Benjamine C. Huffman, a graduate of Sul Ross State University, will deliver the fall commencement address for the Alpine campus at the ceremony on Friday, Dec. 15, at 5:30 p.m. at the Pete P. Gallego Center.

Huffman, a native of West Texas, holds a master’s degree in Homeland Security and a bachelor’s degree in General Studies from SRSU. He has also completed the Capstone General and Flag Officer course at the National Defense University and the Senior Managers in Government program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Huffman entered on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol on Feb. 3, 1985, as a member of Border Patrol Academy Class 173.

Huffman leads the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Law Enforcement Centers (FLETC). He oversees training for 125 federal partner organizations, as well as state, local, tribal, territorial and international law enforcement partners, directing operations across the FLETC enterprise at Glynco, Ga., Charleston, S.C., Cheltenham, Md. and Artesia, N.M.

Before assuming his role as the director, Huffman served as the Acting Deputy Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the largest law enforcement agency in the U.S., ensuring that the frontline was equipped with the personnel, tools and information, improving the agency’s collective capacity to adapt and respond to an ever-changing environment. Prior to serving as Acting Deputy Commissioner, Huffman served as the Acting Chief Operating Officer.

As the Executive Assistant Commissioner of Enterprise Services, he led 4,500 employees that provided critical support to include financial management, facilities and assets, information and technology, human resources, training and development, and accountability to CBP’s more than 60,000 employee workforce and their operations.

In 2014, Huffman joined the Senior Executive Service and was named Deputy Chief of the El Paso Sector of the Border Patrol, which encompassed more than 125,000 square miles in New Mexico and Texas. Prior to that, Huffman was the Chief of the Strategic Planning and Analysis Directorate at USBP Headquarters where he led strategic planning efforts to implement several presidential priorities.

Throughout his career, Huffman has had numerous temporary duty assignments, including Acting Director of the Special Operations Group, where he led CBP’s global response team with the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) and Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue Unit (BORSTAR). He became a member of BORTAC, Class 4 in 1987, and served in various missions around the world, including Operation Green Blanket, operations in South Africa, and Operation Snowcap in Bolivia.