Scott Jacobs joined the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in 1981 and served in Seattle; Yokosura, Japan; and New Jersey. In 1992 he was chosen to be the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Metropolitan Northeast Field Office in New Jersey. After receiving a Brooking Institute fellowship, he served on the staff of Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), focusing on environmental issues. Jacobs then became the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. In 1996 he was promoted to Deputy Assistant Director for Economic Crimes, overseeing economic crime investigations in the Navy. From 2001 until 2004 Jacobs was in charge of the NCIS’ Northwest Field Office. In 2005 he was promoted to Executive Assistant Director for Combating Terrorism. Jacobs was appointed acting director of the Counterintelligence Field Activity in March 2008. CIFA was shut down in August 2008.