Rear Admiral Charles W. Ray
United States Coast Guard

Commander, Fourteenth Coast Guard District

Rear Admiral Ray assumed Command of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District on October 22, 2010.  His previous assignment was the Director of the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission for the Ministry of Interior (ITAM-MOI) for the Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq (MNSTC-I). Prior to reporting to Iraq, he served as the Military Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.  In that position RDML Ray provided counsel and support to the Secretary in affairs relating to the coordination and execution of policy and operations between DHS and DOD.

Rear Admiral Ray is a 1981 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy. After an assignment as a deck watch officer aboard a Coast Guard cutter, he was selected for Naval Flight Training and earned his wings in 1983. Rear Admiral Ray has served in Department Head and Command positions while conducting Search and Rescue, Drug Interdiction, Fisheries Enforcement, Immigration Enforcement and Defense operations across the Caribbean, Atlantic, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Pacific areas of operations. During the course of his career he has accumulated over 5,000 hours of flight time.

Rear Admiral Ray’s staff assignments include service as the Chief of Staff of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, Chief of the Office of Performance Management and as the Project Officer for the development of the Coast Guard’s Aviation Logistics Management System.  Rear Admiral Ray earned a Master’s of Science Degree in Industrial Administration from Purdue University and a Master’s of Science Degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C.