Ambassador Ravic R. Huso Foreign Policy Advisor to the Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Download Hi-Res Image

As the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Foreign Policy Advisor, Ambassador Ravic R. Huso is a Department of State senior Foreign Service officer assigned to Joint Chiefs of Staff who reports directly to the Vice Chairman.

Huso is responsible for advising the Vice Chairman on a range of political, diplomatic and political-military issues that affect policy and planning initiatives.

Working closely with the Joint Staff, he aids in coordinating the political-military efforts of the command with the Department of Defense, Department of State and other U.S. agencies.  He also provides assistance for visits and engagements with high-level foreign military and government officials.

Huso most recently served as U.S. ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 2007 to 2010.

Huso was the U.S. Pacific Command foreign policy advisor from 2004 to 2007.  Before that, he served as the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, from 2001 to 2004.  He also held positions as an officer in Burkina Faso and Burundi.

The ambassador's other overseas assignments include Malaysia and Niger.  His assignments in Washington, D.C., focused on the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Huso received his undergraduate degree from the College of Idaho and earned a master's degree in International Relations from the University of Virginia. He was selected by the Department of State for senior training and chose to attend the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Penn.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1980, Huso was a Peace Corps volunteer in southern Senegal, where he worked in rural development. He subsequently worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development's Senegal mission.

His awards include the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award and the Order of the White Elephant, conferred by the king of Thailand for his contributions to U.S.-Thailand defense relations. He has also received the Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Medal.

His foreign languages include French, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia and Italian.

(Current as of March 2012)