Career diplomat and former SWAT team member Robert Settje is the new United States Consul General to Bermuda.Mr Settje, who has a long history of service with the US Foreign Service in posts including Afghanistan, the Caribbean and Europe, replaces Grace Shelton whose three-year spell ends on August 30.Before joining the Foreign Service in 1994, he held careers as a police officer, criminal prosecutor, associate attorney and law clerk.In the late 1970s, Mr Settje was a police officer in Madison, Wisconsin, where, in addition to his patrol duties, he was a training officer and member of the SWAT team.He switched careers in 1979, attending law school before becoming a clerk in Colorado Supreme Court, then an associate in Denver and finally Deputy District Attorney in Golden, Colorado, from 1988 to 1994.His Foreign Service work began as vice-consul and political/economic officer in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from 1994 to 1996.That was followed by spells as consular co-chief in Munich, Germany; deputy consular chief in Naples, Italy; and senior civilian at provincial reconstruction in Zabul, Afghanistan.Mr Settje has also served in Washington, DC, as a regional consular officer for embassies and consulates in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and Europe, and as career development officer and legal advisor to the State Department Visa Office.He has a JD from Harvard and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton College, and did independent study at the Italian University for Foreigners in Perugia, Italy.Mr Settje is married to Melanie Haroldson Settje and has three adult children, Tasha, Jack, and Nick. He was born and raised in Corona, South Dakota.Consul General Shelton said in a statement: “It’s been a wonderful three years here in Bermuda, and I’ve enjoyed it all.“I’ve made so many friends and developed so many positive professional relationships that it will be hard to say goodbye.“But I depart knowing that I leave the Consulate and the US-Bermuda relationship in Bob’s good hands.”