The Navy plans to elevate Vice Adm. Matthew Kohler to director of naval intelligence, taking over for Vice Adm. Jan Tighe.
Kohler is the current head of Naval Information Forces in Suffolk, Virginia.
Tighe took over DNI, an office known internally as N2/N6, in 2016 after a prolonged standoff between the Navy and the Department of Justice that hamstrung previous DNI leadership.
Vice Adm. Ted Branch had his security clearance suspended while he was under investigation as part of the ongoing “Fat Leonard” scandal, but was largely cleared of wrongdoing. DoJ declined to prosecute and the Navy’s consolidated disposition authority closed the matter after taking “administrative action.”
Rear Adm. Johnny Wolfe, current program head of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, was nominated for a third star and an assignment as the director for strategic systems programs at Washington Navy Yard.
Rear Adm. Scott Conn, the head of the Pentagon’s Air Warfare division, was nominated for a second star, and his executive assistant, Capt. John Ring, was nominated for promotion to rear admiral.
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
