Bob Stephan began serving as Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection inApril 2005. He is a distinguished graduate of the US Air Force Academy and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is an Olmsted Scholar and has earned master’s degrees in international relations from the University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and The Johns Hopkins University.

 

Stephan served 24 years in the Air Force, rising to the rank of colonel. During his Air Force career, he held a variety of operational and command positions in joint special operations. Stephan deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm as a joint battlestaff planner and mission commander supporting Joint Special Operations Task Force strategic interdiction operations in Iraq. As a commander of two Air Force Special Tactics Squadrons, Stephan organized, trained and equipped forces for contingency operations in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Liberia, Colombia and Kosovo.

 

After leaving the Air Force, Stephan served as Senior Director for Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Executive Office of the President (EOP). His duties included developing and coordinating interagency policy and strategic initiatives to protect the US against terrorist attack across 13 critical infrastructure sectors.

 

Stephan served as special assistant to the Secretary for Homeland Security and director of the secretary’s Headquarters Operational Integration Staff. In this capacity, he was responsible for wide range of activities that included headquarters-level planning in the areas of strategic and operational planning, core mission integration, domestic incident management, training and exercises. He also directed the Interagency Incident Management Group, integrating DHS and interagency capabilities in response to domestic threats and incidents.