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Leadership of the National Reconnaissance Office

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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
1
John T. Sheridan
Major General
John T. Sheridan
July 2006June 2008~1 year, 336 days
2
Ellen M. Pawlikowski
Major General
Ellen M. Pawlikowski
(born 1956)
June 2008January 2010~1 year, 214 days
3
Susan K. Mashiko
Major General
Susan K. Mashiko
January 2010June 2013~3 years, 151 days
4
Anthony J. Cotton
Major General
Anthony J. Cotton
June 2013November 2015~2 years, 153 days
5
Stephen Denker
Major General
Stephen Denker
November 2015~25 June 2018~2 years, 222 days
6
Mark Baird
Brigadier General
Mark Baird
(1965–2023)
~25 June 2018December 2018~173 days
Christopher Povak
Brigadier General
Christopher Povak
(born 1970)
Acting
December 20188 July 2019~205 days
7
Michael Guetlein
Major General
Michael Guetlein
(born 1967)
8 July 2019[5]9 August 20212 years, 32 days
8
Donna D. Shipton
Major General
Donna D. Shipton
(born c. 1970)
9 August 2021[6]22 August 20221 year, 13 days
9
Christopher Povak
Major 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]