Al Gombis
Albert T. “Al” Gombis is a 1990 graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois), having double-majored in Political Science and Philosophy. He subsequently attended graduate school at the University of Illinois at Springfield. While matriculating there, he secured an internship at the U.S. Department of State, which launched his diplomatic career. Mr. Gombis then changed schools, first to attend the National Intelligence University, and then the Georgetown University Law Center, attending each at night.
Upon completing his JD in 1997, Mr. Gombis joined the U.S. Air Force in 1998 as a Judge Advocate and served 8 years on active duty. During this time, he served a remote tour at an overseas, closure base; served as the Officer in Charge of a Joint unit in the Pentagon; and completed four deployments. The first occurred just 8 months after 9/11, when he served as the first Staff Judge Advocate for the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Al Dafra Air Base, UAE. The other three were to serve as the Legal Advisor to the Bodyguards and Security Personnel Team at the DoD Criminal Investigation Task Force. In this latter capacity, then-Captain Gombis worked with investigators and intelligence officers to draft “Reason to Believe” memoranda regarding the activities of members of Osama bin Laden’s security detail. The memos were sent to the President for his concurrence. Once approved, they became the basis for prosecutions at the Military Commissions. In 2006, he was promoted to Major, returned to the Reserves, and rejoined the State Department as the Team Lead for the Near East in the Office of International Religious Freedom.
As a Reservist, Lt Col Gombis completed three assignments at the Air Force Legal Operations Agency – in the Military Justice Division, the Operations and International Law Division, and the Administrative Law Division. He also served as a Reserve Judge Advocate in the 1st Special Operations Wing Legal Office at Hurlburt Field, FL, before taking his current assignments. He now serves concurrently as both the Staff Judge Advocate for the 953d Reserve Support Squadron at Norfolk Naval Base, VA, and as an Authorities Observer-Trainer for the Joint Staff, J-7, in the Deployable Training and Lessons Division, at the Joint Warfighting Center, Suffolk, VA.
At the State Department, Mr. Gombis served in 13 different offices and at three posts overseas. He was also given a 2-year State Department Fellowship on Capitol Hill (2011-12), during which time he worked for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and then in the personal offices of a Member of the House and a Member of the Senate. Additionally, Mr. Gombis was selected to attend the National Defense University during the 2021-22 academic year, where he earned a Master’s degree in cyber and national security and a concentration certificate in Interagency Leadership and the National Security Council. He then resumed his position as the Director of the Office of Global Criminal Justice until he was selected by the Trump Administration to serve simultaneously as the Acting Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice and also as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy & Human Rights. He retired from the State Department on September 9, 2025, after 34 years of service.
Mr. Gombis is a Member of the Bar in Illinois and Washington, D.C., and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the U.S. Federal District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and the District of Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He also holds a black belt in the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do from the World Tang Soo Do Association and a radio broadcaster’s license from the Federal Communications Commission.