DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

WASHINGTON, DC 20511





April 26, 2018





< DNI Coats Statement on Senate Confirmation of Lt. Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, USA

as Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service





I am pleased that the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Lt. Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, USA, as Commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service.



Lt. Gen. Nakasone is a longtime member of the cryptologic community. Previously, he was the Commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command, and held military intelligence positions in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Republic of Korea. He also served as Commander of the Cyber National Mission Force at U.S. Cyber Command, Commander of the Meade Operations Center for the National Security Agency and as Executive Officer to the Director of NSA.



Lt. Gen. Nakasone will succeed retiring Admiral Mike Rogers, whose lifetime of service in the Navy has contributed immeasurably to American—and allied—security. Most recently, Admiral Rogers played an instrumental role in the re-authorization of FISA Section 702, a critical tool for our Intelligence Community. Admiral Rogers’ legacy leading NSA includes establishing an Office of Equality in 2014 to make NSA a model of employee inclusion, establishing a Civil Liberties and Privacy Office in 2014 to unify NSA’s many efforts toward protecting American values while keeping pace with technological innovation, and implementing a new organizational structure to enable more efficient defense of U.S. information infrastructure.



I look forward to the change of command ceremony on May 4 when Admiral Rogers will hand the baton to Lt. Gen. Nakasone.



Daniel R. Coats, Director of National Intelligence