Bond taps new GOP staff chief for SSCI

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the Republican minority leader on the U.S. Senate Select Intelligence Committee has named a former Navy SEAL as chief of staff.

In a statement Wednesday, Bond named his current committee staffer, Louis Tucker, to be minority staff director beginning in January. Bond will replace Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., as the senior GOP member next year, when Roberts moves to the Finance Committee.

Bond said Tucker's "unique background of intelligence operations, military special operations and congressional experience make for a solid foundation from which he will lead staff and execute the priorities of the Committee."

Tucker's "'real-world' experience will be an invaluable asset to the Committee," added Bond.

Tucker spent seven years on active duty as a Navy SEAL before joining the CIA. He also served as a congressional liaison officer for the U.S. Navy, and Bond's statement calls him the first SEAL "in recent history to represent the Navy before Congress."

This past summer Tucker completed his Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence degree from the Joint Military Intelligence College at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Tucker, who graduated Dartmouth College earning a bachelor's degree in history, is fluent in German and has traveled to over 50 countries. He lives in northern Virginia with his wife and three children.