WASHINGTON—U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan announced today the selection of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Carla Provost as Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol. As Deputy Chief, Provost will be Border Patrol’s chief operating officer, responsible for daily operations, planning and directing nationwide enforcement initiatives, and ensuring mission readiness.
“Carla Provost is an exceptional leader who brings a wealth of talent and experience to the job. She has held a variety of supervisory, management, and leadership positions during her more than 20 years with the U.S. Border Patrol, and will break new ground as the first woman to serve as Deputy Chief in the 92-year history of the Border Patrol,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske.
"Carla Provost is a proven leader who has demonstrated the courage to take on tough assignments, find solutions to the greatest challenges and direct federal law enforcement organizations toward mission success,” said Chief Morgan. “The American people and the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol will be well served by her uncompromising commitment to enforcing the nation's laws and the welfare of those sworn to uphold them.”
Provost entered on duty with the Border Patrol on January 8, 1995, as a member of Class 277. She was first assigned as a Border Patrol Agent to the Douglas Station in the Tucson Sector, promoted to Supervisory Border Patrol Agent in 1998, and later to Field Operations Supervisor in 2001. Provost was then promoted to Assistant Chief Patrol Agent in the Yuma Sector in March 2006. In January 2009, she became the Patrol Agent in Charge of the Wellton Station in the Yuma Sector. In January 2011, she was selected to the Senior Executive Service position of Deputy Chief Patrol Agent of the El Paso Sector. In January 2013, she was selected as Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro Sector.
Since September 2015, Provost has served as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Professional Responsibility, overseeing compliance with all CBP-wide programs and policies relating to corruption, misconduct, or mismanagement and for executing internal security and integrity awareness programs.
Among the many accomplishments in her distinguished career, Provost led the standup of CBP’s Use of Force Center of Excellence, now known as the Law Enforcement Safety and Compliance Directorate (LESC), which is responsible for the development of CBP’s Use of Force policy and provides the agency with comprehensive and operational Use of Force programs. Provost also served as an instructor for bike patrol units, firearms training, and post-academy law while stationed in Douglas, Arizona, and directed sector budgets and human resources, and later oversaw operations at Yuma Sector.
Before joining the Border Patrol, Provost served for several years as a police officer with the Riley County Police Department in Manhattan, Kansas.
Provost earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology and criminal justice at Kansas State University. She also earned a Master of Science degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.