Ryan J. Scudder assumed the role of Executive Assistant Commissioner (EAC) for Enterprise Services (ES) at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Washington, DC on July 2, 2023. In this position, he leads approximately 4,000 ES personnel at over 200 locations across the United States, providing mission-critical support to all CBP employees and operations. The ES portfolio includes programming for a $16B+ annual appropriated CBP budget; 116 acquisition programs, demos, and investments valued at $5B; more than 5,500 facilities; over 24,000 vehicles; $8.1B in property assets; over 3,000 hiring actions per year; 12 national training academies and centers; and an IT infrastructure consisting of a data center supporting the over 60,000 users and 27 mission-essential systems. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Directorate Chief of the Strategic Planning and Analysis Directorate within the United States Border Patrol (USBP) starting in October 2020. During his 29 years of federal service, EAC Scudder has served 22 years in various leadership positions throughout the Agency.
EAC Scudder entered on duty with USBP in 1994 as a member of class 275 and was assigned to the Nogales Station in the Tucson Sector. In 2004, he transferred to the Erie Station in Pennsylvania as a Supervisory Border Patrol Agent, and later as Acting Patrol Agent in Charge (PAIC). In 2007, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Chief overseeing the USBP Operational Requirements Branch, which was responsible for constructing 201 miles of pedestrian fence and 226 miles of vehicle fence along the border in 2009. He was appointed an Associate Chief in 2009 in Washington, DC, overseeing Southwest Border Operations for the California Corridor, and in 2010 became PAIC at the Weslaco Border Patrol Station in the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas. In 2012, Chief Scudder became PAIC of the Rio Grande City Station, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. In 2014, he relocated to San Diego, California, to serve as the Sector’s Division Chief of Operations and later as Division Chief of Law Enforcement Programs, and in 2016 he became Deputy Chief Patrol Agent of El Centro Sector.
In 2011, Chief Scudder completed the CBP Leadership Institute program and served as the Deputy Principal Executive for the Office of Program Development in Washington, DC during his 90-day capstone assignment. In this position, he assisted in the formation of a strategic framework that aligned CBP’s resources to its highest mission priorities. He is also a graduate of the Department of Homeland Security’s Senior Executive Service Development Course in 2018 and was selected to serve as the Border Security Counselor for the Secretary of Homeland Security for an 11-month assignment.
EAC Scudder is married to USBP Mission Support Directorate Executive Director Kathleen Scudder, and they have four children.
