In 1998,Boswell became Director of Administration for the Pan American Health Organization,a specialized agency of the United Nations,serving there until 2005. In 2004 he served a senior advisor at UN Offices in New York.
On December 19,2012,three State Department officials were reported to have resigned under pressure less than a day after a report blamed management failures for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi,Libya. The Benghazi mission was attacked by militants on September 11,2012,and the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died in the attack. On December 19,2012,an anonymous Obama administration official said Boswell;Charlene Lamb,the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security;and Raymond Maxwell,the deputy assistant secretary of state who oversaw the Maghreb nations of Libya,Algeria,Tunisia and Morocco in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs;had stepped down. The report said poor leadership in both bureaus left the post underprotected.[2] Later reports said four individuals were affected but only Boswell had resigned. The other three were "placed on administrative leave and relieved of their duties" and not officially named.[3]
The report by the independent Accountability Review Board[broken anchor] found "systemic failures of leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus". The Benghazi post "lacked disciplined oversight of its security operations. [Its] ... ad hoc nature,with inexperienced staff members working there for short periods,'resulted in diminished institutional knowledge,continuity,and mission capacity'".[4] ARB co-chair Thomas Pickering said "the personnel on the ground in Benghazi had reacted to the attack with bravery and professionalism [but] ... the security precautions were 'grossly inadequate' and the contingent was overwhelmed by the heavily armed militants". In a letter that accompanied the transmission of the report to Capitol Hill,Secretary of StateHillary Clinton "thanked the board for its 'clear-eyed,serious look at serious systemic challenges' and said she accepted its 29 recommendations to improve security at high-threat embassies and consulates".[2]
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