Applicants submit packages that contain performance reports and resumes. A phone interview helps determine the ability to articulate. Shaw asked rhetorically. When those guys went out with Ambassador Holbrooke they were supporting a team that included reps from the White House, the State Department and the Defense Department. Ambassador Holbrooke was obviously the key but the others would need to be connected simultaneously with people at any given instant.
Somebody has to make that decision.
And they couldn't pull Ambassador Holbrooke aside and ask for a priority list. It's judgment and it's hard to quantify. A lot of it is getting past the training paradigm and getting everyone to realize the scope of their responsibilities. Members also share another duty while the principals travel, taking turns pulling shifts in what is known as the Ground Entry Point at the Pentagon. This link is so important to Perry that he requested an upgrade to the GEP when he became secretary of defense.