Robert Saale
Rob Saale served as Director of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (HRFC) from March 2017 through November 2018. The HRFC is a U.S. government interagency organization responsible for coordinating recovery efforts for U.S. hostages held abroad. This role was the capstone of a distinguished 23-year career in federal law enforcement as an FBI Special Agent and executive manager. It allowed Rob to contribute to the early development of this multi-agency approach to bringing Americans hope from captivity and prosecuting those responsible for their kidnapping.
Rob also served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of one of the FBI’s top 13 U.S.-based field offices, established and served as the first chief of the FBI’s International Violent Crimes program and led the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force. As a Special Agent, Rob investigated counter-terrorism matters, transnational gang cases, and violent crimes. In 2008, Rob was selected as the Federal Gang Investigator of the year by the Virginia Gang Investigators Association.
Throughout his career, Rob has focused on developing and embracing holistic approaches in dealing with complex issues. While in government, Rob utilized a “whole of society” approach that included federal, state, and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private individuals – all designed to find a solution to the problem at hand. This approach proved successful in addressing everything from hostage recovery to combating transnational criminal organizations.
Since retiring from federal service, Rob founded and has served as CEO of Star Consulting and Investigations, LLC, an international security consulting and investigations firm in Alexandria, VA. Rob has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, law firms, and high-profile individuals regarding risk mitigation and security matters. In addition, Rob regularly consults with companies and individuals regarding both domestic and overseas security awareness, active assailant prevention and response, general threat analysis, and crisis response.Prior to joining the FBI, Rob served as an officer and aviator in the United States Army.
