Brig. Gen. Raymond Bell Jr., U.S. Army retired, is a military writer based in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. He served more than 30 years in the U.S. Army, the New York Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring from the Reserve in 1989 as commanding general of the 220th Military Police Brigade, Maryland. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York. He holds a doctorate in Eastern European history from New York University.