Embassy Hanoi and Consulate General Ho Chi Minh - OIG - US ...

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
material, his somewhat intrusive oversight of mid-level managers, and his tendency
to be his own DCM. The latter needs to be empowered to manage more effectively,
perhaps with areas fenced off for his, rather than the Ambassador’s,
decisionmaking. Too much goes to the Ambassador. An informal recommendation
calls for the review of front office operations. The projected services of an eligible
family member (EFM) to backup the two current front office OMSes, who are
working too much overtime, would also bring badly needed relief and, perhaps,
skills. Computer training should be provided to front office OMSes, if not all
OMSes, to enhance their productivity. This was also recommended informally.
Security
Vietnam is a reasonably safe place for Americans. Traffic accidents, rather than
crime, are the primary safety concern. Service in a communist country entails its
own requirements, however, and the embassy is attentive to good internal security
practices. Post management has actively supported the regional security officer and
finally secured assignment of an assistant regional security officer and OMS to
what has been an overburdened office. A separate, classified report addresses
security issues in greater depth.
REVAMPING THE MISSION PERFORMANCE PLAN
Soon after his arrival, the Ambassador engaged his mission in a five-year review
of staffing, followed by a mission-wide debate on what the principal MPP goals
should be. As a result of this debate, he reversed some of his own initial ideas
about the priorities and accepted countervailing opinions. For example, Consulate
General Ho Chi Minh City suggested raising the priority of economic development
and, separately, trade and investment. Both goals received subsequent prominence
in the final MPP. As a further result, the earlier goal of regional stability, in which
the United States could not realistically expect Vietnam to play a significant interactive
role as friend and ally, dropped back considerably and was subsumed under
mutual understanding. The Ambassador assigned the various agencies and sections
to write summaries justifying the seven goals, in some cases assigning the same goal
to more than one office and taking the best out of each paper in consultation. The
thorough revision might have been facilitated by an even more freewheeling discussion
among participants and less layered memoranda production.
The MPP lays out policy priorities very clearly and will undoubtedly serve as a
tool for the Ambassador to measure post performance. Some agency heads ques­
OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-28A, Inspection of Embassy Hanoi and CG Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, September 2005
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
7 .