Leadership of the National Reconnaissance Office

The Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO) of the United States is responsible to the Secretary of Defense (through the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence) and the Director of National Intelligence for all national space and assigned airborne reconnaissance activities. The DNRO provides top-level management direction to the NRO in response to Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence requirements.

Chronological list of National Reconnaissance Office directors

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This is a list of directors of the NRO, and the terms in office.

Photo Name Term of Office Presidential Administration(s) Significant events
  Dr. Richard M. Bissell, Jr. September 1961 – February 1962[1] Kennedy Co-director with Dr. Charyk
  Dr. Joseph V. Charyk September 6, 1961 – March 1, 1963 Kennedy First NRO co-director
  Dr. Brockway McMillan March 1, 1963 – October 1, 1965 Kennedy/Johnson
  Dr. Alexander H. Flax October 1, 1965 – March 17, 1969 Johnson
  Dr. John L. McLucas March 17, 1969 – December 20, 1973 Nixon
  Mr. James W. Plummer December 21, 1973 – June 28, 1976 Nixon/Ford
  Mr. Thomas C. Reed August 9, 1976 – April 7, 1977 Ford/Carter
  Dr. Hans Mark August 3, 1977 – October 7, 1979 Carter
  Dr. Robert J. Hermann October 8, 1979 – August 2, 1981 Carter/Reagan
  Mr. Edward (Pete) C. Aldridge, Jr. August 3, 1981 – December 16, 1988 Reagan
  Mr. Martin C. Faga September 28, 1989 – March 5, 1993 Bush/Clinton Declassification of NRO
  Mr. Jeffrey K. Harris May 19, 1994 – February 26, 1996 Clinton Declassification of CORONA/ARGON/LANYARD
  Mr. Keith R. Hall March 28, 1997 – December 13, 2001 Clinton/Bush September 11, 2001 attacks
  Mr. Peter B. Teets December 2001 – March 2005 Bush
  Dr. Donald M. Kerr July 2005 – October 5, 2007 Bush
  Mr. Scott F. Large October 19, 2007 – April 18, 2009[2] Bush/Obama
  General Bruce Carlson, USAF (Ret.) June 12, 2009 – July 20, 2012[3] Obama
  Ms. Betty J. Sapp July 20, 2012 – April 4, 2019 Obama/Trump First woman NRO Director
  Dr. Christopher Scolese August 5, 2019 – present Trump/Biden First presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed NRO Director[4]

List of Deputy Directors of National Reconnaissance Office

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No. Deputy Director Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Term length
1Major General
John T. Sheridan
July 2006June 2008~1 year, 336 days
2Major General
Ellen M. Pawlikowski
(born 1956)
June 2008January 2010~1 year, 214 days
3Major General
Susan K. Mashiko
January 2010June 2013~3 years, 151 days
4Major General
Anthony J. Cotton
June 2013November 2015~2 years, 153 days
5Major General
Stephen Denker
November 2015~25 June 2018~2 years, 222 days
6Brigadier General
Mark Baird
(1965–2023)
~25 June 2018December 2018~173 days
Brigadier General
Christopher Povak
(born 1970)
Acting
December 20188 July 2019~205 days
7Major General
Michael Guetlein
(born 1967)
8 July 2019[5]9 August 20212 years, 32 days
8Major General
Donna D. Shipton
(born c. 1970)
9 August 2021[6]22 August 20221 year, 13 days
9Major General
Christopher Povak
(born 1970)
9 September 2022[7]Incumbent2 years, 73 days

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NRO Directors". Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  2. ^ DoD Names New NRO Director, 19 Oct 2007
  3. ^ Director of National Reconnaissance Office Named, 12 Jun 2009
  4. ^ "Dr. Christopher Scolese" (PDF). nro.gov. NRO. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "New NRO Deputy Director assumes command".
  6. ^ "NRO welcomes new deputy director, Maj. Gen. Donna Shipton".
  7. ^ https://www.nro.gov/Portals/65/documents/news/press/2022/2022%20NRO%20welcomes%20new%20deputy%20director_9Sept22.pdf [bare URL PDF]