Senior FAO Thoughts

Colonel Mike Ferguson
President, FAO Association

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of "ruminations" from our senior FAOs on the subject of how to achieve success--however one chooses to define that ambiguous term--in our chosen profession. Mike's bio data is self-evident in his submission, but he neglected to mention that he is a member of the Defense Attache Hall of Fame. - DOS

When first asked to write an article on "How one makes Colonel as an Army FAO", I was frankly reluctant to do so. How could my experiences, and others of my cohort, in the Army of the '70s and '80s possibly be relevant to today's Captains, and Majors who face a vastly different personnel management system. What parallels could exist between the focused and programmed requirements for FAOs in the Cold War environment and today's environment of near-chaotic scrambles to find the right person with the skills and background to fill the gap for the crisis of the day?.

On reflection, however, I came to the conclusion that perhaps not much has changed after all. As a FAO "wannabe" in 1974, the Army's personnel system was in a state of flux, a major draw-down was under way, command was the only way to go if you wanted to succeed, and I was told in no uncertain terms that becoming a FAO was the "kiss of death"--the first kiss of several I was to enjoy. At that time the FAO program consisted of Graduate School, the FAO Course, language qualification and an in-country tour.

As usual, I did it differently. I curtailed my Infantry Officer Advanced Course by three weeks and reported to the six- month FAO Course at Fort Bragg, NC. Students in the African Seminar ranged from Captain thru Lieutenant Colonel and included (later Colonels) Kim Hennigsen, Ed Rybat, Hank Sturm and Cliff Fields as well as an instructor, Major Bismark Myrick, who is now a U.S. Ambassador.

On completion of the course I reported to the U.S. Defense Attache Office, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as a FAO In-country Trainee replacing Major (later Colonel) Dale Ackles. During that ICT I traveled to over 20 other African nations and moved about extensively within Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. I did not realize it at the time, but I was networking--it would be fairly easy to draw up a list of literally scores of people, both U.S. officials and foreign nationals, who were of invaluable assistance to me in later assignments. My ICT was unique in a way because in 1977 the Socialist government of Ethiopia expelled all U.S. military personnel with the exception of a few Marine Guards. This gave me my first experience in helping to close a USDAO and the dubious distinction of being the "last guy out" along with my spouse on an Air France jet to Djibouti.

The signs were apparent for a couple of months prior to the expulsion and I was able to ensure acceptance at a Masters program at the Naval Postgraduate School. I completed NPS (MA, International Affairs) in 1978 and amazingly, to me at least, made the Major's list at the same time. The bad news, according to the conventional wisdom, was that my validation tour was to be as an analyst at Headquarters, U.S. European Command and not back to troops which was the "only way" to make Lieutenant Colonel (conventional wisdom again). The reality was that my three years in EUCOM were the bedrock for my credentials as an Africanist. A two man shop (my cell-mate was a GG-13 named Bill Thom who today is the Defense Intelligence Officer for Africa), we covered all 47 (at that time) of the countries in Africa and over three years briefed all of them. The experience again proved invaluable in later assignments as a Defense Attache.

After EUCOM, I attended CGSC (I had already done it by correspondence) but was totally dismayed and frankly distraught by my follow-on assignment--the old kiss of death again- -to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe. I did everything possible to get out of the job, including an appeal to BG Butch Saint, then the Commandant at CGSC; begged the Chief of MILPERCEN, MG Robert Arter; and pleaded with my new boss at TRADOC to let me go. Fortunately for me, BG Don Morelli refused to release me and I went to work in a relatively new staff division, the Office of the DCS for Doctrine, and rapidly became engaged in the development of a new idea-Air Land Battle. Having no other skills to apply, I attempted to make my FAO background relevant fairly easy to do since one of the major foci of the work was a third-world scenario (later turned out to be Kuwait and Iraq). Other interesting, and FAO- relevant tasks were found in working the Light Infantry Division and Leadership concepts. Perhaps the most important result of this job was becoming accustomed to thinking independently and discussing and briefing the results to very senior military and civilian officials.

By 1983, It was clear to me that even if I made Lieutenant Colonel I would not be selected for command because I had spent no troop time as a Major. Therefore, I decided to follow my Daddy's old dictum and "dance with the gal that brung you". I applied for both a White House Fellowship and Attache Duty. I made the finals for the fellowship and was not selected, but was offered the post of Defense and Army Attache in Cameroon--the latter because no body else wanted it--a double kiss of death, but I took the job anyway. What an experience--what a country! My wife loved it, my French became fluent, I covered two other countries, and on top of everything else we were running operations by ship, rail, air and highway in support of another colleague, Mike Mensch (also later Colonel), who was passing U.S. equipment to the Chadians for use in their conflict with Libya. We also had a major ecological disaster at Lake Nyos which killed thousands of people and livestock. This led to an exercise idea called MEDFLAG, a program which continues throughout Africa to this day. It culminated in a major visit by the Secretary of State with me, the DATT, playing a critical role. Lots of work, lots of responsibility in a small station--the perfect fit for a frocked Lieutenant Colonel. Regrettably, all good things end and, because I had not done much planning for the next assignment, PERSCOM decided to designate me as the DLI Liaison Officer at the State Department's Foreign Language Institute. I went shopping for a job.

I was extremely lucky to find a vacancy on the staff of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Jim Woods' office working the central and later the southern African account. My desk-mate was Mike Beraud (later Colonel) and together we worked closely with the security assistance folks and the State Department in support of DoD's African policy. We also spent many hours working the non-resident War College course. I cannot stress the value of the background knowledge I gained through this assignment. I learned what button controlled what process and also learned what button needed to be pushed to make it go quicker. Best of all, I was engaged throughout my region on policy matters which greatly reinforced the network I had built as an analyst. Finally, on a senior staff it follows that you have the opportunity to establish credibility with senior officials, both as a FAO and as an officer of integrity and reliability. This is crucial in the more important assignments, especially those with a political flavor. I must have succeeded since I was asked to take the job as Defense Attache in South Africa.

I think it took all of 30 seconds for me to agree, since this was the most sensitive and visible account on the continent at the time. I was also astounded to be told in the same conversation that I had been selected for Colonel. I spent the Gulf War in Pretoria dealing with the enormous problems of the transition from Apartheid to democracy. This was a seven-person post and we needed every one of them since we covered four other countries in the region. My wife continued to love attache life and so I applied for a follow-on tour. Denise was less than pleased to discover it would be to Zaire, then in serious internal unrest and designated as an unaccompanied tour. While enroute in Washington, I was asked if I minded being diverted to another location--Ethiopia-- where it had been deemed urgently necessary to re-establish our Defense Attache Office.

In 1992, 1 arrived at Addis Ababa--seventeen years after being the last person out of the DAO under the old regime. I was to be the first U.S. Military Representative under the new one. My job was to restore our bilateral military relationship starting from zero. Compounding matters was the turmoil in Somalia that involved the DAO and the Ethiopians heavily, and the question of the independence of Eritrea--which I was privileged to witness as the only uniformed foreigner in the city. We also worked closely with CENTCOM and SOCCENT in establishing a de-mining Program in both countries and with NAVCENT in a major salvage operation to clear a large part of the port of Massawa, Eritrea. By 1996, Denise was ready for the beach,and another French speaking assignment, and we quickly accepted when asked to undertake the job of Defense Attache in Tunis, Tunisia.

Tunis was a much more genteel assignment but no less challenging. The world had changed while I was in Addis--the Berlin Wall was gone and the USSR had dissolved. The threat now was terrorism and the issues were weapons of mass destruction, genocide in Rwanda and the Balkans, Lockerbie, and peacekeeping. All were politically charged and all were of major concern to the U.S. Before I knew it, it was 1998 and I had 37 years of service. I had had some super jobs doing what I liked and I was considering extending in Tunis, but a family medical emergency made it clear it was time to it was time to go home and get ready to retire.

But, the Army wasn't through with me yet. I was asked by DIA to be the first Chief of Training and Professional Development for the Defense HUMINT Service. This was, and is, probably the highest accolade I have had. To do what colonels are supposed to do-- pass on what they have learned and help to prepare others for the challenges ahead--and to be allowed to remain an additional year on active duty to boot. Who could refuse?

Now, the above was not written to be self serving--there are some themes in it and I think they are the themes that tell one how to make colonel as an Army FAO. As such, they are relevant to every officer: 1. You have only one personnel manager--yourself. You have only one person to satisfy--yourself. 2. Don't take advice too readily, it usually comes from people who want you to grow up just like them. The operative word in Foreign Area Officer is "foreign" (I spent 25 out of 30 years overseas). 3. Your target should be War College selection (non-resident is fine). Without it you won't be a colonel. Take the hard jobs and do them well. If they are not relevant to FAO, try to make them that way. Networking is key to establishing your credibility. Most FAO posts are nominative so people need to know your name. 4. Remember that majors are being developed, colonels are contributing. Focus your goals to that end.

I hope I have succeeded in my task and in a way that doesn't sound self-serving. In any event, I wish all OPMS XXI FAOs good luck and much success from an old soldier who was a single track FAO before single tracking was considered "cool" .

2000, Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield, Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org