Randy Beardsworth possesses over thirty years of operational and strategic experience, with expertise in maritime domain awareness, maritime security, search and rescue, law enforcement, resource protection, border and transportation security, law enforcement, immigration policy, and bilateral and multilateral treaties.
As a career U.S. Coast Guard officer, Beardsworth has experience across the entire domain of Coast Guard Operations. He commanded four Coast Guard cutters and later managed the Atlantic Area fleet of 26 High and Medium Endurance cutters, including training, scheduling, maintenance, and budgeting as well as direct supervision of the commanding officers. As the U.S. Coast Guard Chief of Law Enforcement in Miami, Beardsworth planned, budgeted, and directed counterdrug and migration interdiction as well as fisheries enforcement operations throughout the Caribbean and Southeastern U.S. He also managed a fleet of coastal patrol boats. He planned, budgeted, and executed the Coast Guard’s largest counterdrug operation, involving thousands of personnel, dozens of ships and aircraft, and complex interagency coordination. Beardsworth also negotiated and implemented maritime counterdrug agreements, including an agreement between the United States and Cuba. Earlier in his career, Beardsworth was the senior watch officer in the Coast Guard’s largest Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu Hawaii.
Beardsworth served in two administrations as the Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council staff, where his primary responsibilities included oceans policy and deployment readiness issues. His strong interagency work on a number of wide-ranging issues including maritime security, mass migration planning, and other security-related subjects prepared him well for his career at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In 2002, Beardsworth was named to the transition team that created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He helped develop and integrate the Border and Transportation Security Directorate’s functional structure. Once established, he became its Director of Operations and was later named the directorate’s Acting Under Secretary. In this capacity, he oversaw the four agencies that make up the directorate: Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. As an Assistant Secretary for Strategic Plans, Beardsworth created a long-range vision for DHS. He also oversaw DHS’s counterterrorism strategic planning, as well as the creation and initial oversight of the Program Management Office for the Secretary’s Secure Border Initiative.
Beardsworth co-led President Obama’s Presidential Study Directive 1, and his recommendations for combining the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council and redesigning the combined National Security Staff were fully implemented. He also served on the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advisory System Task Force.
During his time in the private sector, Beardsworth has continued to engage in maritime and homeland security issues. He has helped both the United States and foreign countries improve maritime security, aviation security, and resilience.
Beardsworth was a National Security Fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and an International Security Policy Fellow at the Center for Security and International Studies; he is currently a Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for National Policy and a member of the MITRE Homeland Security Advisory Board. Beardsworth holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
