Chuck Brooks is the president of Brooks Consulting International and one of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Experts.

Most people associate the Department of Homeland Security with disaster relief, cybersecurity activities, border security, airport security, or the Coast Guard. Few people are aware of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate, or DHS S&T, which quietly fosters the innovation behind many of those missions.

I consider the Science & Technology Directorate to be one of America’s most significant—yet frequently overlooked—strategic assets. I do have a bias because I was involved in the creation of the Directorate DHS during its early years serving as it first Director of Legislative Affairs and have closely followed its continued development through my work in government, academia and industry.