6/2018 Luncheon with Michael Potts, Deputy Asst Commandant for Intelligence, USCG

Mr. Michael Potts assumed the duties as the Coast Guard’s Deputy, Assistant Commandant for Intelligence in May 2017. In this capacity, he provides executive direction, leadership, and management to the Coast Guard Intelligence enterprise.  In his previous assignments, Mr. Potts served in a number of leadership roles within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, including Deputy Under Secretary for Intelligence Operations, Chief of Analysis, and Deputy Under Secretary for Enterprise and Mission Support. Prior to him joining the Department of Homeland Security, he served at the National Counterterrorism Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a founding member of the Bureau’s Directorate of Intelligence, he led the development and implementation of a number of key intelligence concepts for the new directorate.

Mr. Potts was selected into the Senior Executive Service in 2004 and served as the Chief of the FBI’s Intelligence Management Section, where he established capabilities to conduct strategic analysis, requirements and collection management, targeting, and customer support.

A retired Chief Warrant Officer Four, Mr. Potts began his intelligence career in 1976 as a U.S. Army signals intelligence analyst. His active duty tours included two postings to the Federal Republic of Germany for the conduct of strategic and tactical signals intelligence and all source analysis. As a member of the Army Reserve, he served as an augmentee to the National Security Agency and as a member of the 338th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Meade, Maryland conducting signals intelligence analysis and reporting in support of US Operation Joint Endeavor in the Balkans.

Mr. Potts’ awards include the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Outstanding Service Medal, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director’s Award for Excellence in Intelligence and Analysis, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Army Commander’s Medal for Sustained Civilian Performance.

Mr. Potts holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Management from National-Louis University in Evanston, Illinois. He has completed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Executive Institute, the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Executive Institute, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Intelligence Fellows Program, and the Leading the Intelligence Community course.