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15 August 2005

FBI Announces Top Officials for New National Security Branch

Unit to oversee FBI counterterrorism, counterintelligence, intelligence

Washington -- The FBI has announced the appointment of the top two officials for its new National Security Branch (NSB). 

Longtime FBI official Gary Bald will be the National Security Branch chief, and Philip Mudd of the CIA will become Bald's deputy.

The appointments come as the investigative agency restructures itself based on the recommendations of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, and President Bush's June 28 directive that the FBI strengthen its anti-terrorism capabilities.

Bald currently serves as executive assistant director for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence in the FBI.  Mudd is deputy director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center.

The appointments represent the consolidation of the position of executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence with that for intelligence into a single executive assistant director for national security.  In their new positions, Bald and Mudd will be responsible for the FBI's national-security mission, including the continued development of a specialized national-security workforce.  Bald will be the lead FBI official responsible for integrating the FBI's national-security mission with the director of national intelligence (DNI) and the intelligence community.

"The National Security Branch is the next step in the evolution of the FBI's intelligence capabilities," FBI Director Robert Mueller said in the August 12 announcement.  "As head of the NSB, Mr. Bald will work to further the integration of our intelligence collection and analysis capabilities, and will direct our national security resources in accordance with the leadership of the DNI."

Mueller said Bald "brings to this new position a wide range of operational and leadership experience, which he has demonstrated over nearly 28 years of service with the FBI," while Mudd has "extensive expertise in both intelligence operations and intelligence analysis, as well as in-depth knowledge of international terrorism and the Middle East."

In Mueller's view, the two new appointees are "uniquely qualified to implement the Bureau's intelligence strategy in a manner that meets the requirements of both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence, and maintains the FBI's commitment to protecting civil liberties."

The announcement is available on the FBI Web site.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)