The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency held a change of director ceremony for incoming agency head Robert Cardillo and outgoing director Letitia Long Oct. 3 at 10 a.m., at its headquarters in Springfield, Virginia.
Cardillo took over NGA after serving nearly the last four years as the first deputy director for national intelligence for intelligence integration. In this role, Cardillo facilitated information sharing and collaboration through the integration of collection and analysis for the intelligence community. Cardillo previously served as deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Prior to that, he served as the deputy director of analysis at DIA, and director of analysis and production at NGA.
Long will retire after four years as director of NGA and more than 35 years of government service. Taking the reins in August 2010, Long became the first woman to head a major U.S. intelligence agency. A champion for technology and evolution, she led the agency in its shift from providing static products to providing geospatial intelligence services that enable users to access information that provides “time and place” context in a variety of formats, in real time, for users on all security domains.
“We have pursued the (Director of National Intelligence)’s highest priority — intelligence integration,” Long said in April at the GEOINT symposium in Tampa, Florida. “We have pursued our vision to put the power of GEOINT in the hands of users with total integration.”