General Paul Nakasone assumes command of NSA, USCYBERCOM

On May 4, 2018, General Paul M. Nakasone, USA, assumed command from Admiral Mike Rogers, USN, as Commander U.S. Cyber Command and Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service, NSA announced.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats were among the dignitaries and guests who attended the change of command and change of directorship ceremony in Fort Meade, MD. Prior to the event, Gen. Nakasone was promoted from Lt. Gen. to his current rank.

“On behalf of the dedicated officers of the Intelligence Community, we thank Admiral Mike Rogers,” said Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence. “His lifetime of service in the Navy has contributed immeasurably to American—and allied—security. We bid him fair winds and following seas. We welcome his successor, General Paul Nakasone. His experience and strong leadership will prove essential as we move into the next era of cyber operations.”

A long-time member of the cryptologic community, Gen. Nakasone previously served as Commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command and led U.S. Cyber Command’s (USCYBERCOM) Joint Task Force-ARES in the global fight to counter ISIL in cyberspace.

“NSA and USCYBERCOM’s greatest strength has always been our people,” said Gen. Nakasone. “Your agility and ability to solve the unsolvable challenges are more critical than ever, and perhaps our mission has never been more demanding. But we are up to this task, and I look forward to leading you in this new chapter of our history.”

The event also marked USCYBERCOM’s elevation to the nation’s 10th combatant command and the official opening of NSA and USCYBERCOM’s Integrated Cyber Center (ICC) facility, specifically designed for coordinating and planning operations against cyber threats.

USCYBERCOM’s elevation reflects the growing importance of cyberspace to U.S. national security interests and better postures the command to accomplish its three missions: defend DoD networks, systems and information; defend the nation against cyber attacks of significant consequence; and provide integrated cyber capabilities to support military operations and contingency plans.

The ICC is one of the first buildings to be completed as part of NSA and USCYBERCOM’s new East Campus currently under construction at Fort Meade. Scheduled for completion in 2028, the campus will include six buildings and house more than 20,000 personnel.

Construction of NSA’s East Campus is among Adm. Rogers’ many accomplishments in his role as NSA Director from 2014 until his retirement in 2018. Rogers’ legacy leading NSA includes creating an Office of Equality to make the agency a model of inclusion, establishing a Civil Liberties and Privacy Office to unify the agency’s efforts to preserve American values while keeping pace with technological innovation, and implementing a new organizational structure to better integrate production of foreign intelligence and defense of U.S. information networks.

Source: NSA