Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that President Joe Biden has made a slew of appointments at the Pentagon, including two in the cyber realm.
Rear Adm. (lower half) William E. Chase III has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Chase currently wears two hats at the Pentagon. He serves as senior military advisor for cyber policy to the undersecretary of defense for policy and as the deputy principal cyber advisor to the secretary of defense. Chase is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds a Master of Science from Carnegie Mellon University in Information Technology and a CIO certificate.
President Biden also nominated Capt. Ralph R. Smith III for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Smith is currently serving as director of Maritime Operations Center for the U.S. Tenth Fleet/U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Md.
Both nominations have been referred to the Senate Armed Forces Committee. The Committee has not yet set a date to consider the nominations.
