Michael H. Decker was the

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight The Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight, formerly the Senior Intelligence Oversight Official, or SIOO, was responsible to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for the independent oversight of all intelligence, counterintellige ...

. from September 2009 to February 2014. Before that he was assistant director of Intelligence,

Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence is the intelligence arm of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsibl ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. He served as Director of Intelligence during Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF II) from January 2004 to June 2005.

Early life and education

Decker obtained his

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and later earned his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in government/national security studies from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. He also holds a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in Strategic intelligence from the

National Defense Intelligence College The National Intelligence University (NIU) is a federally chartered research university in Bethesda, Maryland operated by and for the United States Intelligence Community (IC) as its staff college of higher learning in fields of study central t ...

Military career

Decker was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and served as an

infantry platoon commander Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

during operations to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. In 1982, he was deployed as an assistant battalion operations officer to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, as part of the

Multinational Force in Lebanon The Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in August 1982 following a 1981 U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel to end their involvement in the conf ...

. After returning to the United States, Decker served as an infantry company commander and later as assistant operations officer for an expeditionary unit in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. Reassigned to Headquarters, United States Marine Corps, Decker served as the Marine Corps Security Force/Marine Security Guard policy and program officer. Decker next served as an intelligence officer with a

Marine Expeditionary Unit A Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU, pronounced as one syllable "" IPA: ) is the smallest Marine air-ground task force, air-ground task force (MAGTF) in the United States Fleet Marine Force.Western Pacific and later as a

Marine Expeditionary Force A Marine expeditionary force (MEF), formerly known as a Marine amphibious force, is the largest type of a Marine air-ground task force. A MEF is the largest building block of United States Marine Corps combat power. __TOC__ Structure A MEF is l ...

production/analysis officer in an all-source fusion center, where he co-ordinated all intelligence aspects of marine participation in Central Command theater contingency planning and exercises. Decker was deployed to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

as a senior intelligence analyst, supervising enemy order of battle analysis and co-ordinating political analysis and theater intelligence liaison for Marine Forces Central Command during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. Decker was medically retired in 1991.

Post-government

Decker is the Director, Intelligence and Security Programs at Operational Intelligence, LLC, a QinetiQ-US company. Earlier Decker served as the Director, Marine Forces Programs and a Senior International/Defense Research Analyst, at the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

and a Senior Fellow at the

Institute for Defense Analyses The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an American non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) – the Systems and Analyses Center (SAC), Science and Technology Policy Institute, t ...

. Decker has served as a

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indu ...

-approved Outside Director for SDL Government and as a Director for the

Intelligence and National Security Alliance The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a non-profit, nonpartisan 501(c)(6) professional organization based in Arlington, Virginia for the public and private sector members of the United States Intelligence Community. Histor ...

(INSA). He has also served on the

AFCEA AFCEA International (formerly called Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association International), established in 1946, is a nonprofit membership association serving the military, government, industry, and academia as a forum for advancing ...

Intelligence Committee.

Awards and decorations

Decker's awards include: *

National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal The National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (NIDSM) is a decoration awarded for service to the United States Intelligence Community. The decoration is awarded to any member or contributor to the National Intelligence Community, either ...

Defense Intelligence Director's Award * Distinguished and Meritorious Presidential Rank Awards *

Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award The Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award is the second highest career award presented by the Department of Defense. It is presented for exceptionally noteworthy service of major significance to the Department of Defense as a who ...

Decker's military decorations include: *

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal ribbon

Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal

Personal life

Decker is married and has two sons. Decker is an adjunct associate professor in the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.

Publications

* Michael H. Decker and William Mackenzie “The Birth and Early Years of Marine Corps Intelligence,” Marine Corps History, Volume 5, Number 2 (Winter 2020) p. 39-53 * Maj Michael H. Decker, USMC (Ret) and Sgt William Mackenzie, USMC (Ret), “Marine Corps Intelligence, the Interwar Years,” Marine Corps Gazette, Volume 103, Number 9 (September 2019) p. 10 * Cortney Weinbaum, John V. Parachini, Richard S. Girven, Michael H. Decker, Richard C. Baffa, "Perspectives and Opportunities in Intelligence for U.S. Leaders," RAND Corp, Document Number: PE-287-OSD, 2018 * George Nacouzi, J.D. Williams, Brian Dolan, Anne Stickells, David Luckey, Colin Ludwig, Jia Xu, Yuliya Shokh, Daniel M. Gerstein, Michael H. Decker, "Assessment of the Proliferation of Certain Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems," RAND Corporation, Document Number: RR-2369-JS, 2018 * Decker, Michael H
"USMC Intel: 1994-2008"
''MCIA Inc INTSUM''; autumn 2014; vol. XXVI, issue 1 * Decker, Michael H; "Assessing the Intelligence Effort", ''Marine Corps Gazette''; vol. 75, no. 9 (September 1991), p. 22 * Decker, Michael H; "The MAGTF and Low-Intensity Conflict", ''Marine Corps Gazette''; vol. 72, no. 3 (March 1988), p. 45 * Decker, Michael H; Batts, Christopher B.; "Marine Corps Counterintelligence Support to the Warfighter, Past, Present and Future", ''American Intelligence Journal''; vol. 20, no. 1&2 (winter 2000–2001) * Decker, Michael H; "Three MAFs for the Corps", ''U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings''; vol 113 (November 1987), p. 74 * Decker, Michael H; Jeffries, James H, III; "Platoon - The Movie and Law of War Training", ''Marine Corps Gazette''; vol. 71, no. 4 (April 1987), p. 40 * Decker, Michael H; "On Women, Combat, and Leadership", ''Marine Corps Gazett''e; vol. 75, no. 10 (October 1991), p. 89 * Decker, Mike; "The Long Run", ''Scholastic'', Notre Dame, Indiana, vol. 121, no. 7 (March 21, 1980) p 26 http://www.archives.nd.edu/Scholastic/VOL_0121/VOL_0121_ISSUE_0007.pdf

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Michael H Living people United States assistant secretaries of defense University of Notre Dame alumni Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni National Intelligence University alumni George W. Bush administration personnel Obama administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) United States Marine Corps officers