Elizabeth Hight

Elizabeth A. Hight
Elizabeth A. Hight
	Rear Admiral Elizabeth A. Hight
Nickname(s)	Betsy
Born	May 5, 1955 (age 69); Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1977–2010
Rank	Rear admiral
Unit	Vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
Commands	Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic, Fleet Surveillance Support Command
Awards	Defense Superior Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Legion of Merit (with Gold Star in lieu of second award), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with Gold Star in lieu of third award), Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal and Air Force Master Space Badge.

Elizabeth Ann Hight^[1] is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who served as the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). She assumed this post in December 2007.^[2] In 2008, she was nominated for appointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as director, Defense Information Systems Agency; commander, Joint Task Force – Global Network Operations; and deputy commander, U.S. Strategic Command Global Network Operations and Defense, Arlington, Virginia. Her nomination was rejected by the Senate due to a perceived conflict of interest with her husband, retired Air Force Brigadier General Gary Salisbury, who is vice president of business development and sales for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s mission systems sector, defense mission systems division.^[3] She retired from the Navy in 2010.

Biography

Hight graduated magna cum laude from Huntingdon College in 1974 and joined the Navy in March 1977.^[2]

Naval career

Her first duty station was Naval Communications Area Master Station Western Pacific, Guam, where she was the High-Frequency Receiver Site division officer. In 1979, she reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola, where she established the command's first human resources office, followed by two years as the base public affairs officer. In 1984, Hight reported to the CNO staff (OP-094) as the program sponsor for the Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications Program. In July 1986, she reported to the U.S. Space Command Directorate of Plans (J5) as a plank owner, and in February 1988, she was selected to serve as a member of the USSPACECOM Commander-in-Chief's Group. In July 1989, Hight reported to director, Communications Security Material Systems as executive officer. In July 1991, she was assigned to the program executive officer for Space, Communications and Sensors (PMW-146), where she served as the assistant program manager for operations.

In May 1993, Hight reported to the Fleet Surveillance Support Command as commanding officer. In March 1995, she reported to the Bureau of Naval Personnel as the Assistant Branch Head, Fleet Support Assignments Office. Upon completion of that tour in July 1997, she transferred to the Joint Staff/J6, where she served as the chief of Current Operations Division and then as the executive assistant to the director of C4 Systems. In June 2000, Hight reported as the U.S. Space Command liaison officer to the U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. In July 2001, Hight reported for duty as commanding officer, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic and program manager for Mid-Atlantic Region Information Technology. In June 2002, she was selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half) and reported to OPNAV 6/7, where she was the director of Net-Centric Warfare. From 2006 to 2007, Hight was DISA's principal director for operations and deputy commander, Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations. As principal director, she was responsible for providing command, control, communications, computer and intelligence support to the nation's warfighters. As deputy commander, JTF-GNO, Hight was responsible to United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) for directing the operation and defense of the Global Information Grid (GIG). Hight was the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). She helped lead a worldwide organization of more than 6,600 military and civilian personnel responsible for planning, developing, and providing interoperable, global net-centric solutions that serve the needs of the President, Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the combatant commanders, and other Department of Defense (DoD) components.

Career At HP

On January 11, 2010, it was announced that Hight would take a position as the director of the new U.S. Defense Command and Control Infrastructure practice for Hewlett Packard's Enterprise Services (HPES), U.S. Public Sector. In October 2010, she became the vice president of the HPES U.S. Public Sector Cybersecurity Practice.