Post by georgia(pacific)girl on Oct 4, 2004 21:13:38 GMT -5
Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004
Real prize: Catching terrorists
Overseas FBI agent honored for his service
EARNEST WINSTON
Staff Writer
Robert Clifford has always been curious about international affairs and law enforcement operations. As a second-grader growing up in California, he recalls checking a book about the FBI out of the library and staying up late to read it.
Today, Clifford -- a 16-year FBI veteran who calls Charlotte home -- will receive a top honor for federal government workers: the Employee of the Year Award. It's co-sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service and Atlantic Media Company.
"I was very surprised ... and did not believe it," Clifford, 45, told the Observer of his reaction to winning the prize about a month ago. "It was very humbling."
Clifford is being given the award -- and $10,000 -- for helping convict more than a dozen leaders of "November 17," Europe's most notorious terrorists cell, according to the FBI.
"Robert Clifford is an extraordinary public servant," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a group that works to inspire people to work in federal government. "He has been essential in wrapping up a terrorist network."
The award -- along with seven others -- will be presented during the 2004 Service to America Medals ceremony in Washington.
The recipients were chosen by a 16-person committee that included Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and Alma Powell, co-chair of America's Promise -- The Alliance for Youth.
Last year's Employee of the Year Award went to Stephen McHale, who helped create the Transportation Security Administration after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Clifford, formerly the FBI's supervisory special agent for counterintelligence and terrorism in North Carolina, is on assignment in Athens, Greece. He is chief of FBI operations in the Balkan region, where he coordinates investigations. He's also part of the FBI's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Squad. His career has taken him to the Middle East, Africa and Europe to hunt down terrorists who kidnapped or killed Americans.
The award is nice, he said, but it's not the highlight of his career. That would be each time he looks someone in the face and tells them that the authorities caught and convicted the terrorists who killed their loved one.
"You can see you are working for an idea of rule of law, of seeing a wrong committed and being able to bring closure to people who have been wronged," he said. "That's what really makes this job rewarding."
Hey, this guy as a kid lived next door to me.
Real prize: Catching terrorists
Overseas FBI agent honored for his service
EARNEST WINSTON
Staff Writer
Robert Clifford has always been curious about international affairs and law enforcement operations. As a second-grader growing up in California, he recalls checking a book about the FBI out of the library and staying up late to read it.
Today, Clifford -- a 16-year FBI veteran who calls Charlotte home -- will receive a top honor for federal government workers: the Employee of the Year Award. It's co-sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service and Atlantic Media Company.
"I was very surprised ... and did not believe it," Clifford, 45, told the Observer of his reaction to winning the prize about a month ago. "It was very humbling."
Clifford is being given the award -- and $10,000 -- for helping convict more than a dozen leaders of "November 17," Europe's most notorious terrorists cell, according to the FBI.
"Robert Clifford is an extraordinary public servant," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a group that works to inspire people to work in federal government. "He has been essential in wrapping up a terrorist network."
The award -- along with seven others -- will be presented during the 2004 Service to America Medals ceremony in Washington.
The recipients were chosen by a 16-person committee that included Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and Alma Powell, co-chair of America's Promise -- The Alliance for Youth.
Last year's Employee of the Year Award went to Stephen McHale, who helped create the Transportation Security Administration after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Clifford, formerly the FBI's supervisory special agent for counterintelligence and terrorism in North Carolina, is on assignment in Athens, Greece. He is chief of FBI operations in the Balkan region, where he coordinates investigations. He's also part of the FBI's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Squad. His career has taken him to the Middle East, Africa and Europe to hunt down terrorists who kidnapped or killed Americans.
The award is nice, he said, but it's not the highlight of his career. That would be each time he looks someone in the face and tells them that the authorities caught and convicted the terrorists who killed their loved one.
"You can see you are working for an idea of rule of law, of seeing a wrong committed and being able to bring closure to people who have been wronged," he said. "That's what really makes this job rewarding."
Hey, this guy as a kid lived next door to me.