Some time ago I read a blog post from a woman who, after a long candidacy, was finally accepted to the A-100 class.  She decided against joining the Foreign Service because by that time she was married and it would have interfered with her husband's career.  I am assuming that this is not an uncommon situation.

Actually, there has been a significant increase in the number of Tandem Couples over the last few years.  Tandem couples are couples in which the two spouses work in the Foreign Service.  This could include members of the Department of State, USAID, Department of Commerce, etc.

While becoming a Tandem Couple has its difficulties, we think this is something that all married candidates should consider.  We believe that the positives (more meaningful work and compensation for the spouse) more than offset the negatives.

Over the last five years, the number of Tandem Couples has increased from just over 650 in 2007 to almost 950 by 2012.  That's an increase of over 40% in five years!  This reflects interest from FSOs as well as the success that the Department of State has had in its efforts to improve the life of Tandem Couples.

While the Department of State will try to assign the tandem couple to the same location, this is not always possible. While assignment to the same location works out in many instances, a tandem couple must be prepared to have separate assignments. Tandem couples must be willing to serve worldwide – the same as other Foreign Service employees.

A post written by an FSO who is in a tandem couple (State.gov forum) said:  "The Department has been great at assigning us to the same locations, but we've made it easy on the Department by coordinating our bidding and being ready to take on the hardship posts, positions we hadn't really considered. It takes some advance planning and flexibility (the name of the game in the Foreign Service), but it is possible to have two great parallel careers, with kids in tow, and be posted together.  The officers who have a dream path and stick to that path will find tandem assignments much more difficult. So flexibility and communication -- and doing your fair share of hardship or difficult posts -- are the keys."

We recommend that married couples take the FSOT (and hopefully the FSOA) at the same time so that they can hopefully start in the same A-100 class and have well-coordinated tours.  You should also consider applying for different tracks, which would make it easier for you to be able to be assigned to the same post.

If you are interested in learning more about tandem couples, read the article on page 14 of the May 2013 issue of State Magazine.  Click here

Secretary of State Kerry gave a speech at the University of Virginia in February.  The speech was titled Investing in a Strong Foreign Policy.  I quoted a few passages on how the Foreign Service helps American businesses which I thought would interest Economic Career Track candidates.  I included a couple of other comments Secretary Kerry made about the foreign affairs budget and the Marshall Plan that I thought were interesting.

On the size of the foreign affairs budget:
" Not so long ago, someone polled the American people and asked, “How big is our international affairs budget?” Most pegged it at 25 percent of our national budget, and they thought it ought to be pared way back to ten percent of our national budget. [...] In fact, our whole foreign policy budget is just over one percent of our national budget. Think about it a little bit. Over one percent, a little bit more, funds all of our civilian and foreign affairs efforts – every embassy, every program that saves a child from dirty drinking water, or from AIDS, or reaches out to build a village, and bring America’s values, every person. We’re not talking about pennies on the dollar; we’re talking about one penny plus a bit, on a single dollar."

On the value of the Foreign Service to Businesses:
"[...] telling the story of how we stand up for American jobs and businesses – pretty practical, pretty straightforward, and pretty real on a day-to-day basis. [...] When Jefferson expanded our consular posts precisely to promote trade, he never could have imagined the importance today."  Some examples are listed below:

• a company up near Dulles called Orbital Sciences Corporation. With the help of the persistent advocates of our Embassy in Bangkok, it beat out French and Russian competitors to build Thailand’s newest broadcast satellite. 
• State Department officers there got a local automotive firm to invest tens of millions of dollars in Michigan, where the American auto industry is now making a remarkable comeback.
• In Indonesia where, thanks to Embassy Jakarta, that nation’s largest privately run airline just placed an order for commercial aircraft, the largest order Boeing has ever been asked to fill. Meanwhile, the Indonesian state railroad is buying its locomotives from General Electric.
  
• In South Africa, [...] OPIC, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Export-Import Bank, and the Trade and Development Agency just opened an office to help close more investment deals between American companies and Africa’s booming energy and transportation sectors.
  
• In large part to the work of USAID, our exports to Vietnam increased by more than 700 percent.

On Africa:
"Seven of the ten fastest growing countries are on the African continent. And China, understanding that, is already investing more than we do there. Four of the five biggest oil and natural gas discoveries happened off the coast of Mozambique last year alone. Developing economies are the epicenters of growth, and they are open for business, and the United States needs to be at that table. [..] Eleven of our top 15 trading partners used to be the beneficiaries of U.S. foreign assistance."

On the Marshall Plan:
"When I was 12 years old, I had the privilege of living in Berlin, Germany, where my father, a Foreign Service officer, was called to duty. And one day, I visited the eastern side of Berlin, the part that hadn’t received any of the help from the United States and its courageous Marshall Plan.  The difference was undeniable. [...]  There were few people on the streets, few smiles on the faces of those who were there. I saw the difference between hope and despair, freedom and oppression, people who were given a chance to do something and people who weren’t. If the recovering western half of Europe was regaining its vibrant color, the place that I visited was still in black and white.  When I went back to West Berlin, two things happened. First, I was summarily grounded for having ventured without permission to the other side of the city.  And second, I started to pay special attention to the plaques on the buildings that recognized the United States of America for lending a hand in the rebuilding. And I was proud."