To support and defend the Constitution

Last Friday was the last day of A-100 and our swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony was held in the main auditorium at State Department headquarters, and it was even shorter than Flag Day. But this time there were a lot more guests filling in the seats behind us - families with several children, friends in the city, and State Dept. colleagues who strolled over from their offices to watch.

After a speech by the Under Secretary of State for Management, 91 of us stood up one by one as our names and posts were called. We raised our right hands and swore the same oath that Thomas Jefferson swore when he became Secretary of State:

I do solemnly swear

That I will support and defend

The Constitution of the United States

Against all enemies foreign and domestic,

That I will bear true faith

and allegiance to the same,

That I take this obligation freely,

Without any mental reservation 

or purpose of evasion,

and that I will well and faithfully

Discharge the duties of the Office

on which I am about to enter,

So help me God.

While it's not the same kind of sacrifice that our colleagues in the armed forces are making, I'm proud to be one of 91 new officers going out into the world. It's our job now to do our best by our fellow citizens who entrust us with this privilege. And hopefully along the way, doing one's best will make the world a better place for people of every nation, tribe, people, and language.