January 2009 Speaker:

James Biesterfeld
Special Agent (Retired)
United States Army Intelligence

Mr. Biesterfeld has had an extensive and colorful career. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Mr. Biesterfeld received Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from what is now the Concordia University system. Following his graduation from college, Mr. Biesterfeld entered the United States Army in 1971. During his first 12 years of service, Mr. Biesterfeld held assignments within the Military Police Branch. Some of his assignments included:

Investigator, Fort Belvoir Virginia. Responsibilities included investigation of crimes against persons, drug possession/sale and liaison with local municipal and federal agencies.

Drug Suppression Team, Mannheim, Germany. Responsibilities included the investigation of international drug trafficking in support of U.S. and NATO operations.

Commander of the Guard, NATO Site 4. Responsibilities included the management, training and emergency deployment of a 30-man guard force protecting "Special Weapons" deployed in Western Europe.

Executive Protection, Giessen, Germany. Mr. Biesterfeld was the principle
bodyguard for a senior brigade commander under threat from a German terrorist
group. Mr. Biesterfeld attended a VIP Protection Course sponsored by the West German Budeskriminalampt (BKA) to support this assignment.

In 1983, Mr. Biesterfeld was recruited into the Intelligence field as a Special Agent - Counterintelligence. As a Special Agent, Mr. Biesterfeld was responsible for the investigation of national security crimes including espionage and terrorism. Mr. Biesterfeld was trained as a linguist in the Arabic and German languages to support his activities. Some of his assignments include:

Counterintelligence Division - U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. His responsibilities as the sole intelligence asset at this remarkable research facility included Threat Assessment, Counterintelligence operations directed against the Soviet Collection effort arrayed against the facility. Compilation and analysis of intelligence information for the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Discreet Surveillance Team, Germany. Mr. Biesterfeld received specialized training in discreet surveillance operations directed against espionage/terrorism suspects and "known foreign intelligence personalities". Mr. Biesterfeld was also responsible for the management of an intelligence analysis cell within the unit tasked with analysis of foreign intelligence operations within the NATO sphere. During this period, he received specialized training in evasive driving techniques sponsored by the Staatspolizei Hesse (Hessian State Police) and surveillance techniques based on the program of the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (United Kingdom).

Operation Desert Shield/ Operation Desert Storm, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Biesterfeld was responsible for the management of a detachment of Special Agents tasked with counterintelligence, counter-terrorism and counter-espionage operations in the Central Province. Mr. Biesterfeld was also the senior linguist tasked with reception, translation and assessment of intelligence information from deep-cover agents operating within enemy territory.

Upon his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1991, Mr. Biesterfeld became the Western Regional Manager - Investigations Division for the Wackenhut Corporation. During his tenure, Mr. Biesterfeld established the investigative offices within the region and brought the effort into profitability within his first eight months.

In 1994, Mr. Biesterfeld brought his formidable background to bear by forming Sovereign Executive Services where he specializes in Executive Protection, Threat/Risk Assessment and Counterintelligence.

Late in 1994, Mr. Biesterfeld also joined Brinks, Incorporated where he attained the position of Assistant Branch Manager after completing the Management Training Program. While in this position, Mr. Biesterfeld, sharing daily responsibility for over $50 Million in currency, streamlined the administrative operation of the branch, improved efficiency and assumed myriad other duties which allowed the branch to function more effectively overall.

In 1996, Mr. Biesterfeld began the Threat Management Division for Code 4 Protective Services of Anaheim, California. During his tenure, Mr. Biesterfeld developed a substantial clientele and specialties in Workplace Violence, Stalking Intervention and Counter Industrial Espionage. He was responsible for developing and implementing a program providing corporate entities with Vulnerability Assessments of Local and Wide Area computer networks including - at client request - direct intrusions into systems by qualified computer technicians. He acted as the Counter-terrorism Consultant to the Jewish Community Center of Orange County during their celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel. Additionally, Mr. Biesterfeld extended Close Protection capabilities and provided protection to such people as Peter Jennings, David Brinkley, Pat Buchanan, and such corporations as Hyundai of America, Chrysler Corporation and Young Chang America.

Since January 1999, Mr. Biesterfeld has operated Sovereign Executive Services as a full-time venture. Sovereign Executive Services provides threat/risk assessments, counterintelligence investigations, Counter-Terrorism Support, Stalking Intervention (to include the investigation of Cyber-Stalkers), Celebrity Protection/mail analysis, Workplace Violence Intervention/Hostile Termination Support, Security Training Development and implementation, Computer Network Vulnerability Evaluations and Executive Protection for all commercial, industrial and celebrity clients as well as marketing all aspects of the company. He is also the principle security consultant for the Inland Empire Utilities Agency for matters of physical/technical security, Workplace Violence Intervention, security training and Counter-sabotage.

Mr. Biesterfeld currently provides security support for several members of the entertainment industry and counter-espionage/counter-sabotage and computer security support for several corporate entities.

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mr. Biesterfeld has provided Counter-terrorism consultations and training to private companies, contractors to the FBI, and the Los Angeles Police Department Anti-terrorism Division. He has also provided Terrorism Seminar training programs for the Ontario Police Department SWAT and Hostage Negotiations Team; The Riverside County Sheriff and Command Staff, the Hemet Police Department Management Staff as well as the Inland Empire Terrorism Early Warning Group, the Orange County Terrorism Early Warning Group, the Water Safety Manager’s Association of Southern California, the San Diego County Arson Task Force and the San Diego chapter of IntraGuard, a new FBI program assisting local businesses. He is currently under contract to the California Department of Justice, Advanced Training Center as a principle Counter-Terrorism instructor to California Police agencies, having trained literally hundreds of police officers. While under contract to DOJ, He developed two terrorism-related courses dealing with the basic understanding of terrorism and a separate class dealing with Pre-Incident Indicators. Both classes have been certified by California POST, Arizona POST and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He also serves as an instructor for California State University, Fullerton and co-authored a college-level textbook for Corinthian Colleges regarding post-catastrophic event management in 2005. He is currently a contributor to a new book regarding Stalking edited by Dr. J. Reid Meloy, a professor at San Diego State University. He has provided similar terrorism training to police agencies is Nevada, Nebraska, Florida and Ontario Province, Canada as well as the Airport Police for Los Angeles International Airport (2005, 2006 and 2007), Ontario Airport (CA), Ft. Lauderdale International Airport (FL) (2005) and Miami-Dade International Airport (2006).

He has provided a Counter-terrorism “round table” discussion at the Inside Self-Storage Association’s Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah and has published articles in several trade publications for the mini-storage, private school and child care industries. In 2002, he participated in a panel discussion for the University of California, Riverside entitled “9-11, One Year Later: Looking Forward Together As A Community”. This panel discussion allowed students and community members to query the panel of experts regarding the results of 9-11 on the community and where the community goes from here. Panelists included University Professors, the Riverside Chief of Police, local community leaders and several high school students.

Mr. Biesterfeld was featured as a subject matter expert in a 1996 French television documentary covering the specter of celebrity stalking in France and spoke to the investigation of stalking events and the protection of the victim. He was also profiled in the Orange County Register Business section and the Inland Empire Business Journal. He has been a featured speaker for the Young Republicans of Pasadena, the American Society for Industrial Security (Orange County and San Fernando Valley Chapters), the California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association, the Kiwanis Club (Temecula, CA), the Rotary Club (Lake Elsinore, CA), the City of Irvine, the Self-Storage Association’s National Convention in 1998, 1999 and 2001, the California Robbery Investigator’s Association (2003, 2004 and 2006), the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, the 2004 California National Guard Annual Drug Enforcement Symposium, the Clandestine Laboratory Investigators’ Association (2006 & 2007), the California chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates conference and the National Court Reporters Association.

Mr. Biesterfeld has served as the Director of Security for the Temecula International Film Festival from 1996 through 2007 as well as the Director of Security for the San Diego International Film Festival in 1998. In these undertakings, he has been responsible for the security of the venues and the personal security of attending celebrities and dignitaries. Also in 2003 and 2004, Mr. Biesterfeld was an “on-air” Terrorism subject-matter expert for German Television’s ‘Pro Sieben’ network for the Academy Awards show in Hollywood. In August 2004, he provided Anti-Terrorism workshops at the California Attorney General’s Conference in Sacramento, California and the 2005 convention of the District Attorney Investigator’s Association.

In 2006, Mr Biesterfeld was the co-author of a college textbook for Pearson Publishing entitled, Catastrophic Event Management Planning, Pearson Publishing, regarding the preparation for response to both man-mad and natural disasters. In 2007, he contributed a chapter to, Stalking, Threatening and Attacking Public Figures, by Dr. J. Reid Meloy (Editor and contributor),Oxford University Press.

Mr. Biesterfeld is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP), the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the International Counter-Terrorism Officers’ Association and is a life member of the International Association for Counter-Terrorism and Security Professionals.