Michael T. Flynn

Michael T. Flynn
Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, Director of DIA
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Defense Intelligence Agency, Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Battles/wars	Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Uphold Democracy
Awards	multiple

Michael T. Flynn is a United States Army lieutenant general^[1][2] and, since July 24, 2012, has served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and chair of the Military Intelligence Board. Prior to this he served as assistant director of national intelligence. He has consistently pushed for greater information and intelligence sharing and has been a leading figure in coalition and special operations intelligence operations. Flynn published a report in January 2010 through the Center for New American Security entitled "Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan", that took the intelligence community to task for lacking an understanding of the human-socio context of the battlefield in Afghanistan.

Flynn's career has been primarily operational, with numerous combat arms conventional and special operations senior intelligence assignments. He also served as the senior intelligence officer for the Joint Special Operations Command, where he was credited with creating innovative techniques for interrogation operations and operations-intelligence fusion, leading to major breakthroughs in counterterrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere against Al-Qaeda and its associated movements. Flynn is a widely published author with articles appearing in Infantry Journal, Military Intelligence Magazine, Small Wars Journal, Military Review, Joint Forces Quarterly, the Center for a New American Security, and various other military and intelligence publications.

Education

Flynn graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science degree in management science in 1981 and was commissioned a distinguished military graduate through Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He also holds three masters degrees and an honorary doctorate. He is also the recipient of the Congressionally approved Ellis Island Medal of Freedom and the 2012 Special Operations Community's Man of the Year award.

Career

Flynn's assignments have included multiple tours at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, and Joint Special Operations Command, where he deployed for Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. He also has served with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.^[2]

Flynn commanded the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade from June 2002 to June 2004. He served as the assistant chief of staff, G2, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from June 2001 and the director of intelligence, Joint Task Force 180 in Afghanistan until July 2002.^[2]

Flynn served as the director of intelligence, Joint Staff from July, 2008 to June, 2009, then the director of intelligence, International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from June 2009 to October 2010. He also served as the director of intelligence, United States Central Command from June 2007 to July 2008, and the director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command from July 2004 to June 2007, with service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom).^[2]

Flynn is a graduate of the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Army Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and Naval War College. He earned a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications from Golden Gate University, a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College, a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College and an honorary doctorate from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC.^[2]

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

In September 2011 numerous media outlets reported on Flynn's promotion to lieutenant general and assignment to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. His duties include public, private, and international outreach and engagement. Flynn's influence throughout the intelligence community is primarily with operational units across all the services, especially in the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance arenas as well as information technology and organizational design.

Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

On April 17, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Flynn to be the 18th director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.^[3] Flynn took command of DIA, July, 2012.^[4] In October 2012 Flynn announced plans to release his VISION2020: Accelerating Change Through Integration blueprint, a broad look at how the Defense Intelligence Agency must transform to meet the national security challenges for the 21st Century.^[5]

Awards

Flynn has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster), Bronze Star Medal (with three oak leaf cluster), Meritorious Service Medal (with five oak leaf clusters), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with five oak leaf clusters), and several service and campaign medals. Flynn has also earned the Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, and Joint Staff Identification Badge.^[2]

Notes

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v t e Directors of the Defense Intelligence Agency Carroll Bennett De Poix Graham Wilson Tighe Williams Perroots Soyster Nagy (Acting) Clapper Minihan Hughes Wilson Jacoby Maples Burgess Flynn