DHS names new operations director

The Homeland Security Department has chosen a retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral as its new operations chief, DHS officials announced today.

Vice Adm. Roger Rufe Jr. started today as director of DHS’ Operations Directorate, the department’s secretary, Michael Chertoff, said in a statement.

Rufe brings extensive experience in joint operations and incident management, Chertoff said. As operations chief, he will integrate department operations and improve intragovernmental coordination, Chertoff said.

Rufe will oversee the National Operations Center, the successor to the Homeland Security Operations Center, Chertoff said. Rufe will also be in charge of the Incident Advisory Council, which will replace the Interagency Incident Management Group, Chertoff said.

Rufe replaces Matthew Broderick, a general in the U.S. Marine Corps who resigned as the directorate’s first director March 31.

Rufe worked at the Ocean Conservancy, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, where he was president and chief executive officer. Before joining the group, he served 34 years in the Coast Guard.

He was captain of five ships and led the Pacific Area and Atlantic Area commands — the Coast Guard’s two largest. He also led field offices in the Southeast United States/Caribbean and Alaska regions.

Rufe was chief of the Coast Guard’s Congressional Relations Office and served as vice chairman of the Coast Guard’s National Response Team, which coordinates federal response to oil spills and other hazardous substances, according to the Ocean Conservancy's Web site.

He was the Coast Guard’s representative to the North Pacific and Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Councils and as U.S. delegate to the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization, the Web site states.

Rufe graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and earned a master’s degree in public administration from New York University, according to DHS’ statement.