Customs official joins consulting firm

Joshua Kussman, former director of policy at Customs and Border Protection, has joined the Sentinel HS Group as vice president.

Sentinel is a strategic consulting firm that advises clients on homeland security matters. Brian Goebel, its founder, president and chief executive officer, served as counselor and senior policy adviser to CBP Commissioner Robert Bonner from 2001 to 2004.

Kussman served as a senior policy adviser to Bonner from 2003 to 2005.

“I am very pleased to be working with Mr. Kussman again,” Goebel said in a written statement. “His extensive experience on a broad range of homeland security matters -- [including] border control, immigration, border patrol and international travel -- will broaden the expertise of the firm and benefit our public- and private-sector clients alike."

According to a Sentinel statement, Kussman's accomplishments at CBP included drafting and implementing a new strategy to make the Border Patrol’s management more centralized. He also developed the policies and strategies for the America’s Shield Initiative and developed strategies for the Border Patrol's use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Kussman also helped develop policies and strategies for the Secure Border Initiative and helped create CBP Air, the result of a merger of air and marine operations within the Border Patrol's aviation division.