 He joined the Foreign Service in 1981 and worked in Yaounde, Douala and Niamey from 1981 until 1986.He was a watch officer in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the desk officer for Kenya and Uganda in the Bureau of African Affairs from 1986 until 1990 and headed the Refugee Assistance Unit at Embassy Bangkok from 1991 until 1994.He was Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangui from 1994 until 1995 and was in the Bureau of Consular Affairs until his assignment as Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 1999 until 2003.