Joe Kernan of SAP National Security Services is one of 18 nominees President Donald Trump has sent to the Senate for approval.
Kernan, of Florida, is slated to be undersecretary of defense for intelligence. The office was created in 2003 and functions as the principal intelligence adviser to the secretary of defense.
Since late 2013, Kernan has served as senior vice president of business development for SAP, where he leverages software technologies in support of missions related to national security.
Kernan is also chairman of the veteran training and employment program NS2 Serves, which provides IT training in SAP software solutions. He is on the board of directors for the National Navy Seal Museum and The Mission Continues.
A Naval Academy graduate who went on to accumulate 36 years of active duty service, Kernan has been a surface warfare officer and special warfare/SEAL officer. He commanded the Fourth Fleet from June 2008 to April 2009 and was senior military assistant to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates from May 2009 to April 2011. From May 2011 to August 2013, he was deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command. He retired as a vice admiral.