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. After completing his JD in 1997, Mr. Gombis joined the U.S. Air Force in 1998 as a Judge Advocate and served eight years on active duty, including a deployment to the Middle East eight months after 9/11. Mr. Gombis then shifted to the Reserves, and in 2006 he returned to the State Department.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Gombis has 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, as well as 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. 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 as both the head of that office and also as the Senior Official in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy & Human Rights.
In his military capacity, Lt Col Gombis continues to serve as an Air Force Reserve Judge Advocate. In total, he has deployed four times, including tours working on the terrorist cases at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Currently, he is dual-hatted as the Staff Judge Advocate for the 953d Reserve Support Squadron at Norfolk Naval Base, VA, and as an Observer-Trainer for Authorities with the Joint Staff, J-7, in the Deployable Training Division, at the Joint Warfighting Center, Suffolk, VA.
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 Tang Soo Do from the World Tang Soo Do Association.