According to Wikipedia, A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As Diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions, though some receive assignments to combatant command, Congress, and educational institutions such as the various U.S. War Colleges.
FSOs of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Broadcasting Board of Governors are selected through processes specific to the hiring agency, and follow career tracks separate from those of State Department FSOs. For example, within USAID, there are multiple technical "backstops" including:
Agriculture
Contracting
Crisis Stabilization and Governance
Economic Growth
Engineering
Environment
Executive
Financial Management
Legal
Population, Health and Nutrition
Private Enterprise
Program/Project Development
Most leadership roles at U.S. embassies are filled from the ranks of career FSOs. Normally, about two-thirds of U.S. Ambassadors are career Foreign Service Officers primarily drawn from the Department of State, although all five foreign affairs agencies have produced Ambassadors from time to time. Almost all of the remaining third are political appointees, though a handful of State Department Senior Executive Service personnel have received Ambassadorships. FSOs also fill critical management and foreign policy positions at the headquarters of foreign affairs agencies in Washington, D.C.
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