He was sworn in as a Federal Police Officer with the Secret Service Uniformed Division in January 1988. He has over 29 years of diverse public safety experience, to include police officer and Fire & Rescue Emergency positions in the US Air Force.
At the conclusion of training from the James J. Rowley Training Center, he was assigned to the White House Branch. In August of 1988, he was assigned to a collateral duty with the Uniformed Division Ceremonial Honor Guard where he served as a Team Leader. In March 1991, he was reassigned to the Foreign Missions Branch where he distinguished himself in the ranks and was selected to be a Magnetometer Equipment Handler. In October 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and assigned to the Special Operations Division ERT Team. Tom was on the first Sergeant to complete the rigorous Emergency Response Team (ERT) basic training course. He work as an operational section leader in ERT for several years until he was promoted to Lieutenant in 2001 where he was transferred back to the White House Branch as operational Lieutenant in charge of Section staffing and logistics.
In September 2003, he was transferred back to the Emergency Response Team where he was the Lieutenant in Charge. During this time he was credited with starting the Secret Service Tactical Dog Program and ERT started to travel with the president and vice president doing middle perimeter security.
In January 2004, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and reassigned to the White House Branch where he served as the day work Watch Commander. While commanding the largest shift of the Uniformed Division, he took on multiple ancillary assignments which improved and enhanced the overall protective posture of the White House Complex. It should be noted, he conceptualized and implemented many of the post improvements at the White House for the Secret Service. With his extensive tactical background, he was instrumental in coordinating and collaborating with the Special Operations Division and the USSS external law enforcement partners to establish and implement the joint tactical MOU for the White House Complex.
In 2007, he was promoted to the rank of Inspector and remained assigned to the White House Branch where he served as the Deputy Branch Commander for all administrative and operational matters.
In 2008, he was transferred to the Office of the Chief as the Senior Staff Inspector. In this position he served as Chief of Staff for both sworn and civilian personnel; coordinated headquarter special projects; provided oversight for a 3 million dollar plus budget, training programs, merit promotion plan, recruitment, and liaison with other offices and divisions both within the Secret Service and outside agencies. He supervised and oversaw the development and implementation of the Uniformed Division staffing and overtime accounting system in an effort to control overtime and give personnel a good quality of life. Implemented flexible scheduling within the Secret Service. He was also required to identify and analyze critical information quickly and adapt to new information, changing conditions or unexpected events, making well-informed decisions in a timely manner. Uniformed Division representative on the Protective Reassessment Committee (PRC). This group was formed to review the Protective Functions of the Presidential Protective Division.
In 2011, he was promoted to Deputy Chief and reassigned to the White House Branch. During his tenure as the White House Deputy Chief he planned, directed, coordinated, and implemented all protective policies, programs, and operations of the Presidential Protective Division / Uniformed Division White House Branch.
In 2015, he retired from the Secret Service and moved to The Hague, Netherlands with his wife, Elizabeth Lewis who is a Supervisory agent with the Secret Service.
In March of 2018, he was hired as the 25th Chief of the Secret Service Uniformed Division. In this position he leads over 1600 officers and officials on a daily basis and is responsible for the planning and direction of the Uniformed Division.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science Degree in History from University of Maryland University College and a Master degree in History from University of Maryland University College.
He is a graduate of the 229th session of the FBI National Academy.
Over the course of his twenty-nine year career, Chief Sullivan has been the recipient of numerous performance awards and commendations and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).