Board of Governors

President Emeritus
COL Michael Ferguson - Africa FAO - USA (Ret)

Twenty five years as an Army African FAO 48 (1976-2009) capped Colonel Mike Ferguson's 40 year career. COL Ferguson has been an enlisted Medical Platoon Sergeant (Viet Nam and Korea) an Infantry Officer (Germany and Turkey) and has extensive executive and hands-on experience in intelligence collection, operations, planning, and training. He is a recognized expert on African affairs, with broad inter-agency experience as a African analyst, including five tours in Africa as a Defense Attaché (Ethiopia, South Africa, Tunisia and Cameroon). Mike also served two years as the first Chief of HUMINT Training and Professional Development as well as the Dean of the Defense Attaché School with additional responsibility for the STC program and the Defense Debriefing School. Mike has a Bachelor of Science in History from the University of the State of New York, a Master of Arts in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a Darden Executive Program Certificate from the University of Virginia. He has published on Africa and lectured at a number of Colleges and Universities in the US and abroad. He is a member of the US Defense Attaché Hall of Fame, the Infantry OCS Hall of Fame and is a member of the Board of Directors, National Military Intelligence Association. COL Ferguson is a life member of the FAO Association and was a charter member of the Board of Governors and served as the second President of the Association. He is currently a Senior Vice President for Operations at HSA, Inc (a Six/3 Systems Company (formerly Harding Security Associates) in McLean VA.

President
COL Gary Espinas - Eurasia FAO - USA

COL Gary Espinas is an Eurasian FAO (48E) currently assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he serves as the Country Director for Ukraine and Belarus. Previous assignments include the Department of State; Department of the Army Staff; U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russia; and Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Germany. COL Espinas was commissioned in the Field Artillery in 1987. He has a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from Harvard University, and an MSS from the U.S. Army War College.

Vice President
Col Kurt Marisa - Europe FAO - USAF

Col Kurt M. Marisa currently serves as the HUMINT Division Chief under the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. Col Marisa is a career intelligence officer who has been an Air Force FAO and Regional Affairs Strategist (RAS--Europe) since 1998. He has served as Attaché to Saudi Arabia, Suriname, and Denmark. He has also had assignments in Germany and Korea and deployments to Saudi Arabia and South America. Col Marisa has an MS in International Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands and an MS in Strategic Intelligence from the NDIC (formerly JMIC). He is a graduate of the Joint Forces Staff College and Air Command and Staff College and Air War College (distance learning), from which he wrote and published his paper on the integration of Attaché and Security Assistance programs, contributing at the SECDEF level to the current OSD Senior Defense Officer (SDO) initiative.

Senior Editor
Coyt Hargus - Middle East FAO - USA (Ret)

Coyt’s government service began as an enlisted Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Specialist. Later, he attended Arkansas Tech University, studied Mathematics and Civil Engineering, and enrolled in Army ROTC. After graduation, he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and deployed around South and Central America, to the US military operations in Panama, and served in Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM. Coyt earned an assignment in Panama within the 508th Parachute Infantry Battalion and commanded within that battalion. He later evolved in to the Special Operations and was chosen to command a Special Forces unit under SOCSOUTH, also based in Panama. Coyt then transitioned to be a Middle East FAO. After attending the Defense Language Institute (Arabic), the FAO course, Jordanian Advanced Tactics Course and obtaining an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas, he was assigned to the Defense Attaché Office in Jordan. Coyt returned from Jordan to an assignment within the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and later to US Central Command as a Politico-Military Analyst working the Arabian Peninsula, serving as Adjunct Faculty at the Regional Joint Intelligence Training Facility, JSOU/AFSOS and others. With the attacks on 11 Sep, Coyt was detailed as the first Executive Officer of CENTCOM’s Coalition Coordination Center (CCC) and later formed the Joint Coalition Special Operations Forces (C-SOF) team to analyze, recruit, train, equip and deploy C-SOF into combat in support of the US led GWOT.  After retiring in 2005, Coyt continued to serve as an Intelligence Analyst in EUCOM’s Joint Analysis Center (working north-east Africa), Africa Branch supervisor in NATO’s Intelligence Fusion Center and taught in a variety Intelligence Center courses including the Middle East, Africa, Terrorism, Islam and Radicalism. He has also worked for Homeland Security as the Intelligence Group Supervisor. Since April 2008, Coyt has been assigned as the Deputy Political Advisor to ACC.

Associate Editors
COL John Haseman - Southeast Asia FAO - USA (Ret)

John Haseman entered the Army FAO program shortly after it was established. From 1974 through his retirement in January 1995 he “single tracked” as a FAO, with assignments on the Department of the Army Staff in the Pentagon, professional service schools and language training (Indonesian, Thai, Burmese), security assistance, and the Defense Attaché System (DAS). His relevant FAO assignments included (among others): three tours at the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia; the US Embassy in Rangoon, Burma; the US Army Udorn Field Office in Bangkok, Thailand; and Senior and Analyst for Southeast Asia, Army HQ in DC. He is a widely published writer as the published author and co-author of four books and numerous book chapters dealing with Thailand and Indonesia. More than 250 of his news and analytical articles on Southeast Asia political-military subjects have been published in such journals as Vietnam Magazine, Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, Defence Review Asia,Asian Survey, Asian Affairs, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Far Eastern Economic Review, and Joint Defense Quarterly. He is the author of the “National Security” chapter for the Library of Congress “white books” Indonesia: A Country Study and Thailand: A Country Study, and is the long-time author of the Indonesia and East Timor military and security sections for the Jane’s Information Group Sentinel Country Risk Assessments.

MAJ Vincent Martinelli - Europe FAO - USA

Vincent Martinelli was born in Baltimore, MD, and grew up in Sudbury, MA. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and was commissioned in the Infantry Branch. He transferred to Special Forces as a Captain and Held two Detachment commands, one in Afghanistan from 2002-2003. Once assessed as a 48C Foreign Area Officer, Martinelli completed in-country training (ICT) in France and later served as the Executive Officer for the Office of Defense Cooperation, Turkey from 2007-2009. He is currently enrolled at Boston University in the Master’s in International Relations program.

CAPT Ivan Raiklin - Eurasia FAO - ARNG

A member of the US Army National Guard, Capt Raiklin speaks Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish with a moderate understanding of Portuguese (2,2) and Ukrainian. Currently, he is completing the Special Forces Course at the US Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, NC. CAPT Raiklin's military career includes a tour at the Defense Attaché Office, US Embassy, Tbilisi, Georgia in 2007 as the Assistant Army Attaché. Prior to this, he worked at the National Guard Bureau (NGB) as the Intelligence Community (IC) Liaison to support national intelligence requirements. Also, he was the Operations Security Program Manager at NGB and established operating procedures; conducted training on the protection of critical but unclassified information protected by the FOIA and Privacy Act; assisted in legal analysis of the protection and destruction of sensitive information; and managed the Intel and Security Branch website. He has deployed with 7th & 20th Special Forces Groups to Kabul, Afghanistan serving as an AOB Operations & Plans/Executive Officer/NATO LNO, planning and conducting Special Operations for SOCOM in RC East. Prior to joining the Special Forces regiment, CAPT Raiklin was an intelligence officer in the HUMINT/CI fields and attended the MSSI program at the JMIC. In the civilian world, CAPT Raiklin works as an attorney.

Treasurer
COL Stephen Wilkins - Latin America FAO - USA (Ret)

COL Wilkins is a former Latin American FAO and military police officer. He served in Panama and Honduras where he used his Spanish to train and work with host-nation police forces. As Executive Officer for the Inter-American Defense College and Board, he traveled and worked with military and government officials across the Americas and Caribbean; and with the offices of the Organization of American States. While on tour at the White House Drug Policy Office, COL Wilkins conducted high-level, bi-lateral meetings with Mexican counterparts. He is one of a handful of officers to serve as an exchange-instructor to the Brazilian Jungle Warfare School in the Amazon. He speaks fluent Spanish with minor proficiencies in Portuguese and French. He holds degrees from the US Military Academy, War College and Harvard University. Colonel Wilkins is currently working as Chief of Human Resources for the Alexandria School District where he seeks to increase student interest and learning in world affairs. He lives in Burke, VA.