Bert L. Steele III represents clients before Congress and the executive branch on a wide range of issues, including defense, homeland security, military base enhancement, federal appropriations and the intelligence community. Mr. Steele is currently a major in the U.S. Marine Corps reserves and recently returned from a deployment to Iraq where he commanded an intelligence unit in the Al Anbar province. Upon his return to the firm in June 2008, Mr. Steele traveled back to Iraq with clients to facilitate meetings in Baghdad with officials from the U.S. Embassy and the Government of Iraq. Prior to joining Akin Gump, Mr. Steele served on active duty as a Senate liaison officer in the Marine Corps' Office of Legislative Affairs. While working on Capitol Hill, he advised the Senate as to the Marine Corps’ position on various programmatic, budgetary and policy issues. Prior to working at the Senate, Mr. Steele served in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy as the White House liaison for the Marine Corps, where he helped coordinate the military-political relationships between the Department of the Navy and the Executive Office of the President. During this time, he also served as an aide-de-camp for Secretary Richard Danzig. Mr. Steele began his Marine Corps career with the 3d Battalion, 4th Marines. Mr. Steele received his B.S. in political science in 1994 from the U.S. Naval Academy and a certificate degree in 1999 in global trade from St. Peter’s College, Oxford University.