James Clapper

James R. Clapper
James R. Clapper
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1963-1995
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Legion of Merit (3) Bronze Star (2) Air Medal (2)
Other work	Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence

James R. Clapper, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence

James R. Clapper, Jr. is a retired Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force and serves as Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence - USD(I). He is also dual-hatted as the first Director of Defense Intelligence within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Clapper has held several key positions within the United States Intelligence Community. He served as the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) from September 2001 until June 2006. Previously, he served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 1992 until 1995.

On 04 June, 2010, it was reported that President Barack Obama would nominate Clapper to replace Dennis Blair as National Security Advisor.

Military career

After a brief enlistment in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, General Clapper transferred to the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He was commissioned in 1963 as a distinguished military graduate from the University of Maryland. He commanded a signals intelligence detachment in Thailand (where he flew 73 combat support missions in EC-47s), a signals intelligence SIGINT wing at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. Clapper served as director of intelligence for three of the unified commands: U.S. Forces Korea, U.S. Pacific Command and Strategic Air Command. Also, he served as senior intelligence officer for the Air Force.

Appointment as USD(I)

After his departure from NGA in June 2006, Clapper briefly served as the chief operating officer for Detica DFI, now a US-based subsidiary of BAE Systems. For the 2006-2007 academic year, Clapper held the position of Georgetown University’s Intelligence and National Security Alliance Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Intelligence. While teaching at Georgetown, President George W. Bush officially nominated Clapper to be Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence on 29 January 2007. Clapper was confirmed by the United States Senate on 11 April 2007 and was sworn into office on 13 April 2007. He is only the second person to hold this position, which oversees and provides policy, program, and budgetary guidance to the defense intelligence agencies - DIA, NGA, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) - and also works closely with the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

Education

• 1963 Bachelor of science degree in political science, University of Maryland
• 1970 Master of science degree in political science, St. Mary's University, Texas
• 1973 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
• 1975 Distinguished graduate, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia
• 1976 Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
• 1979 National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
• 1990 Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security, Harvard University, Massachusetts
• 1990 Harvard Defense Policy Seminar, Harvard University, Massachusetts

Clapper also holds an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College, where he taught as an adjunct professor.

Major Awards and Decorations

• William Oliver Baker Award
•   Defense Distinguished Service Medal
•   Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
•   Defense Superior Service Medal
•   Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
•   Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster
•   Defense Meritorious Service Medal
•   Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
•   Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
•   Joint Service Commendation Medal
•   Air Force Commendation Medal
• File:National Order of Merit Commander Ribbon.png  French Order of National Merit (Commander)
•   Republic of Korea Order of National Security of Merit, Chonsu Medal
• File:National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.gif  National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal

References

General References

Official DoD biography as USD(I)

Official U.S. Air Force biography