Michael Howard

Michael (Mike) Howard serves as Deputy Director, Planning and Preparedness, for the Secure Community Network (SCN). In this role, he oversees SCN’s Training, Protective Security and Intelligence, Emergency Preparedness, and Community Protection programs and assists with incident
response and recovery efforts.

Mike joined SCN in 2021 as the Assistant Deputy Director, Community Protection Program, responsible for developing, executing, and managing a national program dedicated to assessing hazards and risks against physical structures and related preventative protection, preparedness, mitigation,
and response and recovery measures.

Mike has nearly 40 years of law enforcement and intelligence experience at the local, state, and federal levels, including service as a police officer in Pennsylvania before joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a special agent in the Violent Crimes Major Offenders investigative program in the Louisville, Ky., and Newark, N.J., field offices.

Mike served as the senior tactical representative to the interagency Joint Counterterrorism Workshop Series, working alongside partners from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the private sector to plan for, respond to, and recover from mass terrorist attacks.

Mike retired from the FBI as a Unit Chief in the Critical Incident Response Group’s Tactical Section, where he was responsible for national program management, lesson plan development, multi-million-dollar budget formulation and execution, compliance, strategic planning, and research and development. He provided training, equipment, and operational support to the Special Weapons and Tactics Teams in the FBI’s 56 field offices and developed crisis response plans to support large-scale, complex operations and national special security events.

Mike served in various governmental and private sector security-related positions from 2012 to 2021. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Dayton.