Snapshot: Top 10 State Department Assistance Recipients (FY 2011)

Via USAspending.gov

Snapshot: Top 15 State Department Contractors (FY 2011)

via USASpending.gov

Snapshot: Top 10 State Department Assistance Recipients FY2010

According to the Prime Award spending data from USAspending.gov, the following organizations are the State Department's Top 10 Assistance Recipients in FY2010.

screen capture from
usaspending.gov

Related articles

• Spending transparency for the federal government (businessinsider.com)
• Data.gov in crisis: the open data movement is bigger than just one site | Nathan Yau (guardian.co.uk)

 

 

 

Snapshot: Top 10 State Department Contractors FY2010

According to the Prime Award spending data from USAspending.gov, the State Department had 81,323 transactions in the amount of $10,949,985,424 in FY2010 (October 1, 2009-September 30, 2010). Below are the Top 10 Contractors at State.

Screen capture from
usaspending.gov

Related articles

• The Seesaw Of Troops And Contractors (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
• Commission Questions State Dept's "Logically Dubious" Opposition to Contract Oversight Recommendations (pogoblog.typepad.com)
• New at Reason: Mike Riggs on Private Contractors and Latin America's Drug War Gravy Train (reason.com)
• Out with the Military, in with the Contractors (pogoblog.typepad.com)
• State Department blasted over private contractor management (cnn.com)

Snapshot: State Dept Personnel Projections for FY2006-2014

The State Department's actual and projected numbers of Foreign Service and civil service personnel for fiscal years 2006 through 2014.

Extracted from GAO-11-241, Jan 25, 2011

Remains to be seen how close these projected numbers will be to the actual numbers authorized by Congress in the next fiscal years.

Snapshot: State Dept's Largest Geographic Bureau and Its "Difficult" Headaches

The OIG recently published online its review of the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Some interesting items:

• EUR is the largest geographic bureau in the Department of State (Department), with 322 direct-hire and 40 contractor employees domestically, and 1,863 U.S. direct-hire and approximately 10,000 locally employed staff positions overseas, in 50 missions and 29 constituent posts.

• Total FY 2010 budget resources (domestic and overseas) for EUR are just under $604 million (excluding salaries for direct-hire Americans and foreign assistance). In addition to a geographic focus that stretches from Greenland to Vladivostok, EUR also operates as a de facto functional bureau in several specific areas of responsibility.

• Led by an Assistant Secretary, a principal deputy assistant secretary (PDAS) and six DASes, EUR’s 17 offices oversee and support the work of 80 posts, accredited to 47 countries and four multilateral organizations. The bureau also supports the work of four special envoys.

• At the present time, 25 of the 45 ambassadors at EUR’s 50 overseas posts are political appointees. (Five EUR posts are currently without ambassadors.) While most ambassadors perform admirably, the front office, office directors, and desk officers spend an inordinate amount of time handling issues related to a small number of “difficult” noncareer ambassadors. This has been a drain on human and resource capital, both at the posts concerned and in the bureau.

• HR’s FY 2010 target for linked Afghanistan-Iraq-Pakistan assignments is 170. As in past years, the human resources division will fully comply with the Department’s linked assignments policy. Historically, EUR accounts for approximately 20 to 25 percent of all linked assignments, so it can expect to have between 34 and 42 of these assignments in the 2011 open assignments cycle.

• Unlike in prior years, however, EUR is prepared to refuse linked assignments to a specific mission this year, once it can be demonstrated that the mission has done its fair share.

Source:State Department/EUR

Related item:
OIG Report No. ISP-I-11-22 - Inspection of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs - March 2011

Snapshot: Top 10 Recipients of US Foreign Aid in FY2010, FY 2011 RQ

In the FY2011 request, Afghanistan tops the list at nearly $4 billion, followed by Pakistan at $3 billion. This is in addition to significant supplemental funds—$2 billion and $370 million, respectively—requested for these countries for FY2010. Israel and Egypt would continue to receive significant funds, primarily for Foreign Military Financing, at $3 billion and $1.56 billion, respectively. Jordan would also continue to rank high on the list, with $682.7 million requested. Iraq, which dropped out of the top 10 list in FY2010 (though a request for more than $2 billion in FY2010 supplemental funds is pending), would be the fifth largest recipient of aid in FY2011, under the Administration request. Assistance to the other top recipients—Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa—is targeted primarily at HIV/AIDS and other health programs.

(click on table to enlarge image)

Extracted from
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2011 Budget and Appropriations (Congressional Research Service | May 5, 2010)  via Secrecy News.

Related Post:
Snapshot: Top 10 Recipients of US Foreign Aid (FY2009, FY2010 RQ)

Snapshot: 2/3 Interested in Working

Based on statistics presented in FLO’s 2009 ―Worldwide Family Member Employment overview, close to 10,000 adult family members accompany a U.S. Direct Hire employee on his/her overseas assignment. Of this total, nearly two-thirds expressed an interest in working, while only a third was successful in finding employment. These percentages have remained fairly constant the last several years and as a result, have provided more than ample fuel for the fire that is FLO’s employment advocacy mandate.[...] Many positions filled by family members inside the Mission tend to be clerical in nature and therefore widely viewed by the approximately 75% of family members with degrees (of whom about half have advanced degrees) as not very challenging or interesting.


FLO Direct News
(State Department Family Liaison Office publication)
Summer 2009

Snapshot: US Consulate General Cd. Juarez

Image by charlie llewellin via Flickr

The shootings involving staff/family members from the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez made me dig up the 2009 OIG report on US Mission Mexico. Below is part of what the report said about Ciudad Juarez:  

The consular section in Ciudad Juarez is the largest in the world with 50 consular officers, six EFMs, and 116 LE staff, yet its staffing is still too small for the workload (see the section of this report on IVs for a complete discussion). Despite workload pressures, the consular section is doing a remarkable job under excellent leadership. The consular section chief and IV unit chief work effectively as a team to manage the massive challenges facing the IV unit. However, the other parts of the consular section are also under stress. NIV work increased 31.4 percent to 121,010 cases in FY 2008.

The NIV unit copes with this increase with the help of a steady stream of TDY ELOs from other posts in Mexico.

This NIV workload increase was not surprising because Ciudad Juarez was the first post in Mexico to start issuing an improved version of the BCC on April 1, 1998, and therefore the first post to experience a surge from the 10-year replacement program. The workload rose dramatically in 1999 (to 308,370 cases) and peaked in 2001 (at 411,743 cases). This means Ciudad Juarez is likely to be hit by a huge increase in NIV work in the next three years. In addition, analysis shows that much of the Ciudad Juarez FY 2008 NIV workload increase is, in fact, coming from first time applicants, and this means that NIV levels after the BCC renewal surge ends are likely to remain higher than previously thought, requiring additional permanent resources.

[…]

Immediately following the visit by the OIG team to Ciudad Juarez, the consulate staff moved into a new OBO-built facility. This vast facility -- with 87 visa interview windows -- gives the staff the capability to handle the huge numbers of consular visitors and provides for future growth.

The consulate general in Ciudad Juarez processes all IVs for Mission Mexico, and in FY 2008 it handled 149,014 applications, 19 percent of all IVs worldwide. The workload was greater than that of the next three largest IV operations in Santo Domingo, Manila, and Ho Chi Minh City combined. IV workload has fluctuated greatly in the last 10 years in Ciudad Juarez, but recently increased dramatically. The Department will need to increase significantly officer and LE staffing in Ciudad Juarez to rightsize the operations.

Here is a nugget from the report that you may or may not know:

US Mission Mexico, consisting of an embassy, seven consulates general, two consulates, and 14 consular agencies, is one of the largest U.S. missions in the world. The magnitude of the consular operation is staggering: 20 percent of all arrests of Americans abroad occur in a single consular district in Tijuana. Consulate General Ciudad Juarez processes more IVs than any other post in the world. Embassy Mexico City processes more NIVs than any other post in the world except Embassy Seoul.

Because of the consular workload, 10 percent of all entry-level officers (ELO) in the U.S. Foreign Service are assigned to Mexican posts. With such numbers, Mexican experience will have an important influence on the next generation of Foreign Service officers.

Related Item:
-04/30/09   Embassy Mexico City, Mexico (ISP-I-09-21A) April 09

Snapshot: Afghanistan Reconstruction - $51.01Billion and Counting

FY2002-December 2009

As of December 31, 2009, the United States had appropriated approximately $51.01 billion for relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan since FY 2002. This cumulative funding total is based on data reported by agencies and amounts appropriated in FY 2010, as shown in Appendix B. This total has been allocated as follows: $26.75 billion for security, $14.75 billion for governance and development, $3.75 billion for counter-narcotics efforts, $2.05 billion for humanitarian aid, and $3.72 billion for oversight and operations. Figure 3.1 provides an overview of the major U.S. funds that contribute to these efforts.

 From SIGAR Quarterly Report to Congress, January 2010

ASFF: Afghanistan Security Forces Fund

CERP: Commander’s Emergency Response Program

ESF: Economic Support Fund

INCLE: International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement

Other: Other Funding

Source: SIGAR Quarterly Report to Congress, January 2010

http://www.sigar.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/jan2010/pdf/SIGAR_Jan2010.pdf

Snapshot: USTC/Blackwater/Xe in Afghanistan

2,730 missions | 0 casualties | 0 incidents with deadly force

This is the personal security contractor that everybody loves to hate. State’s Inspector General’s Office conducted a performance audit of the U.S. Training Center (a Xe company) contract in Afghanistan last year and had some good things to say:     

“In 2008, USTC conducted 2,730 personal protection missions in support of staff from the Department of State, including the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, USAID, and various Congressional delegations (see Table). In 2008, 257 (9.4 percent) of the missions were performed for USAID. During the entire time USTC has operated in Afghanistan, no one under USTC’s protection has been injured or killed, and there have been no incidents involving the use of deadly force. OIG observed personal protection missions and interviewed various representatives from the Department of State and USAID who regularly use USTC’s personal protective services. The representatives reported that USTC employees are professional, make them feel secure, and are respectful to both officials under chief of mission authority and their Afghan counterparts.”

Staff composition as of April 8, 2009

USTC staff consists of a project manager, personal security specialists, administrative and support employees, and interpreters, as well as local guards who are third-country nationals. As of April 2009, there was one project manager, 75 personal security specialists, 18 administrative and support personnel, 20 local guard force personnel, and five interpreters (94 Americans, 20 Columbians, and five Afghan interpreters).

On the need for a dedicated Contracting Officer’s Representative to Embassy Kabul to provide proper oversight of contractor activities, the OIG reports:

Despite its overall satisfactory contract management, DS could improve its performance in two areas, both of which have been mentioned in previous OIG reports. First, two Assistant Regional Security Officers at Embassy Kabul are currently acting as Contracting Officer’s Representatives (COR). These officers’ many other duties may prevent them from providing adequate oversight of the USTC contract, particularly as personal protective service needs increase in Afghanistan. Second, the current acting CORs do not review or verify the personnel rosters (muster sheets) before they are sent to USTC and then DS in Washington, DC.

The OIG report concludes that “USTC personal protective services have been effective in ensuring the safety of chief of mission personnel in Afghanistan’s volatile security environment. Additionally, OIG found USTC has effective control over government-furnished equipment. Nevertheless, OIG has identified several areas in which contractor performance could be improved.”  The audit provides a 6-item recommendation. You can read it here.

Actually not just OIG.  Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, our former Ambassador to Afghanistan (2005-2007)  last December also had this to say at a congressional hearing:  "I would like to pay special tribute to the brave and hard working personnel, RSOs and ARSOs, who have protected me and my missions in dangerous times. I would also like to acknowledge my respect for the men of DynCorp and Blackwater who ran my personal protection details in Iraq and Afghanistan. They performed with courage, judgment and restraint and one lost his leg in the process. Whatever opprobrium now attaches to others I owe all those gallant men—State Department and contractor employees--my gratitude and I am glad to have a public forum in which to express it."

Related Item:

OIG Report No. MERO-A-09-08, Performance Audit of the USTC Contract for Personal Protective Services in Afghanistan - Aug. 2009 | PDF

Snapshot of a Hardship Post: US Mission Nigeria

The Department’s OIG office has recently released its inspection report of Embassy Abuja and Consulate General Lagos, Nigeria (ISP-I-08-25A) from July 2008 Living conditions in the country are difficult and the work is not easy.  By one estimate I've heard, post there receives about 150 complaints per day on Nigerian scams alone.  Both Lagos and Abuja are 25% hardship differential posts.  Excerpt from the report below:        

Living conditions in Nigeria have changed little since OIG teams conducted inspections in 1997 and 2002. Traffic is congested and dangerous, the infrastructure is dilapidated, and public utilities function irregularly. Short-term leased properties are expensive, constructed poorly, and require frequent repair. Goods procured locally are of an inferior quality and sometimes counterfeit. Access to rest and recreation is limited and expensive. Crime is also a major issue. Unescorted travel for U.S. personnel is restricted to two islands in Lagos city; in other areas they must travel with armed escorts. Personnel have been subjected to mob attacks and armed robberies even in the “safe” zones. In fact, during the inspection, armed assailants robbed the Marine house and shot a marine and local security guard. It is reportedly not uncommon to see corpses in the street, and, in fact, a headless corpse was found floating in the lagoon close to the consulate general boat dock during the inspection. In Abuja, the living conditions are better, but safety is still a concern, and there is a sense of isolation due to a lack of amenities.

Despite a robust package of incentives and Nigeria’s strategic importance to the United States, it is hard to find at-grade officers interested in serving in Nigeria. U.S. direct-hire staff is characterized by a disproportionate number of officers on their first tours, in stretch assignments one or two levels above grade, working out-of cone, or on Civil Service excursion tours. Often, positions are simply left unfilled.

The inability of Abuja and Lagos to attract interested and qualified bidders hurts diplomatic readiness. Officers filling entry-level positions, in stretch assignments, and on Civil Service excursions too often lack depth of knowledge in their functional areas. There are few mid-level managers to mentor the inexperienced officers. Senior staff spends a significant amount of time on resolving operational issues rather than on planning, policy, and coordination. Morale is frequently low, and there are complaints about poor administrative services and quality of life. The inevitable backlog of work sometimes overwhelms new officers. These issues are not exclusive to Abuja and Lagos but are common to hardship posts.

Unfortunately, there are no clear solutions or recommendations for addressing staffing shortages at hardship posts. Possible solutions include more directed assignments, enhanced incentives, improved training, proactive leadership involvement in recruiting, and additional study and focus on resolving global staffing problems. At a minimum, the Department has to improve facilities and the quality of life for personnel serving in Nigeria, or recruitment woes are unlikely to improve.

The tour of duty at Embassy Abuja and Consulate General Lagos is two years (with two authorized rest and recuperation trips). The hardship differential is 30 25 percent in Abuja (as of 1/3/2010) and 25 percent in Lagos. Both posts are historically difficult to staff and are 15 percent service needs differential posts. Twelve employees are currently participating in the service needs differential program. The cost of living allowance is 42 percent in Abuja and 50 percent in Lagos. Abuja receives a $2,500 consumables allowance. A separate maintenance allowance is authorized for EFMs who choose not to accompany the employee.

Related Item: 

OIG Report No. ISP-I-08-25A, Inspection of Embassy Abuja and Consulate General Lagos, Nigeria - July 2008 | PDF

Snapshot: Student Visas for Chinese Students

Image via Wikipedia

In the past 30 years, the flow of people between the United States and China has gone from virtually non-existent to the hundreds of thousands. This year, despite the global financial crisis, the approval rate for Chinese applicants was 80 percent, as compared to 75 percent in 2008. We issued 5 percent more visas than we did in 2008, and nearly 20 percent more visas as compared to 2007. The growth in visa issuances for Chinese students has been remarkable: 46 percent more visas were issued versus 2008, and 106 percent -- or more than double the number of visas – than were issued in 2007. Nowadays, 85 percent of Chinese applicants for U.S. student visas are successful.

from Remarks by Michael J. Jacobsen Chief, Consular Section, U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou at U.S.-China Visa Conference | December 1, 2009

Snapshot: State Dept's Family Member Employment - Part 3

What type of jobs are there?

(Click on image for larger view)

Related Posts:

• Snapshot: State Department's Family Member Employment
• Snapshot: State Dept's Family Member Employment – Where are the Jobs Located?

Snapshot: Top 10 Recipients of US Foreign Aid

(click on image to see larger view)

Extracted from CRS: State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2009 Appropriations | PDF

Snapshot: Top 10 State Dept Contractors (FY2009)

This list of the State Department’s Top 10 Contractors is from USAspending.gov. You can also view the Contractor Profiles in the website. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) requires a single searchable website, accessible by the public for free that includes for each Federal award: 1. the name of the entity receiving the award; 2. the amount of the award; 3. information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc; 4. the location of the entity receiving the award; 5. a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award. USAspending.gov, a re-launch of www.fedspending.org, provides this information to the public, as collected from federal agencies, in an easy to use website. The data is largely from sources: the Federal Procurement Data System, which contains information about federal contracts; and the Federal Assistance Award Data System, which contains information about federal financial assistance such as grants, loans, insurance, and direct subsidies like Social Security.

The website is searchable by contractor, place of performance, by agency; also by competition process, type of contract or product/service purchased.

Click here for an explanation of the data included in the website.

Snapshot: US Foreign Assistance

From the CRS Report: State Department and USAID disbursements represent only about 30% of total U.S. foreign assistance in 2007 and 64% of economic (non-military) aid. The increasing portion of assistance disbursed by U.S. military entities since FY2002 can be largely attributed to dramatic increases in military and reconstruction assistance associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and appears to be on the decline. The impact of these wars on foreign assistance levels is demonstrated by Figure 2, which compares the same FY2001 agency disbursement chart in Figure 1 with a chart showing FY2007 disbursements without aid to Iraq and Afghanistan. Excluding funding to these two countries more than doubles the share of aid disbursed by State, from 11% to 25%, and gives DOD the third largest share, after USAID and State. Furthermore, it is important to note that much of the funding disbursed by DOD is military assistance, for which State plays a key role in allocation.

CRS: Foreign Aid Reform: Agency Coordination | August 7, 2009 PDF

Snapshot: US Mission Nigeria

US Embassy Abuja via Facebook

Despite a robust package of incentives, staffing Lagos and Abuja was hard, with many officers in stretch assignments, working out-of-cone, on excursion tours, or on directed first assignments. These staffing woes, an operating budget that was lagging behind program funding, and aging facilities in Lagos reduced the efficiency of diplomatic operations. Both the consulate office building and many U.S. Government-owned residences in Lagos had suffered physical neglect, based partly on the view that operations in Lagos would get smaller when the Embassy moved to Abuja in 2000. This shrinkage is unlikely to happen. Inspection of Embassy Abuja and Consulate General Lagos, Nigeria (ISP-I-08-25A) Excerpted from Office of Inspector General Semiannual Report to the Congress, April 1, 2008 to September 30, 2008 | PDF

Snapshot: State Dept's Family Member Employment - Part 2

Where are the jobs located?

According to the latest FLO data, 25% of adult family members of USG employees overseas are working inside US missions worldwide (embassies and consulates). The actual number is 2,477 out of the total family member population of 9,817. Below is the the percentage of family members working inside US missions, ranked by geographic bureau Family Members at Post Working Inside US Missions (by geographic bureau):

#1. South Central Asian Affairs - 44% (see SCA countries here)

#2. African Affairs - 39% (see AF countries here)

#3. Near Eastern Affairs – 27% (see NEA countries here)

#4. Western Hemisphere Affairs – 25% (see WHA countries here)

#5. East Asian Pacific Affairs – 24% (see EAP countries here)

#6. European and Eurasian Affairs – 18% (see EUR countries here)

June 2009 State department/Family Liaison Office

Below is the overall ranking by geographic bureau with the percentage of family members working inside US missions as well as those working in the local economy and the self-employed. You will note that except for the switch between EAP (#4) and WHA (#5), the ranking below is identical to the working inside the mission ranking above.

Family Members Working at Post (overall by geographic bureau)

#1. South Central Asian Affairs - 64% (see SCA countries here)

#2. African Affairs - 56% (see AF countries here)

#3. Near Eastern Affairs – 44% (see NEA countries here)

#4. East Asian Pacific Affairs – 37% (see EAP countries here)

#5. Western Hemisphere Affairs – 36% (see WHA countries here)

#6. European and Eurasian Affairs – 32% (see EUR countries here)

The interesting thing is that the South Central Asian (SCA) bureau (covering Afghanistan*, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan*, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) has the lowest number of family members present at posts (430 individuals) but has the highest rate of employment. (As an aside here -- I should note that Afghanistan and Pakistan are fully unaccompanied assignments as of February 2009 and adult EFMS are only authorized on a case by case basis by “M;” apparently EFMs must secure employment at missions (I’m presuming prior to authorization). In Afghanistan, both the Ambassador’s wife and the Deputy Ambassador’s wife are reportedly working inside the US mission in Kabul.)

On SCA, although not all family members get to accompany their employee-spouses to posts, almost half of those that get to go, are able to work within the mission (44%) or in the local economy (20%).

The most numbers of family members (3,249) according to current data are located in European and Eurasian posts -- at some 30 countries from Albania to the Ukraine. But the EUR bureau has the lowest percentage of employment both inside US missions (18%) and outside (local economy employment is at 14%). Part of this may have to do with language barriers, preference for hiring EU nationals in EU countries, bilateral work agreement restrictions, etc. I can't say for sure. What is clear is if you are heading to a European post, you can expect two things: 1) high standard of living in a good number of posts (also often expensive); and 2) over 2/3 of overall family members will be unemployed during the tour.

I guess in real terms that means -- family members will have time to hang around and have coffee, except that having coffee will be too expensive a past time for many.

Related Item: See Part 1: Snapshot: State Department's Family Member Employment

Snapshot: State Department's Family Member Employment

Image via Wikipedia

Below is a comparative snapshot of family member employment from a 2007 report and the latest available report dated June 2009 from the Family Liaison Office of the State Department. The statistics here refer to adult family members of a U.S. government employee assigned to an overseas mission under Chief of Mission authority. The 2009 data includes reports from 201 posts while the 2007 data included 217 posts. On the gender composition, it went up a percentage this year for female family members and down a percentage for male family members. Female family members still account for 4/5 of the total worldwide population. Also, note that the employment number for those working within the US mission is stagnant at 25%. Family members working outside the mission saw an increased of 2%. This leaves the number of unemployed family members currently at 61%, 2% lower than in 2007. Quick thoughts (and questions) -- first, nothing here indicates the percentage of family members who are actively seeking work and are unable to so do. No data either on family members who have opted to stay-home by choice. I think those are important numbers to know -- so we can tell the effectiveness of the agency's response to clear, articulated needs. Second, given the stagnant number for those working inside the mission, what happened to the expanded hiring under the Professional Associates program? I remember an official telling me that the expanded PA hiring would up the number of jobs for family members overseas. That did not seem to happen given this stuck-on 25% data. Were jobs slashed before or around the time the expanded hiring occurred? Or -- there's another way of looking at these numbers. Note that the total adult family member population has expanded from 9,243 in 2007 to 9,819 in 2009. Whatever increased in hiring occurred was erased by the expansion in this population. Finally, I can't tell from looking at the stats if the 2% bump for those working outside the mission came out because of the SNAP/GEI program or elsewhere. If the 1,397 jobs resulted from SNAP/GEI, is that the best bang for the limited money spent on family member employment? If not, what other alternatives are there? Current report can be viewed here.

2007 (217 Posts reporting October 2007)

June 2009 (201 Posts)

2007

Family Member Employment Report Statistics (217 Posts reporting October 2007)