FBI Director Louis J. Freeh today
appointed a senior career FBI Agent, and a government finance
manager, to leadership positions in the FBI.
Kathleen L. McChesney will become
the Assistant Director in charge of training, based at the FBI
Academy at Quantico, Virginia. Susan J. Rabern will take over
as Assistant Director for finance, with the responsibility for
managing the FBI annual budget of more than $3.6 billion. Ms.
Rabern, who joined the FBI last year, represents another of Freeh's
recent recruitments of outside experts to run divisions which
have increasingly required specialization, during a time when
the FBI faces the technological challenges of both its broad
investigative mission and an upgrading of its support infrastructure.
Freeh has also turned to outsiders to lead the FBI Laboratory
and the information management divisions.
Ms. McChesney, 50, now serves
as Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago field office, one of
the FBI's largest. She is a 23year veteran of the Bureau
and one of the first women to join the Agent ranks after women
were allowed to do so in the mid-1970's. Ms. McChesney has risen
steadily through the ranks after beginning her career as a field
investigator in Seattle. She has held management positions in
Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., Detroit, and at FBI Headquarters
in Washington, D.C. As Special Agent in Charge in Portland, she
was only the second woman to head an FBI field division. Ms.
McChesney holds a master's degree and a Ph. D in Public Administration.
At Quantico, McChesney will be
responsible for all training programs for FBI personnel and for
training provided to U.S. and international law enforcement officers.
Programs include new FBI Agents training, the National Academy
for state and local police management, international training
and oversight of the International Law Enforcement Academy in
Budapest, Hungary. Overall last year, more than 18,000 criminal
justice personnel were trained at the Academy.
Ms. Rabern, 49, now the Deputy
Assistant Director for finance, joined the FBI in August, 2000
after a 24-year career in the U.S. Navy. Her most recent Navy
assignment was Commanding Officer, Naval Support Activity, Washington
Naval Yard. She also served on the staff of the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff as a funding expert. She holds a Master's
of Business Administration degree in finance, as well as Master's
Degrees in national security affairs and education.
"Both Kathleen McChesney
and Susan Rabern have distinguished themselves in a variety of
assignments," said Freeh. "As an investigator, supervisor,
program manager and as twice head of a field office, Kathleen
has demonstrated success at every level. She is an innovator
with a vision for the future, which makes her extremely well-suited
to lead one of the most important divisions of the FBI,"
Freeh said.
"Susan had a record of achievement
during her naval career and the FBI is better today because of
her contributions over the past year," Freeh said. "She
is ideally well suited to lead our critically-important budget
and finance operation."
The FBI has 14 Assistant Directors
eleven who head divisions at FBI Headquarters and three
who head field offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington,
D.C. The Assistant Director position is the third-highest in
the FBI after the Director and the Deputy Director.