Home2019 Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission ...Gilchrist, Robert S. – Republic of Lithuania – August 2019 hide Gilchrist, Robert S. – Republic of Lithuania – August 2019 Certificate of Competency August 23, 2019 REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4) POST: Republic of Lithuania CANDIDATE: Robert S. Gilchrist Robert Gilchrist is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, who has served as the Director of the Operations Center of the U.S. Department of State since 2016. He as twice served in leadership roles at U.S. Embassies overseas as Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Sweden and of the U.S. Embassy in Estonia. He led the Office of Nordic and Baltic Affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. He also served as the Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. His distinguished record of leadership, keen understanding of the workings of the Department, and his considerable experience in European affairs makes him an excellent candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gilchrist was the Chief of the Political Section of the U.S. Embassy in Romania, a Pearson Fellow in the Office of Congressman Bill Delahunt in the U.S. House of Representatives and a Special Assistant in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of State in the State Department. Other assignments include as a Desk Officer for Haiti in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs, as a Policy Planning Officer in the Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs’ Office of Policy Planning and Coordination, and as an International Observer, for the Multinational Force and Observers, Sinai, Egypt. He served as well in Venezuela and the United Kingdom. Mr. Gilchrist earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1986 and he received an M.A. degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1990. He is the recipient of numerous State Department awards. He speaks Spanish, French, Estonian and Romanian.
