Thomas C. Kelly
Domestic Affairs Chief

Professional Experience

Tom Kelly is a nationally recognized investigative and security authority. His twenty year career at the FBI began in 1965 as Special Agent assigned to the FBI office in Detroit, Michigan. Kelly had subsequent assignments in Albany, New York and the Washington DC field offices. In 1972, Kelly entered the supervisory/management career path, holding three supervisory/management positions at FBI headquarters between 1972 and 1977.  Kelly was promoted to the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI offices in Richmond, Virginia and in Miami, Florida in 1978.  He was appointed Deputy Assistant Director of the Administrative Services Division of the FBI by the FBI Director in 1979 and subsequently promoted to the position of Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas, Texas FBI office in 1981.

Kelly's career with the FBI included broad experience as a criminal investigator in all aspects of the FBI's investigative and enforcement jurisdiction, including white collar crime, organized crime, terrorism and foreign counterintelligence cases. His administrative experience encompassed a wide range of supervisory and managerial positions, including directing the development and implementation of certain phases of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system now used nationwide by all federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations.  As head of the Dallas FBI office and its 200 employees, Kelly had total responsibility for investigative and administrative management of that office as well as maintenance of extensive liaisons with both government and private sector executives throughout Texas.

As a result of his stellar career with the FBI, in September 1985, Kelly was appointed Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) by the President of the United States upon the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.  In this position, Kelly was specifically charged with the task of improving the overall management and management structure of the DEA, which is responsible for all U.S. narcotics interdiction efforts.

The Drug Enforcement Administration was comprised of 4,600 employees located throughout the United States and in 42 foreign countries.  As the second in command of DEA, Kelly was directly responsible for all operational and administrative functions within the agency worldwide.  In conjunction with the Administrator, he directed the policy formation and overall leadership of the organization.

The Office of the Deputy Administrator also administered DEA's annual budget of $400 million and direction of the careers of all of DEA's supervisors and managers worldwide.

Domestically, responsibilities included periodic White House briefings and testimony before both Senate and House committees on a variety of drug related issues in the United States and worldwide. Kelly regularly briefed the Attorney General, the Director of the FBI, and other senior officials of the Department of Justice on policy and enforcement issues.

In this capacity, Kelly traveled extensively with the specific responsibility for direct liaison with senior foreign government officials and heads of state. His travels included Western and Eastern Europe, South and Central America and Southeast Asia.  He was also responsible for liaison with foreign dignitaries visiting the United States.

After retiring from government service in 1989, Mr. Kelly was appointed Corporate Director of Security and Safety for aeronautics giant Martin Marietta Corporation, now Lockheed Martin. He established and administered corporate policy regarding all security and safety issues arising from Department of Defense regulations, OSHA rules, and internal corporate policies.

In 1990 Mr. Kelly served as the Executive Assistant to former presidential candidate and well-known billionaire businessman, H. Ross Perot. Kelly worked directly with H. Ross Perot in connection with various business and personal projects and was also responsible for supervision of the air wing, security and special projects.

In January 1991, Mr. Kelly became the Managing Director-Security for the Air Transport Association of America and was responsible for coordinating security matters for all major air carriers in the United States. Kelly represented the aviation industry before congressional committees and was responsible for critical liaison with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that the needs of the industry were adequately met.  He maintained a close relationship with various federal agencies that impacted the aviation industry, including Department of Transportation, FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs, U.S. Secret Service and INS representing industry needs as they relate to security issues.

Education and Studies

Military

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