Nakasone casing the Second Army's colors in 2017 at its inactivation ceremony
Nakasone has commanded at the company, battalion, and brigade levels.[17] He also served in foreign assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea, and has served as a senior intelligence officer at the battalion, division, and corps levels.[17] Nakasone served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff as deputy director for trans-regional policy in 2012 when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and previously served as a staff officer for General Keith B. Alexander.[3][23]
Prior to promotion to lieutenant general in 2016, Nakasone was the deputy commanding general of United States Army Cyber Command and later commander of the Cyber National Mission Force at Cyber Command.[17][7][24][25][26] Nakasone has twice served as a staff officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was the director of intelligence, J2, for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.[17] On 14 October 2016, he took command of the United States Second Army and United States Army Cyber Command.[17][7] Nakasone was also given control of United States Cyber Command's Joint Task Force-ARES, a task-force designed to coordinate electronic counter-terrorist activities against the Islamic State.[7][27] He served as commander of the Second Army until it was inactivated for the fourth time in its history on 31 March 2017, and continued to serve as commander of United States Army Cyber Command.[8]
In January 2018, it was reported that Nakasone was on the list of potential replacements for outgoing NSA DirectorMichael S. Rogers.[28] In February 2018, he was nominated for promotion to general.[29] In April 2018, Nakasone was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate as director of the National Security Agency and head of the United States Cyber Command.[30] He was also promoted to the rank of general. In May 2022, Nakasone was asked to remain as the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency until 2023.[31] In those roles, he has attracted attention for disclosing that the U.S. government took unspecified cyber offensive action against ransomware gangs operating outside the United States that targeted American infrastructure,[32] as well as against Russian targets associated with the invasion of Ukraine.[33]
Retirement and later life
Nakasone retired from the military on 1 February 2024.[34] General Timothy D. Haugh succeeded him as Director of the NSA and head of Cyber Command.
On 14 February 2024, Nakasone published an opinion article in the Washington Post, arguing for Congress to re-approve the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was due to expire in spring 2024.[35] Congress reauthorized the bill on 20 April, hours before it would have expired.
In May 2024, Nakasone was named Founding Director of Vanderbilt University's new Institute for National Defense and Global Security. Nakasone will also hold a Research Professorship within Vanderbilt's School of Engineering, as well as serving as special advisor to the chancellor.[36] Also in May 2024, Nakasone was elected to the board of trustees of Saint John's University, his alma mater.[37] Nakasone was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Dartmouth College in 9 June 2024.[38]
Nakasone joined the board of OpenAI in June 2024.[39]
^Ryunosuke Megumi (2018). "米軍と沖縄移民の絆：ナカソネ大将" [Bond between the United States Armed Forces and Okinawan immigrants: General Nakasone] (PDF). Gekkan Hanada (Monthly Hanada). p. 275. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
