President Donald J. Trump has appointed Christiansburg native and career Deputy U.S. Marshal Nick E. Proffitt to serve as the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia. Proffitt was recommended to the president by Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine after an extensive vetting and interview process, and officially sworn in by Trump earlier this week.
“I am deeply humbled, and highly honored, that President Trump and his administration have placed their faith in me with this appointment. I am also grateful to Senators Warner and Kaine for recommending me to the president for this position, and to the Department of Justice for their support throughout the process. I look forward to continuing to serve the United States, the citizens of the Eastern District of Virginia, and my fellow Marshals Service employees with justice, integrity and service,” he said.
Marshal Proffitt was born and raised in Montgomery County. He graduated from Christiansburg High School in 1982, before leaving for Florida to further his education.
He graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1986 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Science. Proffitt was commissioned as an Air Force officer and served the country on active duty until 1993. Proffitt was a distinguished graduate of Air Force pilot training and flew as a combat instructor pilot in the C-130E aircraft, attaining the rank of Captain.
Proffitt served as the Chief of Flight Safety and as an aircraft accident investigator while stationed at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, and served in combat operations in Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
In addition to his military flying experience, he holds a civilian Airline Transport Pilot License and has flown for several civilian corporations and individuals in various types of corporate jet aircraft.
After completing his military service in 1993, Proffitt was hired by the U.S. Marshals Service as a Deputy U.S. Marshal and was stationed in Norfolk, VA. He has been employed as a Deputy Marshal in Eastern Virginia for over 26 years.
As a Deputy Marshal, he has worked a wide variety of the Service’s core missions with his primary concentration being judicial security, protection, and anti-terrorism efforts. Since 2006, his law enforcement focus has been threat management and intelligence operations and the prevention of mass casualty violence to protected persons and facilities.
Proffitt founded the Eastern District of Virginia’s protective intelligence program, and has served as the management team member in that role for the last 11 years.
The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) is the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency. Federal Marshals have served the country since 1789, often times in unseen but critical ways.
To this day, the Marshals occupy a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. The USMS is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, and as such, it is involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative.
Presidentially appointed U.S. Marshals direct the activities of 94 districts — one for each federal judicial district. More than 3,843 Deputy Marshals and Criminal Investigators form the backbone of the agency.
Among their many duties, they apprehend more than half of all federal fugitives, protect the federal judiciary, operate the Witness Security Program, transport federal prisoners, enforce court orders and Attorney General orders involving civil disturbances and acts of terrorism, execute civil and criminal processes, and seize property acquired by criminals through illegal activities.
–Department of Justice and U.S. Marshal’s office.
