“The major factors to consider in any organization are people, money and things,” said Kostelnik, adding that he is impressed with what he has seen in CBP Air and Marine. Of the three, he views people as the most important resource and the determining factor in the effectiveness of an organization. And true to his credo, Kostelnik is quick to add, “People, of course, are led, not managed.”

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

Assistant Commissioner of CBP Air and Marine Michael Kostelnik says he is impressed with what he has seen of the assets he now leads.

Kostelnik grew up around airports and planes, the result of his father also being in the Air Force and working for an airline. He recalls hanging around the airport and talking with pilots and airplane mechanics as a boy. It was a natural progression for him to choose the Air Force during his time at Texas A & M University and after graduating.

After 32 years of active service, Kostelnik retired as an Air Force Major General and did a three-year stint working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Station and Space Shuttle. No stranger to working through tragic times, it was during his tenure at NASA that the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry for its scheduled landing in Florida.

Kostelnik is highly decorated and the recipient of many honors including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership. But the recognition that he cherishes the most is receiving the First Distinguished Alumna award from his high school in Corpus Christi, Texas two years ago.

The Leadership Credo
It was in the Air Force that Kostelnik gained a broad-based background in aviation, working in research and development and later in acquisition and sustainability. While he has a military background, Kostelnik has experience and is comfortable working in civilian and government environments. He believes his broad military experience provided him with an organizational perspective that has served him well. During his time in the Air Force Kostelnik formed his leadership credo that “being a leader is more important than being a manager.”

Over the course of his government service, he has seen unprecedented change. “During the 1980s,” he said, “the emphasis was on capitalization and the challenge was how to best spend the money that was available. Today’s environment is fraught with uncertainty and the ability to adapt and remain flexible is a major challenge.”

Look to the Sky and the Sea
Kostelnik’s goal for CBP Air and Marine is to create a common vision linked to the mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons, drugs and illegal migrants from infiltrating our borders. Building a common culture takes time, but he said he believes that CBP Air and Marine preserves the goals of the pre-merger organizations but simply puts them in a larger global context.

“With a unified vision we can create a common culture,” Kostelnik said. “Pilot and marine cultures are strong because of the closeness that comes from working on missions together.”

CBP aviation assets are well maintained and among “the best I’ve seen,” according to Kostelnik. His plan is to reduce the differing types of aircraft to streamline maintenance and training efforts. Over time, the number of types of aircraft will be reduced from the 18 now in use to 9 or 10 different types of assets, he said. However, he does not see any major changes in the type of assets that are being used other than an expansion of unmanned aerial vehicles to enhance border security efforts.

Getting His Feet Wet
Kostelnik admits that he does not have experience with the marine function but is eager to learn and believes that the marine environment builds the same kind of kinship that those in aviation enjoy. He sees the two functions as being complementary.

The watchwords for the future of CBP Air and Marine are “command and control.” After a tour of the Air and Marine Operations Center in Riverside, Calif., Kostelnik said he was impressed with the degree of information that can be assimilated and disseminated into the field. He sees a command and control infrastructure as the lynchpin of the future—information integration and coordination using computers and software. Increased use of global positioning systems and other software to improve geopositioning will facilitate handoffs from air to land or sea to land.

An admirer of Lee Iococoa, Kostelnik agrees with Iococa’s famous quip that, “We are continually faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” Kostelnik believes that “people make things happen,” and he is looking forward to working with the CBP Air and Marine team to maintain the integrity of our borders.

Historic milestone Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Deborah J. Spero presents the new law enforcement badge and credentials to Assistant Commissioner Michael Kostelnik, Office of Air and Marine. Border Patrol Deputy Chief Luis Barker joined Spero and Kostelnik in the ceremony where CBP's directors of air operations received new law enforcement badges and credentials. The ceremony was the first for the Office of Air and Marine and culminates months of effort to create a unified air force to meet the demands of CBP's border security mission. "Today’s ceremony marks an important milestone in creating a single aviation program for all of CBP and the Department of Homeland Security," Spero said. "It was just over 16 months ago that Air and Marine Operations employees and assets were officially transferred from our sister agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to CBP. Since then, we have created an aviation organization for the future, one that will achieve our priority anti-terrorism and traditional missions."