Executive edge: Ken Deal; U.S. marshal's career spans from Noriega to McVeigh.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Attitude at altitude - Occupation overview

A framed Norman Rockwell print in Ken Deal's downtown office in the Federal Building serves to remind him why he comes to work every day. It depicts a U.S. marshal escorting an African-American girl to school during the fractious era of desegregation in America.

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"I knew I had to have it in here," said Deal, who has been with the U.S. Marshals service since 1992 and was named chief deputy in Denver in 2000. "It says everything about what we stand for in this country, what this office and what we do is all about. You're actually in a position to see the face of the country change, and that's what that painting symbolizes."

The third-generation Coloradan grew up in Aurora, a baseball standout at Gateway High School who dreamed of becoming a Major League pitcher. He would go on to pitch for Trinidad State Junior College and Miami International University, where he interned in the federal Marshals service during the off-season. In 1985, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers and in 1987 by St. Louis.

"But since I was a kid, I always knew I was going to be in law enforcement," said Deal, 47, who abandoned an uncertain career in baseball for a sure-fire job in the U.S. Marshals office in Miami. And he's never looked back.

"It was an exciting time--the height of the cocaine wars in South Florida," said Deal, who joined Miami's asset forfeiture unit that confiscated ill-gotten goods from drug lords.

"You wouldn't believe the wealth, and anything that was tied to narcotics, we seized--everything from boats, jewelry...