Mitch Merriam is the Vice President-Borders and Maritime Security for the K2 Security Screening Group, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Mitch’s portfolio includes K2’s Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) Program contract with the DHS-Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) office supporting RPM deployments for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Mitch has over 27 years of federal law enforcement leadership experience, he’s a proud U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and he retired as a career member of the U.S. Senior Executive Service (SES) with the CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO).
Prior to joining K2, Mitch served in numerous executive leadership roles with CBP, to include tours as the CBP-OFO Executive Director-Operations (A), Area Port Director-Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Area Port Director- New Orleans, Port Director-Tecate CA, Deputy Commander-Joint Field Command Arizona, and as the Director-Tactical Operations at CBP-OFO HQ.
As the Executive Director, Operations (XD-OPS) at CBP Headquarters, Mitch provided daily operational leadership, strategic vision, and oversight to 20 regional Field Offices, 328 Ports of Entry and 16 Preclearance stations in Canada, Ireland, the Middle East, and Caribbean, with more than 28,000 employees and an operating budget of over $3.5 billion.
As the CBP Area Port Director at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Mitch directed a workforce of more than 1,000 CBP officers, specialists and trade professionals screening and processing more than 10 million passengers and over one million cargo shipments annually. His responsibilities included the oversight of international passenger and cargo inspections, immigration and trade enforcement, narcotics interdiction, agricultural inspections, and airport security programs at LAX, Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, John Wayne and Ontario International Airports, and general aviation facilities across Southern California.
In 2012, Mr. Merriam received his initial Senior Executive Service (SES) appointment as the Deputy Commander – Joint Field Command Arizona. As the Deputy from 2012-2014, he assisted the Commander in directing a new joint and integrated CBP approach to border security and was responsible for the operational lay down and deployment of more than 6000 CBP Officers, Border Patrol and Air Interdiction Agents, and resources of the Tucson and Yuma Border Patrol Sectors, the Tucson Field Office and the Tucson, Sierra Vista, and Yuma Air Branches.
Mr. Merriam’s law enforcement career began in 1991 as a Customs Inspector at the Port of Boston. After transferring to San Diego in 1995, he worked his way up the ranks to Chief Inspector at the San Ysidro border crossing and Port Director in Tecate, CA. After a tour as Director of Tactical Operations at CBP-OFO headquarters, he served four years as the CBP Area Port Director in New Orleans, Louisiana, rebuilding and integrating CBP’s operational capabilities post-Katrina.
Mr. Merriam has extensive leadership experience in a wide variety of border security and law enforcement environments as part of numerous training, emergency response, diplomatic and operational assignments in the U.S., Eastern Europe, SE Asia, South America, Canada, Mexico and Africa, and he volunteered as an Advisor on the Border Management Task Force in Kabul, Afghanistan during 2006-2007, where he helped establish the DHS advisory program in support of the Afghanistan Customs Department and Afghanistan Border Police.
Mr. Merriam is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and the DHS Executive Capstone Programs. He supported the CBP Leadership Institute and DHS SES Development Programs as an executive mentor, and he was a frequent keynote speaker at CBP Officer and Agriculture Specialists graduation ceremonies at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Professional Development Center.
Mr. Merriam holds an Associate of Science degree from Johnson and Wales University and he proudly served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including a tour as a Drill Instructor/Water Survival Instructor.