see also: in February 2005 Press Releases:   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Cocaine Valued at Over $15 Million   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announces Significant Drug Seizures and Arrest   CBP Border Patrol Agents Arrest Homicide Suspect from Chicago   Mother and Two Teen Daughters Caught Smuggling Marijuana by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers at Nogales Port   Joint Announcement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Mexican Customs for the Tecate Port of Entry to Begin Processing Traffic on Friday, February 11, 2005   U.S. Customs and Border Protection FY 2006 Budget ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner announced the appointment of Mr. L. Thomas Bortmes as the Executive Director for the Office of Intelligence.

“Tom Bortmes is my primary source for intelligence and will serve as my liaison in the intelligence community,” stated Commissioner Bonner. “He will lead an outstanding team of professionals in the Analysis Liaison, National Security, and Intelligence Support Divisions.”

The priority mission of CBP Office of Intelligence is to obtain, analyze, and timely dissemination of intelligence that contributes to the primary CBP mission of detecting, identifying, and preventing terrorist and terrorist weapons from entering the United States.

Mr. Bortmes was appointed as a member of the Senior Executive Service at Customs and Border Protection in December 2004. As a career-intelligence professional, Mr. Bortmes recently retired as a Captain in the United States Navy with over 28 years of active duty service in the most demanding sea, shore, and joint intelligence leadership positions. His military assignments include duty as Commander, Southern Region Joint Operational Intelligence Center in Naples, Italy; Executive Assistant to the Director, National Imagery and Mapping Agency in Merrifield, Virginia; Director For Intelligence, U.S. Pacific Fleet in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Director of the Intelligence Requirements, Plans, Policy and Programs Division on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon. In his last military assignment, he commanded the Navy’s flagship intelligence command, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) in Suitland, Maryland. As Commander, ONI he directed the Navy’s intelligence response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, and directly shaped Navy support to Homeland Security, the Global War on Terror, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mr. Bortmes is the recipient of the intelligence community’s National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy League of the United States/Naval Intelligence Foundation’s Leadership Award and numerous military personal, unit, campaign and foreign awards.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Bortmes graduated magna cum laude from Washington College, Maryland, with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and earned a Master of Arts Degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.

Mr. Bortmes and his wife, Maureen, reside in Dunkirk, Maryland. They have three children, Amy, Matthew, and Elizabeth, and one grandchild, Lily.

For more information on CBP, please visit the Customs and Border Protection Web site at www.cbp.gov.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S laws