WASHINGTON — The leader of the U.S. Air Force’s information warfare branch has been selected to be the next Cyber Command deputy, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced.
If confirmed by the Senate, Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander of the 16th Air Force (Air Forces Cyber), would replace Lt. Gen. Charles Moore. Moore has been the No. 2 at Cyber Command since late 2020.
Haugh’s nomination was disclosed April 26 alongside two others.
He previously led the Cyber National Mission Force, which targets malicious cyber actors in defense of the U.S.. Haugh also served as the director for intelligence at CYBERCOM and was the deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ares, established to combat the Islamic State online.
Haugh in 2019 said the U.S. was “engaged in power competition with adversaries in all domains today.”
“Intelligence is the fuel that commanders require to maneuver in response,” Haugh said, according to previous reporting by C4ISRNET. “The nation expects our enterprise to be global and agile, integrated into daily combat and reconnaissance operations, and capable of quickly maneuvering capabilities to focus on emerging threats.”
The three-star lieutenant general is considered a potential successor to Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of CYBERCOM and the director of the National Security Agency. Nakasone assumed the combined role in 2018.
Exactly when the Senate would take up Haugh’s nomination was not clear.
Colin Demarest was a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covered military networks, cyber and IT. Colin had previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.
