The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced Aug. 17 Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse has been appointed as the director’s adviser for military affairs.
Kruse joins from the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, where he served as the director for defense intelligence for warfighter support.
This new ODNI position was created during organizational changes and will be the focal point for the office’s input to both existing and new Defense Department strategic issues affecting the intelligence community and intelligence priorities.
Kruse will be tasked with driving DOD and intelligence community enterprise integration efforts with the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, combat support agency directors, combatant commands, military intelligence chiefs and other intelligence community leaders.
Kruse previously served as director of intelligence and as senior intelligence officer in the Indo-Pacific region. His earlier roles include director of intelligence for the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve; chief of Air Force budget development; and senior specialist assistant to the commander of the U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander-Europe.
Kruse’s experience in the Indo-Pacific region is especially welcome to ODNI, as that area houses seven of the world’s largest standing militaries and five of the world’s declared nuclear nations, said Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
“Gen. Kruse’s experience planning, coordinating and executing intelligence operations across that theater brings valuable insight to ODNI’s intelligence integration role, and I look forward to working with him as we counter emerging threats from that region and around the globe,” Ratcliffe added.
