Buffalo, NY - Lucian D. Sikorskyj sums up his work in three words: planes, trains and automobiles. Although he’s not referring to the classic road comedy.
Sikorskyj is director for aviation and surface transportation security with the National Security Council. His job is to protect the traveling public from criminals who want to exploit the U.S. transportation system – and terrorists who plot to disrupt it.
With an office just steps from the White House and work days that average 14-to-18 hours, Sikorskyj counsels the president and his advisors on national security matters related to air travel, mass transit, passenger and freight railroads, and highways. This can include the integration of unmanned aircraft systems into national airspace, the transition of the national airspace system from the current generation technology to the next and countering the use of improvised explosive devises.
Understandably, much of Sikorskyj’s work is classified. However, his rapid ascent to the National Security Council and prior 13 years as an intelligence analyst with the FBI’s counterterrorism division have placed Sikorskyj at the center of several high-profile situations.
Late last year, he played a key role in drafting U.N. Security Council Resolution 2309. Unanimously adopted, it is the first U.N. resolution to focus on civil aviation security aimed at countering terrorist threats. During Sikorskyj’s tenure with the bureau, he supported the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing and was a daily briefer to then director Robert Mueller. While a supervisory counterterrorism intelligence analyst with the FBI’s joint terrorism task force in Los Angeles, Sikorskyj and his squad were among the first responders to the San Bernardino terrorist attacks in 2015.
