Washington, DC - Director Christopher Wray has named Alan E. Kohler Jr. as the special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division for the Washington Field Office. Most recently, Mr. Kohler served as a deputy assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington.

Mr. Kohler joined the FBI as a special agent in 1996 and was assigned to the Washington Field Office working counterintelligence matters. During this time he also served on the Evidence Response Team and took part in the FBI’s response to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. He transferred to the Counterintelligence Division in 2003 to manage Russian counterintelligence investigations and was promoted to unit chief in 2004.

In 2006, Mr. Kohler transferred to the New York Field Office to supervise a counterintelligence squad and then later a squad working cyber national security and criminal matters. He served as an assistant legal attaché in London beginning in 2012, acting as the FBI’s liaison with British intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Kohler moved to the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia in 2016 as the assistant special agent in charge of the counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and crisis management programs. He returned to FBI Headquarters in 2017 as the chief of the Eurasian Section, which manages the Bureau’s operations countering Russian intelligence threats. In 2018 he was promoted to deputy assistant director in the Counterintelligence Division and managed multiple portfolios.

Mr. 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 Bureau, Mr. Kohler managed engineering research for a private technology firm. He has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in ceramic engineering from Rutgers University.