By Steve Neavling
Robert C. Kissane has been named special agent in charge of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division of the New York Field Office.
In his new position, he will oversee the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Before the appointment, Kissane served as a section chief and acting deputy assistant director in the Counterintelligence Division at FBI headquarters.
Kissane spent most of his career in the New York Field Office since joining the bureau in 2003. His first assignment was to investigate violent crime as a member of the New York Joint Bank Robbery Task Force.
In 2009, he transferred to the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force to investigate terrorist threats originating in East Africa. Kissane began to oversee those investigations in 2014 when he was promoted to supervisory special agent.
In 2017, Kissane was named the chief of a unit in the Counterterrorism Division that focused on terrorism originating in the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
Kissane returned to New York in 2020 as an assistant special agent in charge. He was tasked with ensuring the office executed its national security mission to defeat foreign intelligence threats and activities.
In 2021, Kissane became chief of a China operations section in the Counterintelligence Division that covers intelligence services, technology transfer, and espionage. He also served as acting deputy assistant director of the division’s China Branch.
Kissane received the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence in the human intelligence program for helping locate an operative wanted for his role in the 2000 USS Cole Attack.
Before joining the bureau, Mr. Kissane served in the U.S. Army and worked in banking and finance. He received a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a master’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado.
