Who Is Maury Gralnek?

Maurice L. Gralnek, known to everyone as Maury, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1936. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1958 and served with the U.S. Army in Korea before joining the Department of Labor.  

picture of Maury Gralnek

Maury joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1962. During a 35-year career, he witnessed world events first hand, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of American hostages from Lebanon. Mr. Gralnek served overseas in Barbados, Buenos Aires, Saigon, Vientiane, Honolulu, Singapore, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Cairo and Jakarta before retiring in 1997.

Maury had two major phases regarding his career. He first worked for political military affairs where he served in Korea 1960-61 as military intelligence collector. Thereafter, Maury was attached to the Civil Operations in Revolutionary Development Support Directorate (CORDS) of the Agency for International Development. Maury was one of 12 Foreign Service Officers assigned to the Phoenix Program where he performed liaison and advisory activities with South Vietnamese intelligence and police officials to develop and implement programs.

Maury served as State Department liaison officer at the National Military Command Center. In this capacity, he advised senior military officers on political aspects of ongoing military interests and briefed the Joint Chiefs as requested.

Not long after, Maury, was assigned as the aide to the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the first Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT) where he provided administrative support to senior agency management during the negotiations.

Maury later transferred to the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane, Laos and served as the aide to the Ambassador and as a political military officer. He acted as the primary Embassy liaison with U.S. military component in Laos and nearby military elements in Thailand.

His last military liaison appointment was as the Deputy Political Advisor to the Commander, Pacific Command (PACOM). In this post, Maury passed on State Department observations, comments, and analysis on political aspects for military planning and operations. He was also in charge of supporting the Commander/Deputy Commander on travel to embassies and military units in the area of responsibility.

Maury eventually took on management responsibilities. He first provided administrative support and backstopping to U.S. Embassies in Southeast Asia, including budget, personnel, and general administrative affairs.

Maury served as Senior Management Officer at U.S. Embassies in Singapore, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Cairo, and Jakarta. He was charged with the full range of management responsibilities – budget, personnel, real estate, communications and also provided direct support for White House and Secretary of State travels.

Maury then served as the Deputy Executive Director for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, which included budget and programming responsibilities.

Mr. Gralnek moved to Scottsdale in 2009, and was actively involved in the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO AZ), Wise Guise, and the Phoenix Council on Foreign Relations. He served twice as President of AFIO and on its scholarship committee for eight years, Maury’s hobbies included cooking, running, reading, listening to classical music and opera, urban hiking, art, pilates and movies.

Maurice “Maury” Gralnek passed away in Scottsdale, Arizona in February, 2019.