Wendy A. Bashnan's term ended on January 31, 2021.
Wendy A. Bashnan is a Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) with the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and a member of the Senior Foreign Service. Currently, she serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Assistant Director to the Training Directorate. In this capacity, she advises the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Diplomatic Security Service (DS/DSS) on the formulation and implementation of all security and law enforcement training programs and policies for DS. She manages a Directorate comprised of the Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance (DS/T/ATA), the Office of Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (DS/T/FASTC), and the Office of Mobile Security Deployments (DS/T/MSD).
In her previous assignment as Director of the NATO Office of Security, Ms. Bashnan served as the Principal Security Advisor to the Secretary General and to the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. In this capacity, she led strategic planning efforts with foreign government and military partners, assessed and mitigated security risks to NATO missions worldwide, negotiated and implemented security agreements with non-NATO nations and other IGOs, and managed a staff of approximately 190 security staff from other NATO nations.
Prior to NATO, Ms. Bashnan served as the Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. There she was the primary interlocutor with offices within the Department, other U.S. government agencies, foreign government partners, and private industry stakeholders on the Bureau’s full spectrum of mission critical security programs. Her portfolio included the developing policy and strategy, utilizing vital resources and staff, and evaluating the overall DS mission and performance for the Department of State, both domestic and overseas.
Ms. Bashnan has also served as the Special Agent in Charge for the New York Field Office and Miami Field Office; Senior Regional Security Officer (RSO) in the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq and in the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela; Deputy Olympic Security Coordinator in Beijing, China; Agent in Charge for the Office of Dignitary Protection, serving as the Major Events Coordinator for the United Nations General Assembly 60th Anniversary. Other assignments included Assistant RSO in Cairo, Egypt and RSO in Georgetown, Guyana and Asmara, Eritrea.
Ms. Bashnan has been the recipient of numerous U.S. Department of State Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor awards throughout her career. Prior to joining DSS, Ms. Bashnan was a probation/parole officer in her home state of South Carolina. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina.