USAID missions are led by Mission Directors and are staffed both by USAID Foreign Service Officers and by development professionals from the country itself , with the host-country professionals forming the majority of the staff . The length of a Foreign Service Officer 's " tour " in most countries is four years , to provide enough time to develop in-depth knowledge about the country . ( Shorter tours of one or two years are usual in countries of exceptional hardship or danger . ) The Mission Director is a member of the U.S. Embassy 's " Country Team " under the direction of the U.S. Ambassador . As a USAID mission works in an unclassified environment with relative frequent public interaction , most missions were initially located in independent offices in the business districts of capital cities . However , since the passage of the Foreign Affairs Agencies Consolidation Act in 1998 and the bombings of U.S. Embassy chanceries in east Africa in the same year , missions have gradually been moved into U.S. Embassy chancery compounds
bombings of U.S. Embassy chanceries
1998 United States embassy bombings
United States Agency for International Development