people
Q
Q: First, tell us about yourself and your background.
A: I was born and raised in Griffith, Indiana, 30 miles
outside of Chicago, with a younger and older brother. I
studied at West Virginia University starting out as a voice
major but switched to political science with the intent of
going to law school. After graduation, I took a year off
to work at a law firm and discovered it was not for me.
After working at a white collar private investigative firm
as office manager for 4 years, I then worked at the First
National Bank of Chicago as a financial analyst dealing
with asset backed securities.
Robin E. Blunt
Director of the State
Department Office of
Foreign Missions
INTERVIEW BY
CHARLES PADGETT
36 iF Magazine | September 2018
The new Director of the Office of For-
eign Missions for the State Department,
Robin E. Blunt, is an experienced and
intelligent individual who finds excite-
ment and meaning in her service. Hav-
ing served around the world in both safe
and dangerous places, she is more than
prepared to face the challenges of her
position. She knows the importance of
her job and does not take it lightly.
My journey with the State Department began when I
saw a flyer that had an article about the Foreign Service. I
was brought up with the idea that one should serve their
country in some capacity and since I did not have the
physique for the military, I chose the Foreign Service. The
process of joining was difficult - when I joined one had
to take a written test then, if you passed the written exam,
you were invited to attend a day-long an oral assessment..
It took me 3 times to pass the orals but this is not unusual
for many people who apply. It was the most stressful thing
I had experienced prior to joining the State Department.
I chose the Management area out of Political, Economic,
Public Diplomacy, and Consular because my background
was in management. The usual wait between passing the
tests and working can be three to six months but I was
called in two weeks. I had to delay joining because my job
at the time required advance notice before leaving.
After a seven week orientation, I received my first as-
signment to London, England where I did consular work
for 2 years. My next assignment was Tirana, Albania but
before going, I learned to speak Albanian, an incredibly
difficult language. Three months into the tour the Am-
bassador passed away and because the chain of command
moved around to fill the void I was made chief of a large
consular section on only my second tour. I then served in
places such as Kosovo as a Political officer covering the
general assembly and Hamburg, Germany where I was
the Management officer. One of my more stressful as-
signments was Kabul, Afghanistan as Deputy Director of
the Provincial Reconstruction Teams. I would often find
myself flying in Black Hawk helicopters over mountain
ranges to consult with our forward operating bases. It’s a
country of extreme climates, you either have arctic winds
or scalding temperatures well over 100 degrees. After such
an interesting and harrowing assignment, I returned to the
United States to be Deputy Director at the National Visa
Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I then did a Hu-
man Resource tour at the State Department’s Florida Re-
gional Center. This took me to Trinidad and Tobago, Su-
riname, Curacao and Venezuela. After having spent some
time in the United States, I was bidding on overseas posi-
tions and was lucky enough to be assigned to a year-long
tour in Juba, South Sudan. Right before I arrived, there
was a outbreak of severe violence causing the embassy to
be on lockdown for the remainder of my stay. We had to
take armoured vehicles everywhere, even to the housing
compound a block down the street. The new country was
very unstable and our help was pivotal in helping develop
their government. I was led to Houston because I wanted
to be close to my father and have always wanted to work
for the Office of Foreign Missions. I was lucky to get the
position after being incredibly persistent, some might say
annoyingly so! This is my first director position and I am
incredibly excited to work closely with the large interna-
tional community here.
Q: What does being the Head of the US Department of
State Office of Foreign Missions mean to you?
A: It is an incredible honor and I could not be more
pleased. Having spent most of my career overseas and
with most of my experience in management, I know how
important it is to have a good working relationship with
the various foreign consulates. Having that relationship
means getting credentials, diplomatic license plates and
driver’s license quickly and smoothly. It’s quality of life
issues that can not be ignored or you will have a bunch of
miserable people on your hands.
Q: What was the most interesting place you have been
posted in the United States or abroad?
A: Each assignment presents its own unique challenges
but I would have to say Juba, South Sudan was the most
interesting. It’s a new country and we saw the challenges
the government was facing trying to create a viable sys-
tem, especially when many areas are plagued with vio-
lence and poverty.
(Continued next page)
iF Magazine | www.iFMagazine.net
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