Benjamine “Carry” Huffman assumed the role of the Acting Chief Operating Officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on January 5th, 2022. In this role, Chief Huffman will ensure that the frontline is equipped with the personnel, tools, and information they need, improving the agency’s collective capacity to adapt and respond to an ever-changing environment. Chief Huffman most recently served as the acting Deputy Commissioner, the agency’s senior career official.
Mr. Huffman serves as the Executive Assistant Commissioner of Enterprise Services since October 2019. In this role, he led 4,500 employees that provide critical support to include financial management, facilities and assets, information and technology, human resources, training and development, and accountability to CBP’s more than 60,000 employee workforce and their operations.
Mr. Huffman has spent more than three decades serving in many roles across the U.S. Border Patrol. In 2014, Mr. Huffman joined the Senior Executive Service and was named Deputy Chief of the El Paso Sector which encompassed more than 125,000 square miles in New Mexico and Texas. Prior to leading Enterprise Services, Mr. Huffman was the Chief of the Strategic Planning and Analysis Directorate at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters where he led U.S. Border Patrol’s strategic planning efforts to implement several Presidential priorities.
Throughout his career Mr. Huffman has had numerous temporary duty assignments, including Acting Director of the Special Operations Group, where he led CBP's global response team that consists of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) and Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue Unit (BORSTAR). He became a member of BORTAC in 1987 and served in various missions around the world, including Operation Green Blanket, operations in South Africa, and Operation Snowcap in Bolivia.
Chief Huffman is a native of West Texas and entered on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol on February 3, 1985, as a member of Border Patrol Academy Class 173. Mr. Huffman holds a Master's Degree in Homeland Security from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies, and an Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice from South Plains Junior College in Levelland, Texas. He has also completed the Capstone General and Flag Officer course at the National Defense University and the Senior Managers in Government program at the Harvard Kennedy School.
