Michael S. Rogers

For other people named Michael Rogers, see Michael Rogers (disambiguation).

Michael S. Rogers (born October 31, 1959) is a retired four-star admiral of the United States Navy. Rogers served as the second commander of the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) from April 2014 to May 2018 while concurrently serving as the 17th director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and as chief of the Central Security Service (CSS). During his tenure, he helped transform and elevate U.S. Cyber Command into a unified combatant command. Rogers relinquished command to General Paul M. Nakasone^[2][3] on May 4, 2018 and retired from the Navy a few weeks later on June 1, 2018.

Michael Rogers
2nd Commander of United States Cyber Command
In office April 3, 2014 – May 4, 2018
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Preceded by	Keith B. Alexander
Succeeded by	Paul M. Nakasone
17th Director of the National Security Agency
In office April 3, 2014 – May 4, 2018
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Deputy	George Barnes
Preceded by	Keith B. Alexander
Succeeded by	Paul M. Nakasone
Personal details
Born	(1959-10-31) October 31, 1959 (age 64) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Independent[1]
Education	Auburn University (BA) Naval War College (MS)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1981–2018
Rank	Admiral
Commands	United States Cyber Command National Security Agency Central Security Service United States Fleet Cyber Command United States Tenth Fleet
Battles/wars	Invasion of Grenada Multinational Force in Lebanon
Awards	Navy Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal (3)

Prior to 2014, Rogers served as the Commander of the Tenth Fleet and Commander of the United States Fleet Cyber Command, with responsibility for all of the Navy's cyberwarfare efforts.^[4] In 2009, he was the director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff after having been the director of intelligence for Pacific Command from 2007 onwards.

Early life and education

Rogers was born on October 31, 1959^[5] and is a native of Chicago, Illinois. While in middle school Rogers joined the United States Naval Sea Cadets Corps and attended an international exchange with the cadets in Canada.^[6] His time in Sea Cadet fueled his excitement about the Navy.^[6] He graduated from New Trier High School in 1977.^[7] He is a graduate of Auburn University (1981) and the Naval War College.^[8]

Career

Rogers speaking to a group of sailors at the Center for Information Dominance in January 2012.

1980s

Rogers received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program and has served in the United States Navy since graduating from Auburn University in 1981. He started his career as a Surface Warfare Officer working in naval gunfire support operations off Grenada, Beirut, and maritime surveillance operations off El Salvador on board the USS Caron (DD-970).^[9] In 1986, he was selected for transfer from unrestricted line officer to restricted line officer and re-designation as a cryptology officer.^[10]

2000s

During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Rogers joined the military's Joint Staff, which works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he specialized in computer network attacks. From 2007 onward he served as director of intelligence for the military's Pacific Command. In 2009, he became director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was subsequently named commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and commander of the U.S. 10th Fleet, with responsibility for all of the Navy's cyberwarfare efforts.^[9] As such, Rogers was the first restricted line officer to serve as a numbered fleet commander and the first Information Warfare Community (IWC) officer to achieve the rank of vice admiral.^[11]

2010s

In January 2014, the Obama Administration announced Rogers' nomination as director of the National Security Agency and the commander of the United States offensive cyberoperations unit in the Department of Defense. Rogers succeeded General Keith B. Alexander, who served as the NSA director for nine years,^[12][13][14] and became the first IWC officer to achieve the rank of admiral. Although the NSA directorship does not require Senate approval, Rogers had to be confirmed by the Senate to head United States Cyber Command,^[15] for which the Senate unanimously confirmed him.

In his first public remarks as NSA director, Rogers stated that he believed that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was "probably not" working for a foreign intelligence agency despite speculation to the contrary. Rogers added: "He clearly believes in what he's doing. I question that; I don't agree with it. I fundamentally disagree with what he did. I believe it was wrong; I believe it was illegal."^[16]

In January 2018, Rogers announced he would be retiring from the NSA in the spring.^[17][18][19]

In early 2019, Rogers became the chairman of the board of advisors of Claroty, a cybersecurity firm.^[20]

2020s

In October 2022, Rogers joined the Council for Responsible Social Media project launched by Issue One to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States. The council is co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader Dick Gephardt and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.^[21][22]

In May 2022, Rogers was appointed to the Board of Advisors at Talon Cyber Security.^[23][24]

Military decorations

	Navy Information Dominance Warfare Officer Pin
	Navy Surface Warfare Officer Pin
	United States Cyber Command Badge
	National Security Agency Badge

	Navy Distinguished Service Medal
	Defense Superior Service Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters
	Meritorious Service Medal with two gold award stars
	Joint Service Commendation Medal
	Navy Commendation Medal with silver award star
	Joint Meritorious Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
	Navy Unit Commendation
	Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation with two bronze service stars
	National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal
	Navy "E" Ribbon
	Navy Expeditionary Medal with three service stars
	National Defense Service Medal with service star
	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with service star
	Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
	Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
	Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
	Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with 2 service stars
	Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon with 4 service stars
	Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (military version), 17 September 2018[25]
	Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon
	Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal

References

1. "DocumentCloud".
2. U.S. Cyber Command Change of Command/Command Elevation Ceremony
3. "Cyber Command Elevated to Combatant Command". Military.com. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2018-05-05.
4. "Navy cyber warfare chief is Obama's pick to lead NSA". Los Angeles Times. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
5. "Nominations Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Second Session, 113th Congress" (PDF). Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
6. Sea Cadet Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 4, December 2015 Page 5 Retrieved 16 January 2024
7. "New Trier's Rogers talks about U.S. Fleet Cyber Command". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
8. Peterson, Andrea (October 16, 2013). "Meet the man who could be next in line to control the NSA's spying apparatus". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
9. Sanger, David; Shanker, Thom (30 January 2014). "N.S.A. Choice Is Navy Expert on Cyberwar". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
10. "U.S. Navy bio". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
11. Guimont, Nathan L. (2 June 2012). "10th Fleet Commander Visits Navy Linguists". Navy.mil. U.S. Navy. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
12. Nakashima, Ellen (25 January 2014). "Obama signs off on nomination of Rogers as NSA director". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
13. Sanger, David (30 January 2014). "Vice Admiral to Be Named N.S.A. Director". New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
14. Hattem, Julian (30 January 2014). "Obama to name new NSA director". The Hill. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
15. Ackerman, Spencer (30 January 2014). "Vice-admiral Michael Rogers to take command of embattled NSA". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
16. Ackerman, Spencer (3 June 2014). "NSA chief Michael Rogers: Edward Snowden 'probably not' a foreign spy". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
17. "NSA Chief Mike Rogers's Classified Retirement Memo Leaks". nymag. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
18. "NSA's Rogers to retire this spring". politico. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
19. "NSA Chief Adm. Mike Rogers Expected to Retire this Spring; Leaves Complicated Legacy". usni. February 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
20. "U.S. Navy Admiral (Ret.) Michael S. Rogers named to Claroty Advisory Board". www.SecurityInfoWatch.com. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
21. Feiner, Lauren (October 12, 2022). "Facebook whistleblower, former defense and intel officials form group to fix social media". CNBC. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
22. "Council for Responsible Social Media – Issue One". issueone.org. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
23. "Talon Cyber Security appoints Admiral Mike Rogers to its Board of Advisors". Help Net Security. 2022. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
24. "Talon Cyber Security appoints former NSA Director Mike Rogers to lead board of advisors". ctech. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
25. "ORDER OF AUSTRALIA" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2018.

External links

• Media related to Michael S. Rogers at Wikimedia Commons
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Government offices
Preceded by Keith Alexander	NSA Director 2014–2018	Succeeded by Paul M. Nakasone
Military offices
Preceded by Michael Flynn	Director of Intelligence of the Joint Staff 2009–2011	Succeeded by Elizabeth L. Train
Preceded by Bernard J. McCullough, III	Commander of United States Tenth Fleet/Fleet Cyber Command 2011–2014	Succeeded by Jan E. Tighe
Preceded by Keith Alexander	Commander of the United States Cyber Command 2014–2018	Succeeded by Paul M. Nakasone