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Alan E. Kohler, Jr.
Assistant Director, Counterintelligence Division

Alan E. Kohler, Jr. was named assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in April 2020. Mr. Kohler had most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence Division.

Mr. Kohler joined the FBI as a special agent in 1996 and worked counterintelligence matters at the Washington Field Office. He also served on the Evidence Response Team and took part in the FBI’s response to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. In 2003, he transferred to the Counterintelligence Division to manage Russian counterintelligence investigations and was promoted to unit chief in 2004.

In 2006, Mr. Kohler transferred to the New York Field Office to supervise a counterintelligence squad and then later a squad working cyber national security and criminal matters. He served as an assistant legal attaché in London beginning in 2012, acting as the FBI’s liaison with British intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Kohler moved to the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia in 2016 as the assistant special agent in charge of the counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and crisis management programs. He returned to FBI Headquarters in 2017 as the chief of the Eurasian Section, which manages the Bureau’s operations countering Russian intelligence threats. In 2018, he was promoted to deputy assistant director in the Counterintelligence Division and managed multiple portfolios.

Mr. Kohler was promoted to the special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division at the Washington Field Office in 2019.

Mr. Kohler is a recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Counterintelligence Investigation, and the Exceptional Achievement Medal from the Director of National Intelligence.

Before joining the Bureau, Mr. Kohler managed engineering research for a private technology firm. He has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in ceramic engineering from Rutgers University.