Andrew R. Bland III Named SAC in Houston

Andrew R. Bland III, a 21-year veteran of the FBI, has been named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI's Houston Office. Director Robert S. Mueller III appointed him to this position to replace retiring SAC Roderick L. Beverly. Most recently, Mr. Bland served as the FBI's Legal Attaché in Baghdad, Iraq, from July 2005 through February 2007.

Mr. Bland entered on duty as a special agent of the FBI in April 1986. After completing new agent training, he was assigned to the FBI office in Seattle, Washington, where he conducted investigations relating to bank robberies, extortions, kidnapings, and drug matters. In January 1991, Mr. Bland was transferred to the FBI office in Miami, Florida, where he directed large-scale, complex investigations which targeted both Colombian and Caribbean-based drug trafficking organizations. In March 1995, Mr. Bland was promoted to the position of Supervisory Special Agent and was assigned responsibility for the supervision of an active Miami drug squad consisting of 14 special agents.

In January 1998, Mr. Bland received a promotion to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he assumed responsibilities as an Assistant Inspector within the Inspection Division. In this capacity, Mr. Bland evaluated the operational and administrative effectiveness of 16 different FBI field offices, as well as two FBI Legal Attaché offices in Europe. In April 1999, he was selected for another FBI Headquarters assignment as Chief of the Mexican Drug Unit within the Drug Section of the Criminal Investigative Division. In this position, Mr. Bland provided oversight for all of the FBI's drug investigations which targeted significant Mexican drug trafficking organizations, particularly those which operated along the U.S. border with Mexico.

In July 2000, Mr. Bland assumed responsibilities as Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Phoenix FBI office. In this capacity, Mr. Bland managed investigative programs relating to Foreign Counterintelligence, Infrastructure Protection/Computer Intrusion, Civil Rights, and Applicants, as well as the overall administrative operations of the office. In July 2002, Mr. Bland was promoted into the FBI's Senior Executive Service (SES) and was subsequently transferred to the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia, where he was assigned executive oversight duties as Section Chief in charge of the New Agents Training Program Section.

On August 12, 2003, Director Mueller appointed Mr. Bland as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Academy, where he directed the training of federal, state, local and international police, along with new agent training, intelligence analyst training, and the training of law enforcement executives. In January 2005, Mr. Bland was designated Deputy Assistant Director of the Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters, and he served in this capacity until his appointment in May 2005 as the SES-level Legal Attaché in Baghdad, Iraq.

Mr. Bland graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After successfully completing both the U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger Schools at Fort Benning, Georgia, Mr. Bland commenced with various leadership assignments of increasing responsibility in military units located in the U.S. and Germany. After achieving the rank of captain, he culminated his six-year military career in 1986 with the command of a company-sized combat arms unit in Northern Germany.

Mr. Bland is married to the former Cheryl Geddes and is the father of three sons.