A native New Mexican, Command Sergeant Major Raymond V. Cordell began his Army career 23 years ago as a Combat Infantryman. Entering the Army in 1983 on a five year Airborne Ranger contract, he attended Basic and Infantry Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. As an Infantryman he served first as an Arctic Paratrooper with Charlie Airborne, 5th Battalion in Alaska and then with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His final assignment in combat arms was as one of the original Team Leaders of the Army's first Long Range Surveillance Detachment (LRSD), which at that time was the only all Ranger unit at Fort Bragg.

His first assignment in Public Affairs was as the NCOIC of the 49th Public Affairs Detachment, 18th Airborne Corps. He went on to be a Small Group Leader for the Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course 46Q/R and has served twice as a First Sergeant, first with the Defense Information School (then at Fort Benjamin Harrison) and with the American Forces Network Korea, known then as AFKN.

When our country was attacked on September 11th 2001, Command Sergeant Major Cordell was the Public Affairs Sergeant Major of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Deploying with 5th Group Special Forces, he was one of our county's first Public Affairs Officers in Afghanistan. In January 2002, he orchestrated the first embedding of news media with Special Operations Forces since the Viet Nam war.

His most recent assignment was as the Sergeant Major of the American Forces Network Europe. Presently Command Sergeant Major Cordell is stationed at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland and is the Command Sergeant Major of the Defense Information School. He's joined by his wife DeDe, a GS-13 Public Affairs Officer working for the Army Corps of Engineers.