Welcome to chuckomalley.net.
I joined the Department of State as an Information Management Specialist in July 1994, and served in Burundi, Singapore, India, Barbados, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom. In 2009, I crossed into the Information Technology Management ranks(1,2) and have served in Washington, D.C., Israel, and Turkey
After 25+ years in this job and another 10 in the U.S. Navy, I have learned a lot about management and leadership in the IT field. This site is an extension of my knowledge that I want to use to pass on to those IT professionals who want to better develop the soft skills necessary to be better managers and leaders.
I hope you find the articles I post on this site both informative and useful. Please feel free to comment on any article. I welcome the feedback – Positive or Constructive – in the hopes that, through mentorship, we can all become better leaders together.
Note 1 – The U.S. Foreign Service (FS) is, much like the military, and up-or-out system. You must be promoted throughout your career or be forced to leave if you have not been promoted in the FS ranks for reaching theTime in Class (TIC) limit (14 years per pay grade) or if you have not crossed the Senior Foreign Service threshold by the time they reach the Time in Service limit ((TIS) – 27 years for Generalist officers, 30 years for Specialist officers).
Note 2 – In the Foreign Service there are three primary skill groups for the IT field: 1) Information Management Specialist (IMS, skill code 2880), 2) Information Management Technical Specialist (IMTS, skill code 2882), and 3) Information Technology Manager (ITM, skill code 2884). Both IMS and IMTS start at the FS-05 pay grade and work their way up the Foreign Service pay grade ladder. When they reach the rank of FS-02, their skill group is changed to ITM. All ITMs must either open their window to the Senior Foreign Service and be promoted across the Senior Threshold before they reach TIS or elect to remain at the FS-01 level until reaching TIS; however, most FS-01s are vested (have the minimum required 20 years of service in the FS) by the time they reach TIS and are eligible to retire.