The Senate has confirmed receipt of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd, deputy commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, as director of the National Security Agency and commander of the U.S. Cyber Command.
According to data on Congress.gov, the nomination was received from the White House on Monday and was promptly referred to the Committee on Armed Services. Rudd’s nomination will also be sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Additionally, the president recommended that Rudd be promoted to the rank of general.
Is Joshua Rudd the Next NSA-CYBERCOM Leader?
The Department of War officially confirmed Rudd’s nomination for the dual-hat position on Thursday as part of its General Officer Announcements.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who serves as vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement to Politico that he is looking forward to “reviewing Lt. Gen. Rudd’s nomination and evaluating his qualifications to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command at a moment of unprecedented cyber and national security threats.”
NSA and CYBERCOM have been without an official leader since April. Lt. Gen. William Hartman currently oversees the organizations in an acting capacity.
Who Is Joshua Rudd?
Rudd entered active duty as a quartermaster officer and became a Special Forces officer after completing the Special Forces assessment and selection in 1996.
Throughout his military career, he “commanded at every echelon,” according to his biography on PACOM.mil. His command assignments include Operations of the 25th Infantry Division, 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) and Forward Deployed Combined Joint Task Force.
He also served as commander of the Special Operations Command Pacific and oversaw planning and execution of sustained special operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
Sources familiar with the matter disclosed that Rudd’s selection as NSA and CYBERCOM leader is based on his experience operating in a region that includes China, Nextgov/FCW reported.
