Quite right. And that 65 p.c. includes those based in the U.S. facilities in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, such as at the passport centers around the country which belong to State's Bureau of Consular Affairs.
For every U.S. diplomat abroad, roughly 2-3 Locally Engaged (LE) staff support them at their embassy or consulate (or consulate general). Everything from drivers to clerks to protocol and political specialists.
The diplomats are of two types: Foreign Service Officers (FSOs or Generalists) and Foreign Service Specialists.
The FSO Generalists themselves break-out into five career tracks (formerly known as "Cones"): Political, Economic, Management (previously called "Administrative"), Consular, and Public Diplomacy.
Consular officers, prior to (IIRC) 1924, were a separate service, the Consular Service, from the Foreign Service.
Public Diplomacy officers were, until the Clinton Administration, FSOs of the United States Information Service (USIS).
Specialists are all the sorts of professionals whom it is worth having your own people abroad to do their work, ranging from Office Management Specialists (OMS, formerly-known-as "FS Secretaries"), diplomatic couriers, medical officers, FS nurses, diplomatic security special agents, human resource specialists, financial officers, general services officers, the list goes on.
For the nitty-gritty details,
see here.
One of the confusing things is how terminology such as individual ranks vs. diplomatic titles vs. consular titles will use the same words to mean different things depending upon context. For instance, a Consul General might be the principal officer (PO) of a Consulate General or the CG might be the head of a consular section in an embassy or consulate.
Rank-wise, from top-to-bottom, there are the Senior Foreign Service (SFS) who are the equivalent of general or flag officers in the military and naval services:
Career Ambassador (CA), equiv. to General or Admiral
Career Minister (CM), equiv. to Lieutenant General or Vice Admiral
Minister-Counselor (MC), equiv. to Major General or Rear Admiral
Officer-Counselor (OC), equiv. to Brigadier General or Commodore
Typically
Mid-Grade FSOs:
Class 1 (FS-01) First Secretary and/or Consul General, equiv. to Colonel or Captain
Class 2 (FS-02) First Secretary and/or Consul, equiv. to Lieutenant Colonel or Commander
Class 3 (FS-03) Second Secretary and/or Consul, equiv. to Major or Lieutenant Commander
FSO Generalists typically reach Class 3 by or during their third assignment, which, if abroad, will be for three years.
Junior Officers (JO) (now known as First-and-Second-Tour or FAST officers):
Class 4 (FS-04) Third Secretary and/or Vice Consul, equiv. to captain or lieutenant senior grade
Class 5 (FS-05) Third Secretary and/or Vice Consul, equiv. to first lieutenant or lieutenant junior grade
Class 6 (FS-06) Third Secretary and/or Vice Consul, equiv. to second lieutenant or ensign
The entering "Class" or rank of a new JO will depend upon factors such as previous higher education and/or experience. In Traveller terms, if an entering JO has a master's degree they would enter as a Class 5, and if a Ph.D. as a Class 4. Similarly, if they held a military or naval rank (or civilian government equivalent), they would enter at the equivalent FS rank. In no cases do they enter above the highest JO rank (Class 4).
Annually, absent any major disciplinary issues, JOs receive an administrative promotion to the next higher Class, topping out at Class 4 until they receive their permanent FS commissions. So even if a JO had entered with a Ph.D. and military or naval rank earning them entry as a Class 4, by the time they are permanently commissioned, their contemporaries who entered at lower Classes will have caught up with them.
JOs serve abroad for two 2-year probationary assignments. They will receive permanent FS commissions after either their third, fourth, or four-and-a-half years of probation. Roughly 30-40 percent are commissioned after three years, roughly another 70 percent (of those remaining) after four years, and another 40 percent (of those remaining) after four-and-a-half years. Those who are not selected for commissioning are subsequently separated from the FS at the completion of their present assignment.
FS Specialists have their own somewhat unique entry grades and I've droned on quite long enough.
Likewise if one were to ascend the steps of the Gurkha staircase in the FCDO office and speak to a member of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service, you'd find a similar ratio of about 2/3rds local nationals comprise the total workforce.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organ...onwealth-development-office/about/recruitment
Perhaps in the Far Future, 100% of the workforce might be your own people. But I suspect, that will be just as inefficient then, as it is now.
