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Adm. Michael Rogers’ storied career as a four-star U.S. Navy admiral includes a four-year run as National Security Agency (NSA) director and also simultaneously as the second commander of U.S. Cyber Command under presidents Obama and Trump from 2014 to 2018.
On this episode of the Nexus Podcast, Rogers talked extensively about his time in both seats, and what prepared him to succeed in the role, the relationship- and team-building required to navigate the demands of both offices, especially how those change from administration to administration.
“It always reflects the priorities of a particular administration of a particular time. It reflects the challenges of a particular time, but the fundamentals really don't change all that much. And many of the issues don't change,” Rogers said.
The fundamentals essential to both roles, Rogers said, start with gathering as much information of the strategic and operational challenges to the U.S. and its allies. Personnel management—recruiting, training, educating, retaining a workforce—is a massive undertaking, as is doing so while maximizing resources for today and tomorrow.
“You're always asking yourself: What's the right mix of resources against what priorities? You're always trying to make sure that you're aligned with your key partners, both within the government and within the private sector. That's a dynamic that hasn't changed, never changes in my experience.”
Rogers said a key strategic decision he made to avoid gridlock within his teams is to task his deputies within NSA and Cyber Command to act as chief operating officers, and take approval authority on relevant tasks.
So as a commander and as a director, that means one of your core jobs is to make sure you have clearly articulated what in the military we call commander's intent,” Rogers said. “What are the priorities? What's the strategy? Once everybody's on the line on that, then it's all about execution and oversight.”
Rogers is the first NSA Director to previously have been a signals intelligence officer by profession. As a Navy cryptologist, Rogers was eventually intelligence director for the Indo-Pacific Command and thereafter for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a two-star admiral.
“I was a signals intelligence officer by background, so I really felt comfortable in the mission. I knew the mission from the technical side to the operational execution side,” Rogers said. “Secondly, when I was a three-star, I worked as the component commander to both NSA and U.S. Cyber Command for the Navy. So I had worked with General Alexander, my predecessor. I was his subordinate. I was a three-star. He was my four-star boss. So I had had a chance to see him, to see his background, to see his strategy. I had supported that as a part of the team, so to speak, that supported NSA. So I felt very comfortable.”
Rogers, meanwhile, said that he welcomed the enormous responsibility and workload required to succeed in the job.
I love hard work. It gives me energy. I don't look at it as, ‘oh, how terrible, how tiring.’ I would be at my desk at 0500 every morning, and I would work until 7 or 8 at night if there was no crisis. And you would do that almost seven days a week,” Rogers said. “I never thought it was onerous. I mean, you're tired. Don't get me wrong.”
One challenging aspect was the familial sacrifices required.
“I had this discussion with my family. ‘Look, this is just a window where I'm going to have to focus. I'm going to have to prioritize. It doesn't mean I don't love you and I'm not going to forget about you because you're the most important thing in life to me,” Rogers said. “But I do acknowledge that, hey, look, this is not just any other job I've had in my career. And the fact that it's two jobs, not just one, and the nature of the job and the expectations that the leadership of the nation and the leadership of the department and that your congressional oversight has for you, it just requires a real total commitment. … I loved it. I just felt energized. I'm lucky. I'm a lucky man.”
Michael Mimoso is Director of Influencer Marketing at Claroty and Editorial Director of Nexus.
