"The real strength of this organization is the diversity of our workforce...bringing together people from different backgrounds, different job experiences, different education, different language capabilities, and different cultures...for fresh ideas, fresh perspectives, and new solution sets."
Former Director Mark Clookie

Helen, Special Agent

I first learned about NCIS while working as a police officer in New Orleans, LA.  A family friend who is a Special Agent with NCIS advised me that the agency was currently hiring and explained the great opportunities and benefits of working with NCIS. After being selected and completing training, I was sworn in as a Special Agent in March 2010.

Currently, I am assigned to the Family and Sexual Violence Unit at an NCIS field office. Being assigned to this unit, I see up close the impact that family and sexual violence has, especially on the military. Every day I investigate these egregious crimes with the goal of bringing perpetrators to justice. My investigations focus on interviewing the victim, gathering all of the facts and, on occasion, working with local law enforcement agencies. Additionally, I process and document crime scenes, conduct interviews and interrogations, administer search warrants and, at times, make arrests.  Not every day is as action-packed as an episode of the TV show NCIS, but every investigation and every investigative step is just as dynamic and, in fact, is more important.

As an NCIS Special Agent, I have been fortunate to travel around the world and within the United States. This has provided me with a broader view and deeper understanding of all of the NCIS missions. I especially enjoyed my assignments overseas, serving in two deployments to Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa. During these deployments, I was able to fully engage with military service members, who provided logistical support and additional security measures for NCIS when operating in off-base locations. I was also able to experience the full range of NCIS missions. While deployed to Afghanistan, I processed crime scenes in actively hostile areas, provided support and investigative assistance on high-profile investigations, and experienced all aspects of being forward deployed including Meals, Ready to Eat or MREs. In Africa, I was able to travel to several locations and investigate a variety of cases.

Even if my work sometimes goes unnoticed, my job as an NCIS Special Agent is especially rewarding.  Not only do I assist in bringing criminals to justice, but also I protect those who serve in deployed environments and abroad by mitigating or eliminating possible threats. Our service members protect us and our liberties on a daily basis, both at home and abroad. It is the job of NCIS agents, in turn, to protect our service members and their families. Providing this service offers an unparalleled reward.

Justin, Computer Scientist          

I joined NCIS as a Computer Scientist in 2010 after hearing about the opportunities at the agency during a recruiting session at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), where I was enrolled as a graduate student. My current supervisor came to AFIT and briefed us on what it was like to work in the Cyber Department at NCIS. I was able to sit down with him one-on-one to talk about the job and see if it would be a good fit.  While at AFIT, I was part of the Cybercorp program, a National Science Foundation fellowship designed to foster cyber expertise within the US government and I graduated from AFIT with a Master’s degree in cyber operations.

My official title is Computer Scientist, but that means different things day-to-day.  One of the aspects I enjoy about this job is that I get to support a wide variety of missions.  Some days, that means finding and testing the latest digital forensics tools to provide to the field; on others, it might mean interpreting some data, writing some code, or providing cyber training in support of an investigation or operation. 

A career at NCIS is good for someone who wants variety because it’s a small agency and everyone has to wear multiple hats.

 In addition to supporting a wide variety of missions, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to travel and work firsthand with the field agents we support.  I’ve also gotten the opportunity on a number of occasions to receive advanced training to enhance my own skills, then turn around and apply that knowledge to solving a real-world problem.

I think the most rewarding part of my job is to be able to provide a capability or personal support to someone in the field working a case or operation, and then have that person tell me how that support made a difference for them.