Former Deputy Chief of Mission

Mr. Boardman is a career Foreign Service Officer of the class of Minister Counselor. His last post was as Political Advisor to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. In this capacity he advised the Commandant and other senior officers on foreign affairs and international security issues, ensuring that Marine Corps policy decisions and actions were consistent with U.S. foreign policy.

Mr. Boardman has served as Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba. He was Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Bamako, Mali and Deputy Political Minister-Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the UN. Mr. Boardman was Political Counselor in Managua, Nicaragua during the period leading up to the 1990 elections. He was responsible for reporting on Indochina from Bangkok, Thailand in the mid-1980s. Earlier in his career, he served as political officer in Vientiane, Laos and Seoul, Korea and as consular officer in Lahore, Pakistan. In the Department, he has worked in the office of Korean Affairs and the Office of Thai Affairs.

Mr. Boardman was on active duty as a Marine Corps officer from 1964 to 1970. He served with Marine Attach Squadron (VMA) 211 at Iwakuni, Japan and Chu Lai, Vietnam, with the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group, Bangkok, Thailand, and at posts on both coasts of the United States.

Mr. Boardman is a native of Akron, Ohio and a graduate of Yale University (BA 1964), the University of Michigan (MA 1981) and the National War College (1987). He has studied Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish and French. Mr. Boardman has received the Presidential Meritorious Service Award and five superior honor awards.