CAPT Charley L. Diaz
Acting Director, International Affairs
US Coast Guard
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Captain Diaz is the Deputy, and acting Director, of the U. S. Coast Guard’s International Affairs Directorate. He is a native of Corpus Christi, TX and a 1982 graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy.
Captain Diaz has served on six Coast Guard cutters, including four commands afloat. In 1982, he was a Deck Watch Officer aboard USCGC ACTIVE in New Castle, NH. In 1984, he commanded USCGC PT. MONTROE in Freeport, TX. In 1990, he commanded USCGC PETREL in Key West, FL. In 1997, he was Executive Officer aboard USCGC SPENCER in Boston, MA. In 2002, he commanded USCGC BEAR in Portsmouth, VA where he helped implement the Coast Guard’s air use of force initiative. In 2005, Captain Diaz commanded the 378’ USCGC SHERMAN in Alameda, CA. The cutter sailed to SE Asia for five months with the U. S. Navy CARAT ’06 deployment. His crew was also responsible for the largest drug bust in maritime history, seizing 20 tons of cocaine from the Panamanian motor vessel GATUN in March 2007.
From 1986 to 1990, Captain Diaz served in the Office of Law Enforcement at USCG Headquarters where he was the initial project officer for the Coast Guard’s LEDET program. He also helped assess Panama’s remaining maritime assets in the wake of the 1989 U.S. invasion and briefed author Tom Clancy on drug smuggling techniques for his book Clear and Present Danger. In 1992 he served as an officer assignment detailer. In 1994 he served as Commandant’s Aide to Admiral Robert Kramek. He organized 90 trips in two years which included visits to the beaches at Normandy for the 50th Anniversary of D-Day, Moscow for talks with the Russian Border Guards, Haiti during the 1994 mass migration, and Cuba after the downing of two “Brothers to the Rescue” planes by Cuban MIG fighters.
In 2001, Captain Diaz served as the first Congressional Fellow to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, J. Dennis Hastert. In the wake of the September 11th attacks, he helped identify the critical link between illegal drug profits and worldwide terrorism. He was also instrumental in pushing legislation to appropriate emergency funding for the war on terror, establish the Coast Guard as an official member of the Intelligence Community, and create the Department of Homeland Security.
Captain Diaz has conducted extensive studies in the areas of homeland security and national defense. He graduated “with distinction” from the U.S. Naval War College in 1993. He graduated with high honors from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, earning a Master’s in Public Administration in 1997. In 2004, he served as a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Captain Diaz is also a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, and has served as an adviser to the President’s Commission on Hispanic Education.
His military awards include four Meritorious Service Medals, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals, and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal.