Jorge Comas is director of the U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection Counter Network Division and a new member of NCITE’s Department of Homeland Security advisory board. Here, he shares a bit about his background and gives advice for students.
Tell us about your current role with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. What does your day-to-day look like?
I am the director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Counter Network Division, within the National Targeting Center. In my role I oversee a multidisciplined staff of CBP officers, border patrol agents, intelligence research specialists, and other law enforcement support staff and professionals who lead CBPs counter network activities. The division’s efforts focus on illuminating, disrupting, and dismantling the illicit networks and illicit actors that would seek to harm U.S. border, homeland, and national security.
What initially drew you to this line of work, or to government service in general?
I was heavily influenced by the events of 9/11, having been raised in northern Virginia, and I wanted an opportunity to serve my country and ensure that events like those of 9/11 never occur again.
How can work from NCITE or other Centers of Excellence advance the mission of agencies like CBP and assist the people within them?
NCITE and the Centers of Excellence are strategic partners for CBP. With CBPs border security mission, we face a diverse threat landscape, and as technology and globalization continue to provide opportunities for law enforcement to enhance its tradecrafts, the insights from the research and analysis performed by NCITE and the Centers of Excellence is critical to CBPs success. Additionally, those same technologies can be leveraged by illicit network and actors against CBPs mission. NCITE and the Centers of Excellence advance CBPs understanding of how these emerging technologies can be used to counter our border, homeland, and national security efforts.
What advice do you have for NCITE students and other young people looking to go into government service?
Intellectual curiosity will carry you a long way in your careers. Understanding underlying mechanisms of systems, mathematical relationships, social norms, history, and the overall pursuit for general knowledge is critical for those seeking to join missions like CBP’s. Do not just take information at face value, dig deeper to gain a better understanding of the matter, and how it applies to the work you are performing.
