A great leader rises to the needs of their workforce to both achieve mission and ensure that those tasked with it have what they need. Executive Assistant Commissioner Ryan Scudder has done just that and more.
During the past two years, the men and women of CBP have worked tirelessly and made countless sacrifices and advancements in the agency’s efforts to secure our borders and identify those who wish to do us harm, facilitate travel and trade, stop the flow of illicit drugs and other contraband, combat forced labor in supply chains, and rescue and assist those in distress. This has more than put a toll on the frontline and mission-support personnel and their families. Scudder, in a groundbreaking effort, stood up a much-needed initiative to ensure that the CBP workforce, and their families, are cared for and able to continue their dedication, innovation, and perseverance toward the CBP mission, including the Childcare Subsidy Program, Backup Care Program, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Core services, the EAP Onsite Clinician Program, and in-person suicide prevention training. Additionally, they funded chaplain and peer support classes, delivered resilience skills and training, deployed Traumatic Incidents and Events Response (TIER) teams in response to critical incidents, improved guidance, education, and information on other support services for CBP employees and their families, and delivered mental and medical health care services to CBP’s frontline veteran workforce stationed along the Southwest Border in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, they were able to hire specialized personnel, including field-based operational psychologists, who bring operationally relevant experience and expertise to augment field management to support the mental and physical wellbeing of CBP’s employees and their families.
To further meet the needs of CBP’s mission, Scudder led CBP’s facility response to the rapidly evolving need for Southwest border infrastructure. Expertly guiding a $988 million temporary processing facility program, shifting design, location, and capacity to meet operationally driven changes he expanded processing capacity in three locations by more than 2,500 people to meet evolving operational needs. Scudder’s lengthy career at CBP has included serving as Directorate Chief of Strategic Planning and Analysis at U.S. Border Patrol, Deputy Chief Patrol Agent for the El Centro Sector, and Division Chief of Operations for the San Diego Sector.