By Steve Neavling
Eugene Kowel has been named special agent in charge of the Omaha Field Office in Nebraska.
Kowel began his career as a special agent with the FBI in 2005 in the New York Field Office, were he was assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. As part of the FBI’s counterterrorism mission, Kowel completed deployments to Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2009.
In 2010, Kowell was promoted to supervisory special agent, working in the International Terrorism Operations Section, Counterterrorism Division, at FBI headquarters. In 2011, Kowel was a unit chief in the International Terrorism Operations Section.
In 2013, Kowel became the supervisory senior resident agent in the Atlanta Field Office, leading the Savannah and Brunswick resident agencies in Georgia. In addition to overseeing criminal and counterterrorism investigations in 19 counties, he led the Southeast Georgia Violent Crime Task Force, the Child Exploitation Task Force, the Savannah Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Coastal Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force.
In 2016, Kowel began serving as an assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles Field Office, where he led squads investigating violent gangs, transnational organized crime, violent crime, and crimes against children.
In 2019, Kowell became the chief of staff to the FBI’s executive assistant director for the Intelligence Branch and as section chief of the Intelligence Branch’s Executive Staff Section at FBI headquarters.
A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in political and social thought, Kowel received a law degree from the New York University School of Law. He served as an assistant district attorney in New York City before joining the FBI.
