President Donald Trump nominated Army Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd to lead the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), the Pentagon announced on Thursday.
Rudd would replace Lt. Gen. William Hartman, who has been leading the agency in an acting capacity following the Trump administration’s removal of Gen. Timothy Haugh from leadership of both organizations.
The circumstances surrounding Haugh’s dismissal remain unclear. Neither the White House nor the Defense Department (DOD) – rebranded as the War Department by President Trump – has provided substantive comment on the leadership change.
The positions of NSA director and Cyber Command commander are traditionally held by a four-star general serving in a dual-hatted capacity. However, Rudd does not appear to have previously held a military cybersecurity position, according to his career background.
Rudd currently serves as deputy director for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. A career Special Forces officer, Rudd has held posts from Operational Detachment Alpha to Special Forces Group. His assignments include deputy commanding general for operations of the 25th Infantry Division from 2019 to 2020 and deputy commanding general of the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) from 2018 to 2019.
From 2017 to 2018, Rudd served as commander of Joint Interagency Task Force–National Capital Region and as commander of a forward-deployed combined joint special operations task force. He commanded the 3rd Operations Support Group from 2015 to 2017 and a forward-deployed combined joint task force during the same period. Rudd later served as commander of Special Operations Command Pacific, overseeing special operations forces across 52% of the globe. In that role, he provided operational oversight for the planning and execution of sustained special operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the same announcement, the DOD also named other officials for senior cyber and technology-related roles.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Lorna M. Mahlock was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general to serve as deputy commander of CYBERCOM. Mahlock currently serves as commander of the Cyber National Mission Force at CYBERCOM.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Luke C. G. Cropsey was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general to serve as military deputy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Cropsey currently serves as program executive officer for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management in the same office at the Pentagon.