Brad Freden is the Interim Permanent Representative of the United States to the Organization of American States located in Washington, DC. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as Director of the Office of Eastern European Affairs (2018-2020) and Director of the Office of Caribbean Affairs (2016-2018). Overseas assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he was Chargé d’Affaires ad interim for 18 months; and DCM in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he was Chargé for nearly two years. He also served as Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs in Sofia, Bulgaria; Political-Military Affairs Officer in Prague, Czech Republic; Political Officer in Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Vice Consul in Merida, Mexico.In Washington, Mr. Freden served previously in the State Department Operations Center as a Watch Officer and Senior Watch Officer; and in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, where he worked on post-Cold War NATO enlargement. He was the State Department Faculty Advisor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he taught a core course for field-grade officers on the relationship between strategy and policy. Mr. Freden received his commission as a Foreign Service Officer in 1990 and was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service in 2012. He has an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a BSFS in International Politics from Georgetown University.Prior to attending college, Mr. Freden served as a paramedic in the U.S. Air Force. After completing Basic Freefall Parachute training at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, he jumped from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet. Mr. Freden was born in Walnut Creek, California. His wife, Piedad, is a bacteriologist by training. They have two teenage children.