout flared up. I could…
Personnel Notification | Be Careful What You Wish For
FAM 013.5-2 Foreign Service Personnel (Foreign Affairs Manual) Under the Foreign Service Act, the Secretary of State administers and directs the Foreign Service and coordinates its activities with the needs of the Department and other agencies and consults with other agencies using the Foreign Service personnel system (USAID, Foreign Agricultural Service, Foreign Commercial Service) to…
Am Embassy Paris | In Support of the Cyrus Vance Protective Detail
While assigned to Springfield, Virginia awaiting our first assignment overseas, the most engaging task for the OC Bandits involved the support of the Office of Security or S.Y. protective details when the Secretary of State traveled on official business. Cyrus Vance took over for Henry Kissinger in 1977. During his tenure as Secretary of State…
Special Agent Martin V
Someone said that the strength of the Foreign Service are its people. They come from all walks of life. Most follow the traditional path: a university degree with a major in political science, economics, and the like. To prepare for a Foreign Service career they might become an intern in Washington D.C. They might contact their congressmen for…
The Foreign Service | An Education of Sorts
Back in the 1970’s, no one hired on with the U.S. Department of State to get rich. My base salary began at around $12,000 per year. I don’t recall many Foreign Service Officers owning homes given that they were out of the country most of their careers. Living overseas had its benefits. Housing was…
Foreign Service Telegram Speak and Related Illnesses
In the late 1970’s, the telegraphic message was to the Foreign Service like the M-16 rifle was to the U.S. Army. Both wielded a sense of diplomacy and every soldier (and Foreign Service Officer) was “behooved” to know how to use each. In the case of the telegraphic message, words replaced bullets, and could be…
The Pioneering Age of Radio & Security (Part One)
photos by protostack.com From Tubes to Transistors Prior to the mid 1950’s vacuum tubes lit up the insides of TV’s, stereos, radios, and telecommunications gear. The large tubes emitted a lot of heat. They were fragile, consumed a large amount of electricity and were susceptible to vibrations when used in bulky two-way radios installed in…
An Alternative Foreign Service Orientation
Our tech supervisor Norm Bates, a Foreign Service veteran notified me that I would accompany him on a road trip to Philadelphia and Boston. Little did I know the trip would be an alternative Foreign Service “orientation.” Bates (whose last name wasn’t Bates) had serious goiter problems that were exacerbated by his beer drinking. Nevertheless, Norm…
Foreign Service Beginnings | The OC Bandits
October 1976 My Foreign Service beginnings commenced on a Monday morning. My first day on the job with the State Department I zoomed down the I-395 from my Arlington motel to Springfield. When I saw a Denny’s off to the right I stopped for a “Grand Slam” that the restaurant chain had been advertising since…
Swearing-In | The U.S. Department of State
October 1976 Mom called. The official confirmation letter from the U.S. Department of State had arrived. On a Thursday I took off work at noon and a buddy took me to a used car lot on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. I bought a used red Fiat sedan for seven hundred fifty cash. Then I swung by…
Foreign Service Appointment | An Accident Waiting to Happen?
On a Saturday morning in September of 1976, an official letter arrived at my parent’s house in Southern California. I was staying the weekend and answered the door. The mailman handed me the envelope. The old guy (he was well over forty) had been delivering to our mailbox for years. I had waved to him occasionally…
Dragline Inspires Potential Foreign Service Candidate
Following my stagnation on Kwajalein Island in the Pacific, I returned to Southern California. In El Segundo, an exclusive radiotelephone company, a pioneer in mobile radio, hired me on the spot. I had been advised by the U.S. Department of State that my application for the Foreign Service could take over six months, and even then I…
State Department Brochure Washes Up on Pacific Isle Shore
The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality—James A Michener Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” a collection of WWII stories became the movie South Pacific in 1958, which had a profound effect on me as a youth. You might say…
The Author’s Message
Special Update September 24, 2018 Please visit my new blog! Click on “Novels by DKMatthews” or go to the “my books” page in the heading. This blog will tune you in to some of my other writing interests. For the rest of this year “Novels by DKMatthews” posts will be related to my latest novel, L.A. Ghost Story…
Foreign Service Messages 