Boles named special agent in charge of the FBI's Norfolk division

Special Agent John Boles

The FBI has named a former special assistant in its anti-terror branch to head up the agency’s Norfolk, VA division.

On Feb. 17, FBI Director Robert Mueller named John Boles special agent in charge of the division. Boles most recently served as a special assistant to the National Security Branch (NSB) executive assistant director, and as section chief of the NSB Executive Staff Section, said the FBI.

The NSB consists of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division (CTD), Counterintelligence Division (CD), Directorate of Intelligence (DI), and its new Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate (WMDD). It combines the missions, capabilities, and resources of each.

The NSB oversees the national security operations of these four components and is also accountable for the national security functions carried out by other FBI divisions, according to the FBI.

Boles entered service at the FBI as a special agent in 1995 assigned to the Sacramento CA Division, where he worked criminal violations including fugitive, white-collar crime, cyber crime, violent crime, narcotics, terrorism, and crimes against children matters. Additionally, he served as sniper team leader and special weapons and tactics (SWAT) operator, said the agency.

He was selected as assistant legal attaché in Kiev, Ukraine in 2003, promoted as legal attaché later that year, it said,  became responsible for all FBI programs in Ukraine and Belarus.

In 2006, he transferred to the St. Louis Division and was selected as supervisory special agent, where he oversaw the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the International Terrorism squad. He also served as the SWAT coordinator, according to the agency.

He was later promoted to assistant special agent in charge in the San Diego Division and was responsible for program management, oversight of the white-collar and cyber crime programs, and other administrative duties.

Prior to his FBI career, he served as a cryptologic technician in the U.S. Navy for five years and is a University of Georgia graduate