Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
January 24, 2008
President Accords Personal Rank of Ambassador to Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. as Special Envoy for MANPADS Threat Reduction and Lead for United States Efforts to Protect International Aviation from Shoulder-Fired Anti-Aircraft MissilesToday the White House announced that President Bush has accorded the Personal Rank of Ambassador to Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., who will serve as the Department of State’s Special Envoy for MANPADS Threat Reduction.
Mr. Bloomfield will lead the interagency task force that is implementing the United States International Aviation Threat Reduction Plan - - a component of the broader National Strategy for Aviation Security - - to protect global aviation from Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS). The task force includes representatives from the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, and meets regularly with officials of other agencies including the Departments of Justice and the Treasury, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the National Counterterrorism Center.
Mr. Bloomfield, who is President of Palmer Coates LLC, Senior Advisor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and Chairman of the Board of the Henry L. Stimson Center, has extensive experience in diplomacy and international security, having served as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2001 – 2005, concurrent with his duties as Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action. He was instrumental in successfully negotiating the U.S.-Russia Arrangement on Cooperation in Enhancing Control of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems signed at the February 2005 Bratislava summit, and led the United States’ efforts at the July 2001 United Nations Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. Since 1981, Mr. Bloomfield has served in a number of key security positions, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1992-1993), Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (1991-1992), and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs among others.
Mr. Bloomfield’s experience and leadership will build on the United States’ initiatives to eliminate MANPADS that may potentially fall into the hands of criminals, terrorists, and insurgents, such as the destruction since 2003 of over 24,000 foreign at-risk MANPADS. To learn more about the threat that MANPADS can pose, visit the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation’s “Advanced Conventional Weapons” webpage at www.state.gov/t/isn/acw/index.htm, and the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement’s “Small Arms/Light Weapons & Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS)” webpage at www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/c3670.htm.
2008/051
Released on January 24, 2008
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