Robert Hehl

I retired from the U.S. Army in 2001 after serving 21 years on active duty (six years enlisted/15 years officer), retiring from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as a military intelligence officer. Subsequently, I was awarded the DIA director's Superior Performance Award for my work in support of Pentagon operations post-9/11 and the Legion of Merit Medal for my military service to country. After serving an additional two years as a DIA civilian intelligence officer, I began my career with the FBI Boston division at the Providence office, where I retired in 2021 after serving another 18 years as a counterterrorism and counterintelligence intelligence officer and liaison officer to the R.I. State Fusion Center.

A 1977 graduate of Rogers High School in Newport, I attained my bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island, where I was also the ROTC Cramer's Saber recipient. I am a 1995 graduate of the U.S. State Department Foreign Service Institute's Urdu language and South Asia foreign areas studies program, a 1996 graduate of the University of Baluchistan's strategic war studies program and in 1997 attained my graduate degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

My tours of duty include the National Security Agency, Pentagon, Desert Storm, South Korea, Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, India, Costa Rica and two FBI tours with U.S. Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. My awards include the DIA Director's Superior Performance Award, Legion of Merit Medal, FBI Medal of Excellence, the FBI Combat Service ribbon, Southwest Asia Service Medal, CIA recognition and the U.S. Army Parachutist Badge.

I have been teaching homeland and national security-related topics at the graduate and undergraduate level since 2014 and reside in Portsmouth.