JSOU SOF Q1 Forum 2023 – Guest Speaker: LTG Mike Nagata

LTG Mike Nagata: A SOF Leader’s Reflections on Employment of Influence Operations, Activities, and Investments for Operational and Strategic Effects

Mr. Michael K. Nagata, LTG (Ret.), Senior Vice President and Strategic Advisor, CACI International INC, serves as a guest speaker sharing his reflections on employment of influence operations, activities, and investments for operational and strategic effects. 7 December 2022, Day 2.

Michael Nagata, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Ret., assumed the position of director of the strategic operational planning directorate at the National Counterterrorism Center on 13 May 2016. Previously, Lieutenant General Nagata served as the commander, Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), a sub-unified command of United States Central Command, from June 2013 to October 2015. A native of Virginia, Lieutenant General Nagata graduated from Georgia State University and commissioned as an infantry officer in 1982. He initially served as a platoon leader in the 2nd Infantry Division before volunteering for Army Special Forces in 1984. Throughout his career, he served in various positions within Army Special Forces to include detachment commander, executive officer, battalion S-3, operations center director, battalion executive officer, and group operations officer. Later, he served as the commander of 1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, responsible for the Special Forces Qualification Course. In 1990, he volunteered and assessed for a special missions unit (SMU) in which he served at various times throughout his career as a troop commander, operations officer, squadron commander, and SMU commander. After graduating from the National War College, Lieutenant General Nagata served in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He then served within the intelligence community as a deputy director for counterterrorism. As a general officer, he has served as the deputy chief in the Office of the Defense Representative to Pakistan, the deputy director for Special Operations and Counterterrorism (J-37) of the Joint Staff, and commander, SOCCENT.

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Opinions in this forum are those of the presenters and may not necessarily be the views of U.S. Government, Department of Defense, United States Special Operations Command, and the Joint Special Operations University.