Former Washington congressional candidate Joe Kent was confirmed as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Wednesday.

Joe Kent steps into the NCTC not as a bureaucrat, but as a combat-tested operator bringing hard edges, deep scars, and a no-nonsense mission mindset to the nation’s counterterror fight.

Joe Kent, a former Army Special Forces soldier and two-time Republican candidate for Congress in Washington, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.