Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse USAF

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, U.S. Air Force, serves as the 23rd Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, leading its global intelligence mission and a 16,500-strong joint workforce. As the Director of DIA, Lt. Gen. Kruse serves as the Department of Defense’s senior military intelligence official supporting the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, military services, combatant commands, and the Director of National Intelligence by providing intelligence, counterintelligence, enterprise management, acquisition support, secure communications, and crisis support to policymakers and warfighters around the globe.

Prior to assuming his role at DIA, Lt. Gen. Kruse served as the Advisor for Military Affairs for the Director of National Intelligence and was awarded the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal. In this capacity — in partnership with executive leaders across DoD and the Intelligence Community — he oversaw and advocated for activities, capabilities and policies to drive enduring DoD-IC integration. Lt. Gen. Kruse also served as the Director for Defense Intelligence for Warfighter Support in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security.

Lt. Gen. Kruse has extensive operational and combat experience in multiple theaters around the globe. He served as the Director of Intelligence for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, deployed as the Director of Intelligence for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in the Middle East, and served as the Senior Special Advisor to the Commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Throughout his career, Lt. Gen. Kruse commanded Air Force and joint units at the squadron, group and wing levels. Other assignments included serving as Chief of Legislative Affairs for U.S. Strategic Command and as a Programmer, Panel Chair, and Head of the Air Force’s “Engine Room,” which develops the service’s annual budget

Lt. Gen. Kruse earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Miami University in 1990, a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College in 1996, a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College in 2004, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College at National Defense University in 2008.