For his role in overseeing the safety and security of embassy employees during the ongoing violence in Haiti, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken named Stephen Strickland, a U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) supervisory special agent, the 2024 Robert C. Bannerman Diplomatic Security Employee of the Year.
Strickland, who grew up as a Salvation Army dependent and traveled the world with his parents and sister, is currently serving as the DSS regional security officer (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.
During a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State on December 9, 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commended Strickland for his exceptional leadership during the March 2024 closure of the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Blinken noted that the successful assisted departure of more than 1,300 U.S. citizens and others from Haiti was an example of the dedication and professionalism of the Port-au-Price regional security office team which created a helicopter landing zone near the embassy to facilitate travel from Port au Prince to safe locations.
Strickland played an instrumental role in facilitating Kenya’s leadership of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti, including the deployment of MSS mission personnel on the ground to help restore order and stability. He also established the U.S. Embassy’s Unmanned Aerial Systems program, significantly enhancing security and safety around the embassy.
In May 2024, Strickland led the recovery effort of the bodies of U.S. citizen missionaries Davy and Natalie Lloyd who were murdered by Haitian gang members. Working with his American Citizen Services colleagues and DSS agents in domestic field and resident offices, Strickland repatriated the Lloyds’ remains to the U.S., ensuring the two young missionaries’ remains were returned to their families in Missouri.
Strickland was born in Santa Barbara, Calif., and is the son of retired Salvation Army Lieutenant-Colonels Pam and Ron Strickland. His sister and brother-in-law live in Australia.
Strickland graduated from Maranatha High School in Sierra Madre, Calif., and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. He has two adult children who live in the United States.
Strickland joined DSS in 2005. Prior to arriving in Haiti in August 2023, Strickland served in Atlanta, Ga.; Dakar, Senegal; Dubai, UAE; Erbil, Iraq; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Greensboro, N.C.; Peshawar, Pakistan; and at the DSS Foreign Affairs Security Training Center in Blackstone, Va.
DSS is the law enforcement and security arm of the U.S. Department of State and is the most widely represented law enforcement agency in the world. Operating at more than 270 U.S. diplomatic posts in over 170 countries, and in more than 30 U.S. cities, DSS leads worldwide security and law enforcement efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy, safeguard national security interests, and investigate transnational crimes.
For more information, please visit https://diplomaticsecurity.state.gov.
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