Director Christopher Wray has named Johnnie Sharp, Jr. as the assistant director of the IT Infrastructure Division at the FBI’s campus in Huntsville, Alabama. He most recently served as special agent in charge of the Birmingham Field Office in Alabama.
Mr. Sharp is the first person to hold an assistant director position in Huntsville, where the FBI is locating some of its technical and specialized training activities.
Mr. Sharp joined the FBI as a special agent in 1998 and was assigned to the Pittsburgh Field Office to investigate counterintelligence and counterterrorism matters. He also served as a firearms instructor and on the SWAT Team. In 2005, Mr. Sharp was promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to one of the international terrorism sections in the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
In 2008, Mr. Sharp was named a squad supervisor of the counterintelligence, cyber, and technical programs in the Jackson Field Office in Mississippi. In 2009, he served for several months as the FBI’s deputy on-scene commander in Iraq, responsible for leading counterterrorism operations. He returned to Jackson and was promoted in 2013 to assistant special agent in charge of Jackson’s National Security Branch. He managed the cyber, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, crisis management, and technical programs.
Mr. Sharp was promoted to section chief of the Technical Surveillance Section in the Operational Technology Division at Headquarters in 2015. As section chief, he provided management over eight technical units responsible for evidence and intelligence collection capabilities.
During his career, Mr. Sharp served temporary FBI assignments in London, Cairo, New Delhi, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was selected to serve as the special agent in charge of the Birmingham Field Office in 2017.
Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Sharp was a deputy sheriff and police officer in Knoxville, Tennessee. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee.
