Biography

As the Assistant Director for International Programs, Charlene R. Lamb is responsible for managing and directing the Bureau of Diplomatic Security programs that protect all of the Department of State’s international missions and personnel from the threats of terrorism, espionage (human and technical), and crime.

Ms. Lamb joined Diplomatic Security in 1987, serving her first assignment as a Special Agent in the San Francisco Field Office. In 1989, Ms. Lamb volunteered for duty in Beirut, where she managed a 500-person guard force at the height of the civil war in Lebanon. In the fall of 1989, Ms. Lamb joined the Mobile Security Division (MSD) in Washington, rising quickly from a team member to a team leader.

Between 1989 and 1992, she led MSD teams on high-threat missions into Monrovia, Algiers, Kinshasa, Antananarivo, Jordan, Papua New Guinea, and Tel Aviv.

Ms. Lamb also has served in Nicaragua, Tanzania, Kuwait, Guatemala, and Germany. She is credited with the 1996 capture of the FBI’s No.1 fugitive in Tanzania, managed three post evacuations from Kuwait, was awarded the 1998 Regional Security Officer of the Year Award by the Overseas Security Advisory Council, and received a Superior Honor Award for her service in Guatemala.

In May 2005, the association of Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) awarded Ms. Lamb the WIFLE Executive Committee Award for Distinguished Law Enforcement Performance Overseas. Ms. Lamb joined the ranks of the Senior Foreign Service in December 2003. In 2006, Ms. Lamb attained the rank of Minister Counselor.

Ms. Lamb graduated from California Polytechnic University, Pomona. While attending college Ms. Lamb worked full time as a police officer in Orange, CA. During her nine-year career as a police officer, she worked Uniform Patrol, Crime Scene Investigator, Field Training Officer, Detective, Narcotics, Vice and Intelligence. In 1984 she was awarded a Medal of Valor.

September 2007