Michael Arnett is a Protective Security Advisor (PSA) with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Region 6. He is assigned to Houston (West), Texas to support the Southeast Texas District. He serves as a security and resiliency subject matter expert and is the link between state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations and CISA infrastructure mission partners. He performs vulnerability and security assessments on a variety of Critical Infrastructure to identify security gaps and potential vulnerabilities as well as coordinates training and support for special events and incident management.
Prior to joining CISA, Mr. Arnett served 17 years on Active-Duty in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and continues to serve as a Reserve Lieutenant Commander at Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston where he leads the Maritime Law Enforcement Division.
Mr. Arnett’s career in the USCG was multi-faceted providing for a broad range of experience. Most recently he led the Emergency Management/Force Readiness division at MSU Port Arthur, TX where he was responsible for All Hazards planning and exercises including oversight of all aspects of the Area Maritime Security, Port Readiness, and Area Committees. He collaborated closely with other federal agencies, state, and local governments, and private industry to increase security and resiliency within the Port Arthur, TX Captain of the Port zone. He certified as a FEMA Type 3 Planning Section Chief and USCG Emergency Management Specialist.
During his time at the Coast Guard Office of Defense Operations and Counterterrorism in Washington D. C., he coordinated review of Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff’s (CJCS) Joint Staff Action Process (JSAP), informing the principal military advisor to the President of the United States (POTUS) on USCG positions for all military administrative and operational issues.
While stationed in San Juan, Puerto Rico (PR), as the Command Security Officer; he led all aspects of security at the Sector San Juan base, personnel housing, and three detached duty stations in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and Ponce, PR. Mr. Arnett was responsible for the management of a multi-million-dollar security contract and protection of $106 million in property, 600+ AD personnel, seven cutters and 11 small boats.
Other USCG positions throughout his career include Officer in Charge of a Tactical Law Enforcement Detachment, Team Leader for a Sector Boarding Team, and Maritime Law Enforcement Boarding Officer where he enforced applicable federal laws within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Mr. Arnett is a graduate of Sam Houston State University and the University of Cincinnati where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice. He is also a member of the National Criminal Justice Honors Society.