Michael S. Rogers (born October 31, 1959) is a retired four-star

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Rogers served as the second commander of the

United States Cyber Command United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integra ...

(USCYBERCOM) from April 2014 to May 2018 while concurrently serving as the 17th director of the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

(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. NakasoneU.S. Cyber Command Change of Command/Command Elevation Ceremony
/ref> on May 4, 2018 and retired from the Navy a few weeks later on June 1, 2018. 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 Cyberwarfare is the use of cyberattack, cyber attacks against an enemy State (polity), state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, ...

efforts. 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 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.Sea Cadet Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 4, December 2015
Page 5 Retrieved 16 January 2024 His time in Sea Cadet fueled his excitement about the Navy. He graduated from New Trier High School in 1977. He is a graduate of Auburn University (1981) and the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

Career

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). In 1986, he was selected for transfer from

unrestricted line officer An unrestricted line officer (shortened to URL officer) is a designator given to a commissioned officer of the line in the United States Navy, who is eligible for command at sea of the navy's warfighting combatant units such as warships, submar ...

to restricted line officer and re-designation as a cryptology officer.

2000s

During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Rogers joined the military's

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense, ...

, 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

efforts. 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.

2010s

In January 2014, the Obama Administration announced Rogers' nomination as director of the

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 almost nine years, 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

, 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 Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...

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." In January 2018, Rogers announced he would be retiring from the NSA in the spring. In early 2019, Rogers became the chairman of the board of advisors of Claroty, a cybersecurity firm.

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 Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

in the United States. The council is co-chaired by former House Democratic Caucus Leader

Dick Gephardt Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...

and former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. In May 2022, Rogers was appointed to the Board of Advisors at Talon Cyber Security.

Military decorations

References

External links

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Michael S. 1959 births Auburn University alumni Living people New Trier High School alumni Military personnel from Chicago Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal United States Navy admirals Directors of the National Security Agency Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)