# Leadership of the National Reconnaissance Office

The Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO) of the United States is responsible to the Secretary of Defense (through the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence) and the Director of National Intelligence for all national space and assigned airborne reconnaissance activities. The DNRO provides top-level management direction to the NRO in response to Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence requirements.

## Chronological list of National Reconnaissance Office directors

This is a list of directors of the NRO, and the terms in office.
| Name | Term of Office | Presidential Administration(s) | Significant events |
| Dr. Richard M. Bissell, Jr. | September 1961 – February 1962 | Kennedy | Co-director with Dr. Charyk |
| Dr. Joseph V. Charyk | September 6, 1961 – March 1, 1963 | Kennedy | First NRO co-director |
| Dr. Brockway McMillan | March 1, 1963 – October 1, 1965 | Kennedy/Johnson |
| Dr. Alexander H. Flax | October 1, 1965 – March 17, 1969 | Johnson |
| Dr. John L. McLucas | March 17, 1969 – December 20, 1973 | Nixon |
| Mr. James W. Plummer | December 21, 1973 – June 28, 1976 | Nixon/Ford |
| Mr. Thomas C. Reed | August 9, 1976 – April 7, 1977 | Ford/Carter |
| Dr. Hans Mark | August 3, 1977 – October 7, 1979 | Carter |
| Dr. Robert J. Hermann | October 8, 1979 – August 2, 1981 | Carter/Reagan |
| Mr. Edward (Pete) C. Aldridge, Jr. | August 3, 1981 – December 16, 1988 | Reagan |
| Mr. Martin C. Faga | September 28, 1989 – March 5, 1993 | Bush/Clinton | Declassification of NRO |
| Mr. Jeffrey K. Harris | May 19, 1994 – February 26, 1996 | Clinton | Declassification of CORONA/ARGON/LANYARD |
| Mr. Keith R. Hall | March 28, 1997 – December 13, 2001 | Clinton/Bush | September 11, 2001 attacks |
| Mr. Peter B. Teets | December 2001 – March 2005 | Bush |
| Dr. Donald M. Kerr | July 2005 – October 5, 2007 | Bush |
| Mr. Scott F. Large | October 19, 2007 – April 18, 2009 | Bush/Obama |
| General Bruce Carlson, USAF (Ret.) | June 12, 2009 – July 20, 2012 | Obama |
| Ms. Betty J. Sapp | July 20, 2012 – April 4, 2019 | Obama/Trump | First woman NRO Director |
| Dr. Christopher Scolese | August 5, 2019 – present | Trump/Biden | First presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed NRO Director |

## List of Deputy Directors of National Reconnaissance Office

| No. | Deputy Director | Deputy Director | Term | Term | Term |
| No. | Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term length |
| 1 | | Major General John T. Sheridan | July 2006 | June 2008 | ~1 year, 336 days |
| 2 | | Major General Ellen M. Pawlikowski (born 1956) | June 2008 | January 2010 | ~1 year, 214 days |
| 3 | | Major General Susan K. Mashiko | January 2010 | June 2013 | ~3 years, 151 days |
| 4 | | Major General Anthony J. Cotton | June 2013 | November 2015 | ~2 years, 153 days |
| 5 | | Major General Stephen Denker | November 2015 | ~25 June 2018 | ~2 years, 222 days |
| 6 | | Brigadier General Mark Baird (1965–2023) | ~25 June 2018 | December 2018 | ~173 days |
| – | | Brigadier General Christopher Povak (born 1970) Acting | December 2018 | 8 July 2019 | ~205 days |
| 7 | | Major General Michael Guetlein (born 1967) | 8 July 2019 | 9 August 2021 | 2 years, 32 days |
| 8 | | Major General Donna D. Shipton (born c. 1970) | 9 August 2021 | 22 August 2022 | 1 year, 13 days |
| 9 | | Major General Christopher Povak (born 1970) | 9 September 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 131 days |