New DIA Director

The Pentagon today named the next director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has been tapped to replace outgoing DIA Director Lt. Gen. General Ronald Burgess, according to a Defense Department statement released this afternoon. Flynn is the assistant director of national intelligence for partner engagement.

From Flynn's official bio:

Michael T. Flynn graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1981 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Military Intelligence. His first assignment was as a paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Since that time he has served in a variety of command and staff positions to include, Commander, 313th Military Intelligence Battalion and G2, 82nd Airborne Division; G2, 18th Airborne Corps, CJ2, CJTF-180 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan; Commander, 111th Military Intelligence Brigade at the Army's Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Director of Intelligence, Joint Special Operations Command with duty in OEF and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); Director of Intelligence, United States Central Command with duty in OEF and OIF; Director of Intelligence, the Joint Staff; Director of Intelligence, International Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan and US Forces-Afghanistan, Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2; and he currently serves as the Assistant Director of National Intelligence, Partner Engagement.

Lieutenant General Flynn holds an undergraduate degree in Management Science from the University of Rhode Island and holds three graduate degrees; a Master's of Business Administration in Telecommunications from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, a Masters in the Military Arts and Sciences from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Masters in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws, from the Institute of World Politics, Washington D.C.

Lieutenant General Flynn's other assignments include multiple tours at Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division as a platoon leader for Operation URGENT FURY in Grenada, and as Chief of Joint War Plans for JTF-180 UPHOLD DEMOCRACY in Haiti. He also served with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and as the Senior Observer/Controller for Intelligence at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Army Maj. Gen. Theodore Nicholas, deputy director for signals intelligence at the National Security Agency, has been tapped to replace Flynn at ODNI as well as for promotion to lieutenant general, according to the same DOD announcement.