Thomas J. Walters
Director, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
Thomas Jeremiah Walters, Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, leads the consortium of Federal law enforcement organizations that prepare America’s federal law enforcement professionals to perform their duties across the Nation and around the globe.
The Centers support the training needs of 95 Federal law enforcement clients. This includes providing 100 per cent of the training systems, training infrastructure, training programs, training products, training expertise and training services required to train 70,000 Federal, state, local, tribal, and international law enforcement students each year.
Director Walters’ 40-year career in Federal law enforcement includes service as a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Border Patrol instructor, supervisory Patrol agent, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, and Chief Patrol agent. He successfully completed the first U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) training session, and served for over a decade as a BORTAC team member, team supervisor, unit manager, and unit leader during the unit’s domestic and foreign operations. In 2004, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection selected Director Walters as the first SES Assistant Commissioner for CBP’s Office of Training and Development. As a member of CBP’s national leadership team, Director Walters also served as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner and acting Assistant Commissioner for CBP’s Office of Public Affairs.
Director Walters retired from CBP in 2014 to operate his own border security consulting business before being selected by the Secretary of Homeland Security in October of 2017 as the Centers’ sixth Director.
Mr. Walters is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo, and holds a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National Defense University, National War College.
William Fallon
Deputy Director, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
Mr. William Fallon was appointed as the Deputy Director of FLETC effective May 1, 2016. In his capacity as Deputy Director, Mr. Fallon oversees all operations related to the development and delivery of collaborative law enforcement training for more than 95 FLETC partner organizations across four FLETC domestic training delivery points in Glynco, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Cheltenham, Maryland; and Artesia, New Mexico. He also oversees the training FLETC provides to state, local, and tribal departments throughout the U.S., as well as outside our Nation’s borders through international training and capacity-building efforts. Deputy Director Fallon also has executive leadership and oversight of all FLETC programs and functions associated with administration; mission support services; financial, information technology, and resource management; security and professional responsibility; and FLETC’s operations in the National Capital Region.
Immediately prior to his selection as the Deputy Director of FLETC, Mr. Fallon served as the Assistant Director for the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Training Division. Prior to his appointment to that position in May 2011, Mr. Fallon served in numerous USMS operational command positions, to include United States Attorney General appointed U.S. Marshal in three districts. He joined the USMS in June 1988 and was first assigned as a Deputy U.S. Marshal (DUSM) in the District of Massachusetts.
In the summer of 2008, Mr. Fallon was assigned the Commander, Operation FALCON 2008. FALCON 2008 was a national violent offender/fugitive initiative during which over 19,300 dangerous felons were arrested (162 wanted for murder), 418 firearms were seized, and the collective criminal history of all offenders arrested was over 94,000 prior arrests. For those efforts, Commander Fallon was named the Washington Post’s Federal Employee of the Week. Deputy Director Fallon serves on the Education and Training Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He has also served on numerous USMS committees, on the Department of Justice Learning and Development Council, and is a former Vice-Chair of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation Board.
Deputy Director Fallon received his Master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College and his Bachelor of Science degree from Westfield State University. He is a graduate of the National Executive Institute.
Jennifer E. Tocco
Chief of Staff
Jennifer Tocco began her civil service career at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) in 2008. Prior to her appointment as Chief of Staff, she served as the Senior Policy and Project Analyst for the Director's Office. She held other positions in the FLETC Director's Office since 2012, including Strategic Planning Program Manager. Ms. Tocco previously worked in FLETC’s Office of State and Local Training and Rural Policing Institute.
Prior to joining FLETC, Ms. Tocco worked in the nonprofit and academic sectors. For six years, she served as Assistant Director for the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children in Newark, New Jersey, where she managed scholarship programs for low-income families and conducted fundraising activities, including grant writing and event planning. For two years, she was the Donor Relations Director for the Salvation Army’s New Jersey Division, where she was responsible for implementing a new major donor program, writing funding proposals, and overseeing communications with high level donors. While completing her graduate studies, Ms. Tocco served as a Research Fellow at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education’s Center for Educational Policy Analysis, where she worked on research teams conducting studies in a variety of topics, including educational accountability and evaluation, charter schools, and school voucher programs. She was responsible for data collection, data analysis, and writing, with a specialty in qualitative research methods.
Ms. Tocco holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in political science and history from Drew University, a Master of Education degree with a focus on educational policy and qualitative research methods from Rutgers University, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Valdosta State University. She also completed all doctoral coursework in educational policy while at Rutgers.
Richard M. Deasy
Associate Director for Training Operations
Richard M. Deasy serves as the Associate Director for Training Operations for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), which includes all training operations at FLETC training sites in Glynco, Georgia; Artesia, New Mexico; Charleston, South Carolina; and the National Capital Region.
Prior to his appointment as the Associate Director, Deasy served FLETC as the Assistant Director for the Core Training Operations Directorate. In this role, he provided executive leadership for the FLETC Glynco, Firearms Division, Driver and Marine Division, Enforcement Operations Division, Physical Techniques Division and FLETC’s training delivery point in Artesia, New Mexico.
Prior to joining FLETC, Deasy served as Chief of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Training Academy for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), where he directed all basic, advanced, and international training in support of HSI's 7,000 special agents worldwide. He was also HSI's principal representative to FLETC.
Previously, Deasy served overseas in the U.S. Embassies in Singapore and Afghanistan as the HSI Regional Attaché and the Country Attaché respectively. In Singapore, he directed DHS's law enforcement mission in 13 countries spanning the Asia-Pacific region. In Afghanistan, he worked with U.S. interagency partners and the Afghan Ministry of Interior, National Police to establish the first Afghanistan Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit to further the rule of law during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Deasy has held senior-level assignments in which he developed and implemented DHS national and international counterterrorism policy. These include Senior Advisor to the ICE Deputy Director, Senior Liaison to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Deputy Group Chief in the NCTC Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning, DHS Senior Representative to the FBI Counterterrorism Division, and Deputy Chief at the National Joint Terrorism Task Force. Successively as a HSI Division Chief, Unit Chief, Section Chief, National Program Manager, and as a field Supervisory Special Agent, he developed expertise in homeland security operations and transnational organized crime investigations.
Deasy began his federal law enforcement career as a Special Agent with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), in Providence, Rhode Island, where he led multi-agency investigations with the INS Organized Crime and Smuggling Branch, New England Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Rhode Island Attorney General Strike Force, and Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force.
A former U.S. Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel, Deasy honorably served for 22 years in the armed forces with active and reserve special operations forces. He is a veteran of operations in Iraq during Desert Storm and Provide Comfort, and the Haiti intervention during Operation Uphold Democracy. Deasy is a distinguished graduate of the National Defense University, College of International Security Affairs, Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies program. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from Providence College and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
Ariana M. Roddini
Assistant Director for the Training Management Operations Directorate
Ariana M. Roddini is currently serving as the Acting Assistant Director for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers’ (FLETC) Training Management Operations Directorate (TMO). She provides oversight and strategic direction to ten training divisions.
Prior to becoming the Acting Assistant Director for TMO, Roddini served in dual roles as the Acting Protocol and Communications Office Chief, where she oversaw all internal, external and virtual communications with FLETC, and as the Deputy Assistant Director for the Core Training Operations Directorate where she provided strategic and tactical direction for the Firearms Division, the Driver and Marine Division, the Enforcement Operations Division, and the Physical Techniques Division.
Roddini previously worked in the Office of Domestic and International Training in the Regional and International Training Directorate. In this capacity, Roddini was responsible for FLETC’s international activities, including those at the International Law Enforcement Academies, and FLETC’s training programs for state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.
Roddini began her law enforcement career as a fraud investigator for New York City Department of Health and Human Services in 1994, where she was responsible for the investigation of fraud, waste and abuse in the welfare system. In 1996, she joined the United States Secret Service (USSS) as a Special Agent. During her tenure with the USSS, she was assigned to the Office of Investigations, the Office of Training and the Office of Protective Research. Ms. Roddini has served as a member of the New York City Police Department Asian Organized Crime Task Force and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. As a criminal investigator, she has conducted complex investigations related to counterfeit currency, access device fraud, bank fraud, computer fraud and threats against the President. She has also conducted protection related advances and served as a logistical or site coordinator for major events to include the United Nations General Assembly, Millennium Summit.
In 2006, Roddini transferred to the FLETC, Glynco, GA as a Senior Instructor. She has performed instructional duties in the Enforcement Operations Division and the Investigative Operations Division. In 2007, Roddini was promoted into a leadership position and has served in this capacity in various divisions or directorates throughout the organization.
Roddini is a graduate of the Senior Executive Service Candidacy Development Program and has been executive certified by the Office of Personnel Management.
Roddini’s formal education includes a master’s degree in educational leadership and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
Marcus L. Hill
Senior Executive Advisor
Marcus L. Hill is the senior executive advisor for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Hill provides component-level, headquarters strategic planning advice and counsel to FLETC executive leadership. He ensures an enterprise-wide, organizational focus remains on executing and achieving the FLETC Director’s strategic priorities. Hill also gives executive leadership in matters related to FLETC’s mission, long-range law enforcement training plans and executive policy development. In addition, he renders advice and expertise in support of FLETC’s leadership training initiatives, and serves as executive sponsor for corporate diversity, inclusion and engagement programs and related initiatives.
The FLETC serves as an interagency law enforcement training organization for more than 90 federal agencies and also provides training to state, local, rural, tribal, territorial and international law enforcement agencies. Headquartered in Brunswick, Georgia, FLETC is comprised of four training centers located in Brunswick, Georgia; Artesia, New Mexico; Cheltenham, Maryland; and Charleston, South Carolina. In addition, FLETC maintains a research office in Orlando, Florida; has oversight of an International Law Enforcement Training Academy (ILEA) located in Gaborone, Botswana; and supports ILEAs in Hungary, Thailand, and El Salvador. Annually, FLETC provides basic and advanced law enforcement training to approximately 65,000 law enforcement officers throughout the world.
Appointed under the Federal Junior Fellowship Program (FJFP), Hill began his career in 1983, as a personnel management specialist (student trainee) with the Department of the Navy (DON), assigned to the Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, Georgia. Upon completing the FJFP and serving an active-duty tour in the United States Air Force (USAF), he resumed his civil service career in 1991. Prior to his transfer to FLETC, Hill served in several assignments, including Director of Workforce Relations at the Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay; Director of the Human Resources Satellite Office and Program Management Department Head at the Naval Station, Mayport, Florida; and Director of the Organizational Management and Manpower Division of the Regional Resources Management Department with Commander Navy Region, Southeast.
In 1999, Hill transferred to FLETC to serve as chief of Staffing and Classification Branch in the Human Capital Division. Subsequently, he held positions as senior policy and project analyst (SPPA) for the Office of Planning and Resources and assistant to the FLETC Director. Following the tragic events of 9/11, he joined the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), serving as the administrative officer for the Jacksonville Field Office. He was instrumental in establishing the TSA infrastructure and screening operations at Jacksonville International and Gainesville Regional airports. Hill returned to FLETC in January 2004, assuming the SPPA responsibilities for the Training Directorate. Following this assignment, he served as the deputy assistant director for the Office of Operations Support in the Administration Directorate, and assistant director for the Mission and Readiness Support Directorate.
Hill was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2006. In 2007, he retired from the USAF Reserves. Hill has received many awards and honors for distinguished service to include the 2017 Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, the 2014 Department of Homeland Secretary’s Under Secretary for Management Partnership Award, DON Civilian Meritorious Service Medal, USAF Meritorious Service and Commendation Medals. Hill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Valdosta State College. He completed leadership training and executive education programs sponsored by the Federal Executive Institute, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Center for Creative Leadership, Brookings Institute, and Air University. Hill serves on the Senior Executives Association Board of Directors, and is a member of the Military Officers Association of America, Reserve Officer Association, American Legion Post 511, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masonic Order and The Shriners.
Darren A. Cruzan
Assistant Director for the National Capital Region Training Operations Directorate
In February of 2019, Cruzan, an enrolled member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, was named Assistant Director for Training Operations, National Capital Region. Prior to his current role, he served for two years as Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) Office of Law Enforcement and Security. In that position, Cruzan provided leadership, policy guidance, and oversight to the department's seven law enforcement, security, and intelligence programs. Prior to that, he served for seven years as Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) Office of Justice Services.
Cruzan's law enforcement career began in 1992 as a reserve patrol officer with the Joplin, Missouri, Police Department, and then a patrol officer for the City of Nevada, Missouri. In 1995, he entered on duty with the BIA's District II Law Enforcement Office in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and continued in federal service with the BIA for the next 11 years. His appointments included the U.S. Indian Police Academy located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers in Artesia, New Mexico, the BIA's Field Office in Portland, Oregon, and the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. As he rose through the ranks of law enforcement from police officer to criminal investigator, Cruzan's service always focused on the critical needs of Indian Country, especially law enforcement training for police, corrections, and telecommunications officers.
As Supervisory Special Agent on the Crow Indian Reservation, Cruzan spearheaded an initiative to reduce the number of Driving Under the Influence-related fatalities on the reservation. In 2004, the Secretary of the Interior recognized the success of that initiative with DOI's prestigious "Customer Service Excellence Award."
Later that year, Cruzan accepted a request to serve as the Senior Law Enforcement Advisor to the BIA's Associate Director of Operations at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. While there, he also served as the Indian Country Law Enforcement liaison. Cruzan continued serving in both capacities until moving to the U.S. Department of Defense Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA).
Beginning in 2006, Cruzan served at PFPA as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Investigative and Protective Directorate, supervising the day-to-day operations of the agency's Criminal Investigations Division. His responsibilities also included domestic and international dignitary protection missions for senior level department officials. Cruzan was later appointed by the agency's director as division chief of its Recruitment and Medical Division, and served in that capacity until he returned to DOI in 2010. Cruzan is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, Class 224 (2006). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration from the Mountain State University in West Virginia.
Michael D. Bunker
Chief Counsel
In November 2018, Michael D. Bunker was selected to serve as Chief Counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). Prior to his new appointment, Bunker was the Assistant Chief Counsel for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in Boston, Massachusetts.
Bunker began his legal career in 1991 as a staff attorney for the former U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury, in Boston. In 2002, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Chief Counsel, in Buffalo, New York. In 2008, Bunker was appointed to the position of Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for CBP, in Chicago, Illinois, where he served before returning to his native Massachusetts in 2013. Prior to his Federal employment, Bunker served for several years as a police officer and patrol sergeant for the North Attleboro, Massachusetts, Police Department.
As the FLETC Chief Counsel, Bunker leads a legal organization of attorneys and non-attorneys at three office locations across the United States. He executes a diverse legal program to provide guidance to the FLETC Director and other senior executives on legal and policy issues affecting the FLETC mission, including operational topics such as administrative law, labor law, contract law, fiscal law, environmental law, tort claims, student misconduct removals and exclusions, Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests, and the myriad scenarios in which ethics rules are implicated. Bunker oversees the legal training provided for federal state, local and international law enforcement officers attending basic and advanced training at the FLETC’s four domestic and two international training sites and ensures that professional legal training is effectively administered to trainees from more than 90 participating organizations.
Bunker earned his Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, from Bryant College, Smithfield, Rhode Island, and his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from the New England School of Law, Boston, where he served as a Senior Editor for the New England Law Review. He is a graduate of the Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Senior Executive Fellows Program, the DHS Office of General Counsel’s Leadership Development Program, the DHS Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program, and the DHS Executive Capstone Program. Bunker is a member of the Massachusetts and New York bars and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bryan R. Lemons
Mission and Readiness Support Directorate
Mr. Bryan R. Lemons was appointed Assistant Director, Mission and Readiness Support Directorate (MRSD), on July 5, 2020. Prior to this appointment, he had served as the Assistant Director, Technical Training Operations Directorate, since December 2019.
After graduating in 1989 from Central Methodist University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and History, Mr. Lemons attended the St. Louis University School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctorate in 1992. He received his Master’s degree in Public Administration from Valdosta State University in December 2011. Mr. Lemons is a 2007 graduate of the Federal Executive Institute’s Leadership in a Democratic Society Program, and a 2009 graduate of the Department of Homeland Security’s Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program.
From 1989 to 1999, Mr. Lemons served as a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, performing a wide-range of duties, including billets as an Environmental Attorney, Trial Defense Counsel, Legal Advisor, and Prosecuting Attorney. He joined the FLETC Legal Division in 1999 as a Senior Legal Instructor, and was promoted to Branch Chief over basic training programs in May of 2001. In April of 2004, he became the Branch Chief over advanced training programs. In August of 2005, Mr. Lemons was promoted to be the Chief of the Environmental and Safety Division at FLETC, and then became the Deputy Assistant Director, Office of Operations Support, Administration Directorate, in October of 2006. From June of 2008 to March of 2010, he performed duties as the Deputy Assistant Director, Office of Training Operations, Glynco Training Directorate. From March of 2010 to January 2012, Mr. Lemons was detailed to the College of Coastal Georgia under a loaned executive program, and served as the Assistant Vice President for Organizational Development and Legal Affairs. He served as the Deputy Assistant Director, MRSD, from January 2012 to March 2018, and as the FLETC Chief of Staff from March 2018 to December 2019.
Mr. Lemons was a member of the Board of Directors of the Glynn Community Crisis Center from 2012-2015, and has been an adjunct faculty member at the College of Coastal Georgia since 2013 teaching in the School of Business and Public Management.
Donald R. Lewis
Chief Financial Officer Directorate
Mr. Donald R. Lewis was appointed Assistant Director for the Chief Financial Officer Directorate at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), Glynco, Georgia in May 2011. He provides strategic direction and executive oversight of FLETC business activities aligned to the Chief Financial Officer Directorate, which includes budget and financial management. Lewis is responsible for formulation, execution and oversight of an annual budget of over $600 million direct and reimbursable funding as well as financial management services provided to FLETC and two other DHS components.
Lewis began his federal career as a student in 1983 when he accepted a position in the Federal Junior Fellowship Program at Kings Bay Naval Base, GA as an Audit Assistant. Upon graduating from the Junior Fellowship Program in 1988, Lewis was appointed as a Contract Specialist within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), also at Kings Bay. Lewis continued to rise within the Procurement career field as a Contracting Officer and then in a supervisory role as the Simplified Acquisition/ Base Operating Services Branch Chief.
Lewis left NAVFAC in 1997 to accept the position of Facilities Project Manager and Team Lead at the Strategic Weapons Facility, Atlantic (SWFLANT), and was promoted to Facilities Management Division Chief, SWFLANT where he served from 2001 to 2004.
Lewis arrived at FLETC in 2004 as the Purchase/Fleet Card Program Manager, and was promoted in 2005 to Senior Policy and Program Analyst (SPPA), CFO. He served in this capacity until 2009, when he accepted a position as the first Deputy Assistant Director (DAD), CFO. Lewis has been serving in his current position as Assistant Director/Chief Financial Officer since May, 2011.
Lewis has been recognized for distinguished service with being awarded two DON Civilian Meritorious Service Medals. He holds a bachelor of science degree in business management from Auburn University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Brenau University. He has completed the leadership and executive education program, Leadership for a Democratic Society, sponsored by the Federal Executive Institute.
Michael L. Vesta
Assistant Director, Chief Information Officer
Michael L. Vesta was appointed as the Assistant Director/ Chief Information Officer for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers on August 21, 2016. Vesta has a diverse technological and managerial background, and he is responsible for the enterprise-wide management of information technology resources at FLETC.
Through strategic partnerships, FLETC prepares the federal law enforcement community to safeguard the American people, our homeland and our values.
To carry out this mission, FLETC serves as an interagency, law-enforcement training organization for more than 90 federal agencies or partner organizations. In addition, FLETC provides training and training resources to state, local, tribal, campus and international law enforcement.
Vesta’s career in the Federal Government began in 1986 with a four year enlistment in the U.S. Air Force where he served as a Weather Equipment Repair Specialist. In 1991, Vesta accepted a position with the National Weather Service as an Electronics and Computer Technician. During the next eleven years, he moved within the National Weather Service structure and served in many roles. These included two years as a Technical Training Instructor at the National Weather Service Training Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and five years in Las Vegas, Nevada as the Information Technology Officer. Vesta accepted a position as the CIO for the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in 2002 where he advanced the role of IT in a complex healthcare environment. He started at FLETC in 2006 and has held the positions of IT Operations and Support Division Chief and Deputy Assistant Director/ Deputy Chief Information Officer.
Vesta holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Park University and an MBA from Texas A&M University, Commerce. He is a graduate of the National Defense University’s CIO Certificate program, and is a graduate of American University’s Key Executive Leadership program.