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U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: WHO IS RICHARD MILLS?
Sunday, October 12, 2014
On September 17, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a
hearing on the nomination of Richard M. Mills Jr., a career Foreign
Service officer, to be the next ambassador to Armenia. If confirmed,
it would be the first ambassadorial posting for Mills and a homecoming
of sorts; he was the first State Department desk officer for Armenia
after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Mills is from Texas and attended Georgetown University, earning his
B.S. in Foreign Service in 1981. His next stop was law school at the
University of Texas in Austin, where he earned a J.D. in 1984. Mills
practiced law for a few years as an associate at the Washington law
firms of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs and subsequently Duncan, Allen
and Mitchell until 1987.
His first assignment after joining the Foreign Service came in 1988
as a consular officer and staff aide at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. In
1990, Mills was back in Washington as a desk officer in the Bureau
of Soviet Union Affairs and then was made desk officer for Armenia
and Azerbaijan. He was sent to Russia in 1993 as a political officer
in the St. Petersburg consulate.
Mills returned to the State Department in 1995 as a legislative affairs
officer and the following year was a line director in the Executive
Secretariat in the office of the Secretary of State. He was sent to
Ireland in 1999 as the economic/commercial officer at the embassy in
Dublin until 2001, when he was assigned as political officer at the
U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York.
In 2003, Mills was sent to Pakistan as political officer at the U.S.
Embassy, and in 2005 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as economic officer
and acting economic counselor at that embassy. Next, he was moved to
London as political officer in 2006, but he returned to the Middle
East in 2009 as a senior democracy advisor in Baghdad, Iraq.
Mills went to Malta in 2010 as deputy chief of mission, and for a time
as charge d'affaires, at the embassy in Valetta. While there, he helped
coordinate the evacuation of Americans and other foreign nationals
from Libya during the unrest in that country in 2011. He also helped
dedicate the new U.S. Embassy in Malta. In 2012, Mills went to Beirut
as deputy chief of mission, where he served until his nomination.
One of the challenges Mills must face as ambassador to Armenia is that
2015 will be the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians at the
hands of the Turks. Mills was careful not to use the word "genocide"
in his confirmation statement, but noted that he would work toward an
acknowledgement by Turkey of "a full, frank, and just acknowledgement
of the facts so that both nations can begin to forge a relationship
that is peaceful, productive, and prosperous."
Mills is married to Leigh Carter, a former Foreign Service officer. He
speaks French and Russian.
-Steve Straehley
http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/us-ambassador-to-armenia-who-is-richard-mills-141012?news=854501
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Sunday, October 12, 2014
On September 17, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a
hearing on the nomination of Richard M. Mills Jr., a career Foreign
Service officer, to be the next ambassador to Armenia. If confirmed,
it would be the first ambassadorial posting for Mills and a homecoming
of sorts; he was the first State Department desk officer for Armenia
after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Mills is from Texas and attended Georgetown University, earning his
B.S. in Foreign Service in 1981. His next stop was law school at the
University of Texas in Austin, where he earned a J.D. in 1984. Mills
practiced law for a few years as an associate at the Washington law
firms of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs and subsequently Duncan, Allen
and Mitchell until 1987.
His first assignment after joining the Foreign Service came in 1988
as a consular officer and staff aide at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. In
1990, Mills was back in Washington as a desk officer in the Bureau
of Soviet Union Affairs and then was made desk officer for Armenia
and Azerbaijan. He was sent to Russia in 1993 as a political officer
in the St. Petersburg consulate.
Mills returned to the State Department in 1995 as a legislative affairs
officer and the following year was a line director in the Executive
Secretariat in the office of the Secretary of State. He was sent to
Ireland in 1999 as the economic/commercial officer at the embassy in
Dublin until 2001, when he was assigned as political officer at the
U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York.
In 2003, Mills was sent to Pakistan as political officer at the U.S.
Embassy, and in 2005 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as economic officer
and acting economic counselor at that embassy. Next, he was moved to
London as political officer in 2006, but he returned to the Middle
East in 2009 as a senior democracy advisor in Baghdad, Iraq.
Mills went to Malta in 2010 as deputy chief of mission, and for a time
as charge d'affaires, at the embassy in Valetta. While there, he helped
coordinate the evacuation of Americans and other foreign nationals
from Libya during the unrest in that country in 2011. He also helped
dedicate the new U.S. Embassy in Malta. In 2012, Mills went to Beirut
as deputy chief of mission, where he served until his nomination.
One of the challenges Mills must face as ambassador to Armenia is that
2015 will be the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians at the
hands of the Turks. Mills was careful not to use the word "genocide"
in his confirmation statement, but noted that he would work toward an
acknowledgement by Turkey of "a full, frank, and just acknowledgement
of the facts so that both nations can begin to forge a relationship
that is peaceful, productive, and prosperous."
Mills is married to Leigh Carter, a former Foreign Service officer. He
speaks French and Russian.
-Steve Straehley
http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/us-ambassador-to-armenia-who-is-richard-mills-141012?news=854501
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress