About the author
Charles Ray served 30 years in the Foreign Service (from 1982 to 2012), after completing a 20-year career in the U.S. Army. His first Foreign Service assignment was as a consular officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. He then served as the sole consular officer at the newly-opened consulate general in Shenyang, China, where he achieved tenure and was reassigned to the Consulate General in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as the administrative officer and acting deputy principal officer. After three consecutive overseas tours, he returned to Washington where he served as the Special Assistant to the Director of PM Bureau's Office of Defense Trade Controls. After Washington, he went to Freetown, Sierra Leone as Deputy Chief of Mission. In 1998, he became the first American consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with consular responsibility for Vietnam from Hue to Phu Quoc Island. In 2002, he became ambassador to Cambodia, serving for three years. During the 2005-2006 academic year he served as diplomat-in-residence at the University of Houston. After leaving that job, he was appointed deputy assistant secretary of defense for Prisoners of War/Missing Personnel Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, responsible for the recovery, repatriation and identification of personnel missing from World War II to current conflicts. His final assignment before retiring from the Foreign Service was as ambassador to Zimbabwe, from 2009 to 2012. He holds a B.S. in business administration from Benedictine College, Atchison, KS; an M.S. in systems management from the University of Southern California; and an M.S. in national security management from the National War College. Ray is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (resident/non-resident program), the Army War College's Land Forces Commander Course, and the Defense Intelligence School's Postgraduate Intelligence Course. His military awards include two Bronze Stars, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal among others. He received a Superior Honor and a Meritorious Honor Award from the Department of State, and the Distinguished Civilian Service Award from the Department of Defense. A native of Texas, Ray now leaves in suburban Maryland, just outside Washington, DC, with his wife, Myu
