Hmmm.. Now we're talking.

Dudemon had provided some short answers here.

I has a friend who took foreign language classes for months as part of the lengthy foreign service officer training. Don't know if diplomatic couriers have the same language requirement though.

You guys probably should read the other thread for more "disclosure": http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...job-world.html

guess you are not a frequent visitor to the Mileage Run Forum; lots of people doing exactly that...so getting paid to fly & in C, well that's a dream come true!

I'm sure I have read somewhere that if you are on USA Government duty you don't get to keep miles or points.
I could be wrong so it would be interesting to know from someone who knows for definite.

Used to be that way, then a few years back the policy changed. Search around the forums for more details.

edited to reflect closed application status

Now we can sleep well!

:-:

The pay is pretty bad.

I have a good friend who is US diplomatic courier and as Dudemon implies, it sounds exotic but is really not a bed of roses, even if you did get great pay--which you won't. You often do lots of fast-turnarounds, but sometimes extended trips hopping around to a few places before returning to home base. Often the courier doesn't see much more than the cargo/tarmac side of the airport, then out again. Some places you have to travel are darn unsavory, others flatly unsafe where you're not even allowed to stay overnight.

My friend tells me that due to amount of flying they have to do and resultant elite status, he usually gets upgraded to business class though the base ticket is a negotiated-fare economy one NOT biz class. Seems to be pretty common for intra-Asia couriering. This might depend on where one is based though, and what airlines the gov't is working with out of that location. You do get to keep your miles, but frankly, if you want to earn/keep miles and do it somewhat more on your own terms, get a frequent flying job with a regular company or be a consultant instead, not with the US govt doing something like this.

Not sure how "open" to the public this job announcement really is. I was under the impression most of these jobs go to insiders who have already done some form of US government service. Diplomatic couriers usually aren't part of the regular Foreign Service track and don't have to go through quite the same rigorous winnowing process or language requirements.

PS: Seoul is a "minihub" which can get small mail-bag type shipments into PEK by courier (not regular embassy personnel). Big shipments in volume or size go into PEK by a different method/route. But the main Asian hub for US diplomatic couriers is in Bangkok.

The items in red below are either not wholly accurate or otherwise not correct.

QUOTE
Not sure how "open" to the public this job announcement really is. I was under the impression most of these jobs go to insiders who have already done some form of US government service. Diplomatic couriers usually aren't part of the regular Foreign Service track and don't have to go through quite the same rigorous winnowing process or language requirements.

Dudemon-

I am looking into the [conforming edited to thread title] Courier position and I have some questions for you, if you don't mind.

1. Do you travel alone, in a pair, with a team? I can't imagine myself (a woman) traveling through the middle east alone and expecting to get anything accomplished. Or escorting hundred or thousand pounds alone...??

2. How far in advance do you plan out your schedule? Or is it a last minute call?

Thank you so much for posting on this board... it is incredibly difficult to find info the actual lifestyle of a DP.

middle east is not some scary otherworldly planet. airports are the same (or better!) than in US and car services/taxi take single women where they need to go without raping them. in reality, you will mostly be interacting with other americans (Embassy personnel). You won't be going undercover and living with the Taliban.

I am not concerned about the rape and/or safety. What I am concerned with is the role of women in many Middle Eastern societies. I think that a male dominated society would give an American woman traveling alone more grief.

I think that cultural aspects and possible implications due to the particular culture of certain regions is something to consider with regards to the DP position.

for this job, it's completely irrelevant. you are not trying to run a local company and command over 100's of local men. you will be interacting almost exclusively with other Americans. The only interaction with locals will be with the service sector (airport personnel, taxis, food, hotels, etc) and people doing those jobs are trained and deal with foreigners same or better (female or not) than in the US. Actually, most of them are not locals either, but foreigners themselves from other countries. So, you would have to try really hard to actually see a local, much less have any concern about interaction. You may have to change your dress a bit, but that's easy.
and at the odd chance you will come in contact with a local man, many of them have different expectations of foreign women vs local women and wouldn't expect you to behave like his wife or sister.

Frankly, as a solo female traveler (on business or pleasure) i have harder time in the Caribbean than in Middle East due to the hassle factor from the men, lack of service and just general bad attitude in many places (or unwillingness to cooperate/do work). In Middle East, Ive' been always respectfully treated, with good service and willingness to communicate to resolve issues. to be clear, my experience involves gulf countries, levant (jordan, etc) and north africa (egypt, morroco, etc). Afganistan, Iraq and other war zones are obviously on a different level of difficulty. but at that point, i doubt being man or woman makes your life significantly easier or harder..