Veteran Profiles

Marine Corps veteran Keith Sampson serves the Department as the Chief Administrative Officer in the Office of Health Affairs.

Sampson enlisted with the Marine Corps in 1982, serving as an Administrative Clerk and ultimately becoming Administrative Chief. He was selected for the Enlisted to Warrant Officer Program and served throughout the U.S. with foreign tours to Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He retired as a Chief Warrant Officer-3 with twenty-two years of service.

Sampson is responsible for space planning, personal property, and security as the Chief Administrative Officer with the Office of Health Affairs. He sees many parallels between the military and DHS as both organizations are tasked with the important job of protecting our country.

Keith Sampson proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Army Reserve veteran Sean Anderson joined the Department when the Transportation Security Administration was created.

Anderson served in the Army Reserve as a Combat Engineer and Squad Leader, reaching the rank of Sergeant.

As a Transportation Security Officer, Anderson screens airline passengers and their property for prohibited items to make sure everyone flies safely. At DHS he continues his mission of protecting the public, maintaining a military bearing, professional image, and command presence to enhance security.

Sean Anderson proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Mariateresa Di Benedetto joined the Department as a Deportation Assistant with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Di Benedetto served for four years in the Navy, stationed in California, Guam, and Spain. She was hired by the Navy as a Military Personnel Clerk while earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of La Verne on the GI Bill.

Di Benedetto is currently an Investigative Assistant with the Office of Investigations in the Tampa office. Her responsibilities include detainee research, caretaking of detainee files and forms, and other administrative tasks.

Mariateresa Di Benedetto proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Staff Sergeant Courtney Cooper continues her military service in the Oregon Air National Guard, 116^th Air Control Squadron while serving as a Transportation Security Officer with the Transportation Security Administration.

Cooper has served with the Guard for eleven years and sees a strong connection between her service there and with TSA. She has served in her homeland security role with TSA at Portland International Airport since 2006.

Courtney Cooper proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Ken Concepcion joined the Department in 2006 with the Science and Technology Directorate after a twenty-one year military career.

Concepcion spent his first ten years in the military with the Navy, serving around the world from Vietnam to the Middle East to Africa. He then moved to the Coast Guard, where he spent his final eleven years in the service before retiring as a Chief Petty Officer.

Concepcion joined the Science and Technology Directorate in 2006 to oversee the security program for cargo containers.

Ken Concepcion proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Rolf Dietrich joined the Department with the Science and Technology Directorate as the Deputy Director of Research.

Dietrich graduated from the Naval Academy and joined the Navy submarine force early in his military career. He would go on to retire as the Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Sturgeon, the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered submarines.

As the Deputy Director of Research, Dietrich manages a staff of 500 and chairs the Research Council, through which he coordinates and integrates basic research among the various research related components of the Science and Technology Directorate.

Rolf Dietrich proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Air Force veteran and Air National Guard member Darcy Fandinga serves the Department as the Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Infrastructure Protection.

Fandinga served on active duty for thirteen years, eventually being stationed at the Pentagon. She has served for the last five years in the Air National Guard at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

Fandinga notes that her military experience showed her what teamwork was about and prepared her to be a leader in her career at DHS.

Darcy Fandinga proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Michael Scarola currently serves the Department as the Infrastructure Security Liaison in the Policy and Communications section of the Infrastructure Security Compliance Division.

Scarola served five years in the Navy before leaving in 2002 as a Second Class Petty Officer. He was stationed in Italy for the majority of his time supporting U.S. and NATO operations.

Scarola went on to receive a degree from the University of North Florida in International Relations and serve as a Critical Infrastructure Coordinator for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Michael Scarola proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Theodore J. Warkentin joined the Department as a Management and Program Analyst with the Secure Border Initiative.

Warkentin served in the Navy for two and a half years as a Data Processing Technician, leaving at the rank of E-6.

Warkentin currently serves as a member of the Audit and Program Information Team, assisting in the transfer of information between the Secure Border Initiative and other branches of DHS. He joined the Customs and Border Protection team to be part of the effort to secure our nation and give something back the best he could.

Theodore J. Warkentin proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Air Force veteran Rick Driggers serves the Department as the Director of the Infrastructure Information Collection Division.

Driggers held several leadership and operational positions during his Air Force career. He deployed as a component of U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Teams, Army Special Forces Operations Detachment Alpha Teams, and Navy SEAL Platoons. While serving in the Middle East, he participated in operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Provide Comfort II and III, and Desert Thunder. Driggers has also deployed to the Balkans and in support of counter-drug operations in Central and South America.

Driggers sees teamwork as the key to success in both his military and DHS careers.

Rick Driggers proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Orlando Rolon-Garcia currently serves the Department as an Investigative Assistant with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations.

Rolon-Garcia served for twenty-three years in the Navy as a Naval Special Warfare Technician, Administrative Chief, and E-7/Chief Petty Officer.

At DHS, Rolon-Garcia provides a wide range of technical, administrative, and clerical support to the investigations, including case research and trial preparation. He emphasizes the teamwork skills he learned in the Navy every day at DHS.

Orlando Rolon-Garcia proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."

Navy veteran Robert K. Baer currently serves the Department as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Assistant Special Agent in Charge, El Paso, Texas.

Baer enlisted in the Navy in 1984 and was stationed aboard the USS Constellation aircraft carrier. While there he was selected as K-9 handler and gained certification to train/handle narcotics and explosive detection working dogs. In 1988, he was named US Navy Dog Handler of the Year.

Baer was certified as an NCIS Investigator in 1991 and was later promoted to the rank of Ensign. He deployed to the CENTCOM AOR on two occasions, serving as a senior Force Protection Officer charged with defensive posturing of our forward military bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and throughout the AOR. Baer has held several Department Head positions, served as Executive Officer and will soon embark upon his third consecutive two-year tour as Commanding Officer of a Navy military police unit, headquartered at Naval Reserve Center, Jacksonville, Florida.

In March of 2009 Baer was promoted from the position of ICE Academy Director to the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge, El Paso, Texas, where he is responsible for all Office of Investigations enforcement activities in the State of New Mexico.

Robert K. Baer proudly affirms, "I am a veteran, I am homeland security."