Chief Owens interviews El Centro Sector Chief Bovino.
Chief Bovino and Chief Owens are Border Patrol classmates! Listen as they talk about their experiences at the academy, career challenges, and accomplishments.
Gregory K. Bovino is the Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro Sector. Chief Bovino is responsible for managing all U.S. Border Patrol operations and administrative functions within the El Centro Sector, which encompasses 70 miles of land border as well as inland areas of California extending to the Oregon State line. The El Centro Sector is located within the Imperial Valley county area and is directly north of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico.
Chief Bovino entered on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol on November 17, 1996, as a member of Border Patrol Academy Class 325. His first duty assignment as a Border Patrol Agent was in California at the El Centro Station in the El Centro Sector. While in El Centro, he promoted to Senior Patrol Agent in 1999 and Supervisory Border Patrol Agent in May of 2002. During this time, he fulfilled significant details to the Border Patrol Tactical Unit including the position of Acting Field Operations Supervisor. There he was instrumental in developing the Border Patrol Marksman Observer Program as well as deploying to foreign assignments in Honduras, Egypt, and Africa.
In May 2004, he was promoted to Assistant Chief with the Special Operations Division at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters in Washington, D.C. There he spearheaded planning and execution of Operation Stonegarden; represented the Border Patrol in disaster response operations during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, and Gustav; and crafted the Border Patrol Continuity of Operations Plan. From 2005 through 2008, Chief Bovino was detailed as the Acting Associate Chief of Special Operations Division. In October 2008, he was promoted to Patrol Agent in Charge of Blythe Border Patrol Station in Yuma Sector. There he led station operations at two permanent traffic checkpoints and in several locales throughout the interior of Arizona, California, and Nevada.
In 2012, he was promoted to Patrol Agent in Charge of the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station where he led 417 Border Patrol Agents and staff within an area of responsibility including six linear miles of international boundary between the United States and Mexico and 66 linear miles of coastline from the San Diego metropolitan area north to Oceanside, California. He held that position until April of 2016, when he was promoted to Associate Chief of Policy at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Chief Bovino was promoted to Chief Patrol Agent at the New Orleans Sector on July 9, 2018.
Chief Bovino holds two master’s degrees; one in National Security Strategy from the National War College, and the other in Public Administration from Appalachian State University. Mr. Bovino holds a Bachelor’s Degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Natural Resources Management and Forestry from Western Carolina University. He also completed the Customs and Border Protection Leadership Institute in 2012 as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program in 2016.
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