FAOAM moving to Google Blogs at www.faoam.blogspot.com

FAOAM is moving to Google Blogs at www.faoam.blogspot.com !  Please check there for future posts!

FAOAM Regional Dinners this Thursday!

This Thursday, several of the different regions are having dinners.  Please comment with your name and region if you haven’t heard about it and I will put you in touch with the regional POC.  Also, please comment if you aren’t on the FAOAM mailing list.

FAOAM is Back Up and Running!

After a long hiatus, we have this website up and running.  The Facebook group is also active once again:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Foreign-Area-Officer-Association-of-Monterey.  You can follow us on Twitter as well at https://twitter.com/FAOAM

FAO Conference 2011 – Registration and other information

FAOs/RAOs/RAS’/PAS’ (active and former) and Students interested in the political-military interface,

Please sign up for the 2011 FAO Conference here.

We have a truly ‘amazing’ line up of leadership from the active duty services, State Department and Department of Defense, and academia who have volunteered to share their time and experiences with us on April 7th & 8th. In addition to academic forums and keynote speeches, we have panels dedicated to service orientated questions and regional themes salient to TODAY’s pol-mil specialists.

Please join us in welcoming:

Deputy Secretary of Defense for Africa, Ambassador Vicki Huddleston

Deputy Secretary of Defense for Plans, Dr. Janine Davidson

Director, Strategic Counter-Terrorism Communications, Ambassador Richard LeBaron

Former Ambassador to Georgia, Bulgaria, and Azerbaijan, Ambassador Richard Miles

Director for International Engagement, OPNAV 52, RADM Jeffrey Lemmons, USN

Former Director for Plans, Strategy & Programs, AFRICOM, MajGen H. “Buz” Altshuler, USA (Ret) Air Force Culture & Language Center, Brig Gen Gunther Mueller, USAF (Ret)

And many, many others!

Spouses are encouraged to attend ANY and ALL events they feel might interest them, but we have one panel, hosted by Dr Casey Lucius and Mrs Sharon Miles (Wife of Ambassador Richard Miles, former Ambassador to Georgia, Bulgaria, and Azerbaijan), completely dedicated to them Friday 8th April (1320-1430.)  We also hope your spouse will join you at the Embassy Style Reception, a training (and social) event designed to allow you to experience the ‘work after-work’ many of us will be required to do in our follow on tours in an environment where faux-pas are not likely to strain relationships.

For a full list of panels, speeches, and events please refer to the attached agenda.

If you still have questions, please feel free to contact me, LCDR Jason Neal, at (janeal@nps.edu.)

We look forward to seeing you at the conference!

Very Respectfully,

LCDR Jason Neal

March Update: Welcome to the New Board, and upcoming events

Foreign Area Officer Association of Monterey,

It is my pleasure to introduce to you the FAOAM Board.

Chairman:  Maj. Roberto Cuevas, USMC
Vice-Chair: LCDR Rich Reyes, USN
Comptroller:  LT Jerry Tzeng, USN
DLI Rep:  LT Christina Wong, USN
FAO-CAP Coordinator: Maj. Hector Lopez, USAF
Event Coordinator (or vacant post): Maj. Andrew Sanders, USA
Communications Director / Webmaster:  vacant

It has been an honor for me and the outgoing board to serve our membership over the past six months.  The FAOAM accomplished quite a few events, including Brown Bag Lunches, Quarterly Dinners,  JFSSPP events, the Africa Film Project, planning the upcoming FAO Conference, and other events that expanded the reach of the association.  As Chairman, I would especially like to thank the other board members – Jason, Christina, Erik, Rich, Kim, Gerald, Hector, Jim and Andy – for their hard work and dedication to the FAOAM.

Upcoming Events:
1. Monday, 7 March at 1200 in GL-109: Brown Bag Lunch with Anisa Mehdi, Fulbright Scholar in 2008-9 will speak on “What’s a Woman Reporter to Do?  Nuances of covering Egypt and beyond”

2. Tuesday, 8 March at 1200 in n the M.E. Auditorium (the small auditorium behind Watkins): Bosnia and Herzegovina Minister of Defense.  2 members are welcome to join a special lunch with the MoD from 1100 to 1145.  If you are interested, please let me know at acoconno@nps.edu.

3. Special thanks to all LatAm FAOs that participated in the JFSSP social events and lunch with LTG Keen. It was a wonderful opportunity for FAOs to network and make connections as well as to learn from those that are currently assigned to billets within the AOR. Look forward to seeing even better participation next year.

4. Our next FAOAM social will be… Come meet the new board!

5. SAND-MIIS War and Peace Mixer on Friday, 7 April at Duffys Tavern (282 High St Monterey, CA).  The last one was a great success.  Security & Development Group (SAND-MIIS) is hosting the second of many War & Peace mixers to bring together the Security & Development communities in Monterey and at MIIS. There’s a lot to learn from each other and a lot of connections to be made!  Blurred boundaries between civilian and military organizations prompt conflicts over what researchers call domain conflicts. Traditionally, development addresses civilians and security deals with combatants. In fragile states, the line between civilians and combatants is often blurred. This “domain conflict” is a critical problem in coordinating inter-organizational operations in these settings. With the goal of building “Domain Consensus” between these two fields, SAND-MIIS and Duffy’s bar host monthly War & Peace night’s in order to build informal understanding and connections between these two spheres. http://blogs.miis.edu/sand

More Brown Bag lunches are in the works, so please stay tuned to your new FAOAM Board.

Sincerely
LT Andrew O’Connor,
Chairman, FAOAM
Faoam.org

February Update

FAO Association of Monterey,

January was a great month of events for our association.  The quarterly dinner and first brown bag lunch were both a great success.  A few photos from dinner are posted on our facebook page.  Thank you to everyone who has attended.  Your presence makes our events a success.  Several great events are coming up soon.

1. FAOAM Social: Thursday, 10 Feb at 1530 in the Trident Room.  Come meet your fellow international affairs specialists.

2. FAO-CAP: IDMC is still looking for a few cultural ambassadors for the upcoming course that will run from 11 February to 20 April 2011. Ambassadors are needed for officers coming from Morocco and Albania.  Contact Maj Hector Lopez hglopez@nps.edu if you are interested. Being a cultural ambassador does not take a lot of effort and is great experience for anyone wanting to meet officers from around the world and to share American culture.

3. Conversations: The FAOAM is once again invited to the Osborne home in Carmel Highlands at 1730 on Thursday, 10 Feb.  Contact us for details and RSVP information. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged.

4. FAOAM Board Elections:  Most of the FAOAM Board will graduate in March.  If you are interested in carrying on the work of the FAOAM, we are seeking nominations for board leadership.  Join us at the social or contact a board member if you have any questions.  Elections will be complete by 24 Feb and turnover will shortly after.

5. Meet Senior LATAM FAO’s: Events to meet the senior LATAM FAOs in town for the JFSSPP will be on 22 and 23 February (22 for LATAM only, and 23 for all interested).  Details will be out soon.

6. Brown Bag Lunch: Monday, 7 March at 1200 in GL-109 with Anisa Medhi, Fulbright Scholar and an Emmy award-winning journalist and filmmaker specializing in religion and the arts. http://www.anisamehdi.com

7. The next FAOOC is scheduled for 16-18 Feb upstairs of the Weckerling Center.
ALL Army FAOs currently assigned to the Presidio are REQUIRED to attend the
first day.  Only FAOs who have not attended a previous FAOOC are required to
attend the following two days.  Duty uniform is ACU.  Days run long, usually
0800 – 1700.  There is a conference charge of $10.00 to all who attend.  Fee
defrays the cost of daily layout, Wednesday evening reception and Friday
luncheon.  Reception is Wednesday evening, 1800 – 2000, is informal (open
collar), and includes an open bar.  Wives/Husbands are welcome and invited
to attend as much as they choose.  The $10 covers everything, for both
officer and spouse.  Friday afternoon is devoted to family issues.  Regions
will break out to separate rooms and question/answer discussion will be lead
by senior officer who has served in the region. RSVP and questions to richard.higdem@us.army.mil

Sincerely,
LT Andrew O’Connor, USN
Chairman, FAOAM

Quarterly Dinner, Brown Bag Lunches, and more…

FAO Associaton of Monterey,

Thank you to everyone who came and joined us at the social.  Several great events are lined up for the near future.  We hope you can join us.

1. Our Quarterly Dinner will celebrate EUCOM on Thursday, 3 February.  See below for details.  Please RSVP by 31 Jan.

2. Brown Bag Lunches: Tuesday, 1 Feb at 1200 in GL-109.  Thomas Parks of the Asia Foundation will speak on Thailand. http://asiafoundation.org/about/profile/thomas-parks
Another brown bag lunch will be on Monday, 7 March with Anisa Medhi, Fulbright Scholar and an Emmy award-winning journalist and filmmaker specializing in religion and the arts. http://www.anisamehdi.com

3. FAOAM Social: 10 Feb at 1530 in the Trident Room.  Come meet your fellow international affairs specialists.

4. The Foreign Area Officer-Cultural Ambassadors Program (FAO-CAP) matches members of the FAO Association of Monterey with international students attending the Defense Resource Management Institute (DRMI) International Defense Management Course (IDMC) that will run from 11 February to 20 April 2011. All volunteers will need to attend an introductory meeting on 2 Feb at 1200-1250 in GL-109 (NPS campus.) See the email from Maj Hector Lopez.  If you have any questions or would like to know more, please contact him at hglopez@nps.edu.

5. FAO-C: Foreign Area Officer Conference at NPS on 7-8 Apr.  Planning is in full swing.  Contact LCDR Jason Neal at  janeal@nps.edu if you have questions.

6. Africa Films Project: Film reviews are requested by 4 Feb.  If you are interested in reviewing a film to recommend it for screening at a conference on Africa issues in June, contact LCDR Jason Neal at  janeal@nps.edu.

7. FAOAM Board: We are always looking for more help in coordinating events for the FAOAM.  If you would be interested in participating, please just let us know.  At the moment we are looking for someone to administer our presence on the internet.  Basic web browsing skill is all that is necessary; if you can use webmail, you can do this. Also, most of the board will finish at NPS in March.  Elections for the next board will be 24 Feb, so please consider if you’d like to lead the FAOAM. Nominations will be requested by 10 Feb. Contact any of the board members if you have any questions.

8. The FAOAM will sponsor several opportunities for students to engage with senior FAOs in the near future.  Follow our emails for details as they come.

Sincerely,
Your FAOAM Board

Check out FAOAM.org for all event information.

Details for the Quarterly Dinner

When:  Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 1830

Where:  Stammtisch German Restaurant, 1204 Echo Avenue, Seaside CA 93955,  (831) 899-3070

Guest Speaker: Dr. Scott Siegel, NSA Department
http://www.nps.edu/Academics/SIGS/NSA/faculty/siegel.html

Price: $22, this includes tax and gratuity

RSVP by 31 Jan at this link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dE5VUWtnN19zOXpMUVFBTm9lbDlEcFE6MQ#gid=0

Menu:
Choice of:
Entrée 1 – Jaegerschnitzel – Breaded pork steak served with house made mushroom gravy served with home fried potatoes and salad garnish.
Entrée 2 – Roast pork – Old fashioned roast pork served with homemade dumpling and sauerkraut or red cabbage, served with home fried potatoes and salad garnish.
Entrée 3 – Chicken breast – Breaded chicken breast fried in butter to a crispy golden brown served with home fried potatoes and salad garnish.
Entrée 4 – Vegetarian Plate – Meatless plate that includes homemade mushroom gravy served over spaetzle (egg noodles) and dumplings, home fried potatoes, red cabbage and sauerkraut.

Parking:  Plenty of parking in the vicinity of the restaurant

Thank you to Christina Ortega for coordinating another great event!