Draft:David M. Cattler

David M. Cattler is an American government official serving as director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

Before joining the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, Cattler served as the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security from December 2019 to November 2023. In this capacity, he ensured the NATO intelligence and security organizations operated as an enterprise and informed and protected NATO decision-making. He also was the senior advisor to the Secretary General for intelligence and security matters.

Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary General he was a senior American national and defense intelligence official. He helped form and coordinate national policy as Deputy Assistant to the President for Regional Affairs within the National Security Council. He was a senior advisor to the Director of National Intelligence in multiple roles, including Chairman of the National Intelligence Management Council, National Intelligence Manager for the Near East, and within the National Intelligence Council as the Principal Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Military Issues. He supported combat operations while directing the Defense Intelligence Agency’s counterterrorism efforts and serving as the Joint Staff’s Deputy Director for Intelligence.

He began his career as a naval surface warfare officer and served in two Aegis cruisers, USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville, and ashore in military and civilian roles with the Office of Naval Intelligence and Director of Naval Intelligence. He worked in the private sector after leaving military service and returned to the US government after 9/11.

Education

 * 1993 Bachelor of Science degree in political science, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
 * 2005 Naval Command and Staff, United States Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island
 * 2005 Seminar XXI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts
 * 2008 Master of Policy Management degree, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Other awards

 * Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Third Class of the Republic of Estonia, 2022
 * Order of Merit of the Ministry of Defense of Estonia, Second Class, 2023
 * Medal of Noble Partner of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Georgia, 2023
 * Medal of Honorary Recognition of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, 2023
 * Medal of the Defense Intelligence Service of the Republic of Lithuania, 2023
 * Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, Fourth Class / Officer's Cross of Poland, 2023
 * Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Fifth Class of Ukraine, 2023
 * Medal of Partnership of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, 2023.