By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Alan E. Kohler Jr. has been promoted to special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division for the Washington Field Office.
Kohler recently served as a deputy assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI headquarters in Washington.
When Kohler joined the FBI as a special agent in 1986, he handled counterintelligence matters at the Washington Field Office. He also served on the Evidence Response Team and helped the FBI investigate the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
In 2003, he transferred to the Counterintelligence Division to manage Russian counterintelligence investigations. He was promoted to unit chief in 2004.
Kohler began supervising a counterintelligence squad at the New York Field Office in 2006 before overseeing a squad that worked on cyber national security and criminal matters. In 2012, he began serving as an assistant legal attaché in London, acting as the FBI’s liaison with British intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
In 2016, Kohler moved to the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia to serve as the assistant special agent in charge of the counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and crisis management programs. In 2017, he returned to FBI Headquarters as the chief of the Eurasian Section, which manages the bureau’s operations countering Russian intelligence threats. Kohler was promoted to deputy assistant director in the Counterintelligence Division and managed multiple portfolios in 2018.
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 FBI, Kohler managed engineering research for a private technology firm. He earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in ceramic engineering from Rutgers University.
