By Martin Matishak
President Donald Trump is expected to pick Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, the head of the Army’s digital warfare branch, to head the clandestine National Security Agency, according to multiple people on and off Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon with knowledge of the situation.
The NSA is looking for a new leader after its current director, Adm. Mike Rogers, announced he will retire this spring, ending a near four-year run.
Picking Nakasone — who took the reins at Army Cyber Command in late 2016 — would place someone deeply versed in cyberspace operations atop the country’s premier intelligence-gathering service. As NSA head, Nakasone would also lead U.S. Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s digital warfare organization.
It’s unclear when the administration might formally announce the choice, but it’s believed the announcement could come in the next week or two, which means the Senate Armed Services Committee would hold a confirmation hearing in early March. The Senate Intelligence Committee may also hold a hearing, given the job’s heavy surveillance focus.
A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence deferred to the White House for comment. National Security Council spokesperson Marc Raimondi declined to comment.
While not a household name, Nakasone, 54, is well respected within the cybersecurity and military community. He is known for his role in helping shape the burgeoning digital war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as for assisting with the rapid buildout of Cyber Command, which has added thousands of digital warriors in recent years. Former colleagues described Nakasone as thoughtful, engaging and intelligent.
“Gen. Nakasone is a leader,” said Jonathan Reiber, a former senior Pentagon cyber officer during the Obama administration who worked with Nakasone. “He understands military cyberspace operations better than almost anyone in the United States. But, most importantly, he understands people.”
Raj De, the NSA’s top attorney from 2012-15, called Nakasone “eminently qualified for the role.”
In addition to his history at Army Cyber Command, Nakasone has also spent time at Cyber Command, where he oversaw the units tasked with digitally defending the country, collectively known as the Cyber National Mission Force. Those who worked with Nakasone at the time credit him with getting the fledgling force off the ground.
As a colonel, Nakasone served as a staff officer to Gen. Keith Alexander, who led the NSA from 2005-14 and was the first head of Cyber Command.
If confirmed, Nakasone would inherit a challenging situation at two agencies going through periods of radical transformation.
Nakasone would succeed Rogers, who was brought in to lead the NSA in the wake of Edward Snowden’s bombshell disclosures about the agency’s secret spying tools. The revelations have sparked a fervent, yearslong debate over the scope of government surveillance that has only intensified in recent months amid Republican allegations that the FBI misused powerful wiretapping capabilities.
And leaks have continued to rattle the NSA. In the last two years, the government has arrested three individuals for absconding with classified materials. At least one of these thefts may have led to classified NSA files ending up in the hands of the Russian hackers. The agency is also investigating how a massive cache of apparent NSA hacking tools appeared online, posted by the mysterious Shadow Brokers group.
In this span, morale at the agency has reportedly suffered, with many senior hackers and analysts leaving to collect big paychecks in the private sector.
“The NSA has challenges ahead of it in that regard,” said Kate Charlet, who worked with Nakasone while serving as a top cyber policy staffer for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his two predecessors. “From what I know and have seen of Gen. Nakasone’s leadership qualities, he’s the kind of person that motivates employees, that can give them sense of mission and has done that for several organizations in the past.”
Cyber Command is also experiencing its own upheaval as officials work to slowly separate it from the NSA.
Since the digital warfighting unit’s inception in 2009, Cyber Command and the NSA have shared resources, staff and leadership. The two organizations are even housed on the same campus at Fort Meade, Md.
But in recent years, Cyber Command has increasingly stood on its own as it became more integrated into to the military’s efforts. The unit is expected to hit “full operational capacity” by this fall, with 6,200 staffers spread across 133 teams. The Trump administration also recently decided to elevate Cyber Command, placing it on par with long-standing military units like Central Command, which orchestrates the country’s campaign to eradicate ISIS.
As the next NSA director, Nakasone would play a vital role in navigating this hurdle-laden process. There are concerns that rushing such a separation could hamper each agency, depriving them both of vital shared resources.
Those who have worked with Nakasone said he would bring the requisite expertise to the situation, having long bridged the cyber, military and intelligence worlds.
For instance, from his current perch at Army Cyber command, Nakasone helms Joint Task Force Ares, a special unit that develops cyber weapons to attack and disrupt ISIS. But earlier in his career, Nakasone also twice served as a staff officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where former officials said Nakasone would have been involved in high-level military policy decisions. Additionally, Nakasone was the intelligence director for a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan.
Nakasone has “both deep experience with cyber issues in the military and foreign intelligence issues,” said De, the former top NSA lawyer.
Rumors of Nakasone’s ascension to the top NSA spot have bounced around the national security community for a few weeks, appearing on blogs and prompting former NSA officials to debate the potential appointment across the internet.
“Nakasone is a well-regarded choice” for NSA director, tweeted Susan Hennessey, a former NSA attorney, on Jan. 5. “But the job is going to require more than just cyber creds. It’s a moment in which the agency is crying out for strong leadership.”
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