Omar R. Lopez is an American special agent and lawyer serving as the sixth civilian director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) since 2019. He is the first Hispanic American to serve in the role. Lopez was previously the executive assistant director for the NCIS national security directorate.
Life
Lopez is a native of Pico Rivera, California and Hermosa, South Dakota. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with honors from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Lopez completed a holds a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and practiced formerly in California and Washington, D.C.
Lopez was commissioned in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps as a judge-advocate in 1995. He served in active duty and reserve assignments with U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, U.S. Pacific Command, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Lopez served as a trial counsel and special Assistant U.S. Attorney in California. Following active duty, he worked for a law firm in Washington D.C., specializing in litigation and energy regulation.
In 2003, Lopez began his career with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) as a special agent, assigned to the Port Hueneme Resident Agency in California. He worked across NCIS mission areas, including criminal drug operations, national security operations, and protective service operations, with special assignments to Federal, state, and local task forces, including deployment with the Coalition Provisional Authority – Iraq. Lopez served in leadership positions at NCIS Headquarters and field offices, both domestically and overseas. He was the executive assistant director for the NCIS national security directorate. Lopez exercised program management and oversight over global counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations and operations, including espionage, terrorism, compromise, technology transfer, cyber operations, threats to research, development, and acquisition programs; force protection activities, and insider threat programs. In May 2019, he was awarded the silver medal of meritorious service by the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association. On June 4, 2019, Lopez was sworn in by the United States secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer, as the sixth civilian director of NCIS. He succeeded Andrew L. Traver. Lopez is the first Hispanic NCIS director.
See also
Hispanics in the United States Navy
References
Living people
People from Pico Rivera, California
People from Custer County, South Dakota
Lawyers from Los Angeles
Lawyers from Washington, D.C. United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps Hispanic and Latino American lawyers Hispanic and Latino American military personnel Military personnel from California 20th-century American naval officers 21st-century American naval officers United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents South Dakota lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Military personnel from South Dakota Year of birth missing (living people) California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni Loyola Law School alumni