U.S. Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, is among the recipients of the 2024 Wash100 Award, joining a league of outstanding government contracting leaders. This is Haugh’s first time to be inducted into Executive Mosaic’s annual roster and the award recognizes his leadership and contributions to cyber defense.
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“Having served in leadership positions at Sixteenth Air Force, Air Forces Cyber, the Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber, in the Intelligence Community and most recently as deputy commander of CYBERCOM, Gen. Haugh is an exceptionally qualified and knowledgeable leader who has taken over CYBERCOM and NSA during this pivotal moment both in the cyber landscape and within the agency as it unlocks new authorities,” commented Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic.
“Gen. Haugh’s commitment to persistent engagement against adversaries in the cyber domain, paired with his deep cyber and intelligence expertise position him to effectively execute CYBERCOM’s mission and make him a clear choice for our Wash100 list. This is Gen. Haugh’s first year of recognition, and we’re excited to see the impacts of his leadership in 2024 and beyond,” continued Garrettson, founder of the Wash100 Award.
Although he only took the reins as CYBERCOM commander in early February, Haugh had been assuming responsibilities in cybersecurity within the intelligence operations of the Air Force.
At Fort George Meade in Maryland, his assignments included being CYBERCOM’s deputy commander of Joint Task Force-Ares and director of intelligence. He was also commander of the Cyber National Mission Force at the base.
From 2019 to 2022, Haugh was commander of Air Forces Cyber and Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
His confirmation came in December 2023 when the Senate voted in favor of him as CYBERCOM commander, NSA director and chief of the Central Security Service.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to lead the incredible workforce of the Command and the Agency as they support the joint force during this decisive decade,” he commented on the confirmation. “My priorities— people, innovation, and partnerships — will serve as the foundational values to ensure we continue to execute our mission to deliver outcomes against national priorities in foreign intelligence and cybersecurity.”
In the months leading to his appointment, Haugh expressed his support for the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The provision, which allows the U.S. government to conduct surveillance on foreign persons outside the country, “has been critical in counterterrorism, cybersecurity, counterintelligence, countering international drug trafficking, and strategic competition,” he stated during a confirmation hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee. He pledged to keep Section 702 surveillance activities within the limits of the constitution as CYBERCOM head.
He also vowed to integrate CYBERCOM training standards into the preparation of tactical and expeditionary IT defense units across all service branches.
“Expeditionary cyber forces have already demonstrated potential to extend the reach of cyber enabling activities and close the gaps that limit cyber forces’ ability to access important tactical targets in forward locations,” he stated in writing. “If confirmed, I will work with the Services to ensure any tactical forces will meet USCYBERCOM training standards, follow Department deconfliction policies, and when leveraging USCYBERCOM authorities, ensure interoperability with Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture.”
During the same hearing, Haugh defended the dual-hat stewardship of NSA and CYBERCOM. “The signals intelligence and cyber operating environments substantially overlap. Eliminating the dual hat would reduce relevant visibility and understanding across both mission sets, increasing risk to intelligence sources and operational activities,” he explained.
Perhaps one of the most critical opinions Haugh expressed in the past year was his push for the passage of the fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill. He stressed that the proposed budget will support the command’s enhanced financial authority to execute important IT defense preparedness activities.
“With those authorities it allows Cyber Command to set the investment in our training infrastructure, in our training courses and allows the services to focus on recruiting, initial skills training aligned to our standard, and then to leverage the retention capabilities that Congress has given to the services,” Haugh said. “Those are areas now that really change the dynamic of how we will approach cyber readiness.”
Executive Mosaic is proud to award the 2024 Wash100 badge to Gen. Timothy Haugh, NSA director, CYBERCOM commander and CSS chief. His presence in this year’s roster elevates the prestige of Wash100.
