January 1978 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The second wake up call rousted me out of bed at 6:30 a.m. (instead of six a.m.). Thanks to our late engagement at the gold souk last night I would miss the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Hotel. But today was the big day–President Carter and Secretary Vance would arrive on…
Tag: Saudi Arabia
Part Two: The President Carter/Secretary Vance Joint Detail | The Riyadh Gold Souk
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: January 1978 On the evening of “Day One,” S.Y. (State Department security) had completed their advance work. I had installed and tested the UHF radio network the S.Y. agents would utilize, centered around their RCA handheld radios. S.Y. was generally satisfied with the radio coverage provided by equipment flown in from a…
The Middle East | Trick or Treat?
Author Note: With the Halloween holiday coming up tomorrow the author recalls how travel in the Middle East was sometimes a matter of “Trick or Treat” when passing through immigration or upon entering a foreign country. What follows are a few brief vignettes of the author’s experiences (or misadventures) as a young Foreign Service recruit…
Foreign Service Messages 