Bob Stephan

Assistant Secretary, Office of Infrastructure Protection, U.S Department of Homeland Security

Bob Stephan has 35 years of combined national and homeland security experience, including 13 years of specialized experience in critical infrastructure risk analysis and mitigation and incident response operations at the national, sector, and asset levels. He currently leads a strategic consulting practice providing event-tested knowledge, experience and leadership in all-hazards risk assessment and management; critical infrastructure protection and resilience; enterprise-level strategic planning; continuity of operations and business resilience planning; public-private sector info sharing and enterprise architecture development; and incident management planning, training and exercises.

As a homeland security consultant, Bob Stephan has excelled in bringing together public-private sector homeland security stakeholders in risk assessment, planning, and training and exercise activities around the country, including the Greater Chicago Region; Los Angeles County; Austin-Round Rock Urban Area; Philadelphia Urban Area; New Orleans Urban Area; San Diego Urban Area; San Francisco Urban Area; and the Greater St. Louis Region. He has also provided senior-level critical infrastructure protection program and risk analytics support to numerous Federal agencies including the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Energy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). He has also led the development and conduct of risk management plans and exercises at various levels within private industry to include the U.S. Steel, Entergy, and Raytheon Corporations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Stephan additionally has served as a lead exercise planner/facilitator for National Level Exercises (NLEs) 10, 11, and 12; HQ USMC Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) Exercise Program; DHS-USACE Dams Sector Exercise Series; New Orleans Super Bowl Exercise Series; and all-hazards exercises for the Critical Manufacturing and Chemical Sectors.

Mr. Stephan formerly served as DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, responsible for the national effort to catalog critical infrastructures and key resources (CI/KR), assess associated risk across sectors, and coordinate risk-based strategies to secure national CI/KR from terrorist attack and other hazards. He also led the coordinated effort to develop and implement the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) and supporting sector-specific annexes—the strategic framework for protecting the Nation’s CI/KR from terrorist attack and enabling their timely restoration in a post-incident environment. He also overhauled national-level incident management structures and coordination processes related to CI/KR assessment, security, restoration, and public-private sector information sharing, including development/deployment of the CI/KR Information Sharing Environment and Homeland Security Information Network – Critical Sectors.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Mr. Stephan led the Federal government effort to develop and implement the National Incident Management System and the National Response Plan, the Nation’s core approach to the management of all-hazards incidents.

Mr. Stephan held a variety of key operational and command positions in the Joint Special Operations community during a 24-year Air Force career, including command of two elite USAF Special Tactics Squadrons.