All Department positions in Iraq (with the exception of the Ambassador and the DCM) are 1-year tours of duty and are unaccompanied. The Department has not permitted family members, with the exception of those spouses who qualified for approved eligible family member (EFM) jobs at the Embassy. Shared housing is cramped and privacy minimal. Recreational opportunities are limited. The work tempo is intense; in part because the embassy is in a war zone.
Source: GAO Report, US Embassy Iraq, 2009
