BRIGADIER GENERAL MICHAEL L. CORNELL
Retired June 6, 2025
Brig. Gen. Michael Cornell was the J6 Vice Director, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. As DISA’s senior officer at the Pentagon, he managed a $14 billion information technology (IT) and cybersecurity infrastructure for 500,000 users spanning 10 global enclaves in 850 locations worldwide and led nearly 4,000 uniformed, civilian, and contractor personnel in operating and defending key Department of Defense (DoD) cyber terrain to provide bespoke network services to the White House, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Military Command Center (NMCC), Combatant Commanders, the Intelligence Community, and all DoD component offices within the National Capital Region. As DISA’s operations lead for the National Leadership Command Capability (NLCC), he enabled the President and other National Leadership to execute their essential functions under steady state and continuity of government conditions.
General Cornell received his commission in 1992 as a Distinguished Graduate of AFROTC Detachment 115 at the University of Connecticut, where he finished first in his cadet class. He is a career intelligence officer and cyber leader who has commanded at the squadron, group, and DoD field agency echelons. The general is a proud graduate of paratrooper training at the U.S. Army Airborne School.
His combat and expeditionary tours include a year along the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) in a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) unit with 2nd Infantry Division; multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf; joint duty in Afghanistan with 10th Mountain Division, 18th Airborne Corps, NATO; and interagency operations with State Department and Central Intelligence Agency teams assigned to protect the Afghan president. On September 11, 2001, he participated in NORAD’s scramble of the first fighter aircraft to the World Trade Center and mobilized for Operation NOBLE EAGLE. In 2002, the Department of Justice cited his published work on weapons of mass destruction in a legal opinion to the President concerning his authority to use military force in Iraq. In 2007, 1st Air Force named him its Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance (ISR) Field Grade Officer of the Year. In 2021, the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) lauded a unit under his command for securing U.S. elections from adversary influence operations.
General Cornell’s experience across the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war includes command of a SIGINT unit that secures U.S. critical infrastructure and enables global cyber operations by NSA and U.S. Cyber Command; ISR Division Chief at a STRATCOM-gained Air Operations Center; J2 of the Massachusetts National Guard; deputy commander of a Boston Marathon aviation Joint Task Force (JTF); National Guard liaison to MIT Lincoln Laboratory; and unit-level operations in multiple fighter squadrons. As an AN/GSQ-272 SENTINEL crew commander, he planned and executed ISR and targeting missions for conventional and special operations forces in Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, and ODESSEY DAWN.
EDUCATION
1992 Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn.
1994 Air Support Operations Center (ASOC) Orientation, U.S. Air Force Air-To-Ground Operations School, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
1994 Asia-Pacific Orientation Course, U.S. Air Force Special Operations School, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
1996 National Intelligence Course, Joint Military Intelligence Training Center, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Bolling AFB, D.C.
1996 Dynamics of International Terrorism Course, U.S. Air Force Special Operations School, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
1997 F-15C Intelligence Formal Training Unit (IFTU) Course, 33rd Fighter Wing, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
2001 Juris Doctor, University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Conn.
2002 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala. (by correspondence)
2010 Air National Guard (ANG) Intermediate Development Course, Joint Base Andrews, Md.
2012 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. (by correspondence)
2013 Joint Air & Space Operations Senior Staff Course, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
2014 U.S. Air Force Cyber Operations Fundamentals Course, Wright Patterson AFB, Oh. (by correspondence)
2015 Joint Task Force Commander Training Course (JCTC), HQ U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), Peterson AFB, Co.
2016 Executive Leadership Cybersecurity Course, Center for Infrastructure Assurance & Security, Univ. of Texas, San Antonio, Tx.
2018 NSA Executive SIGINT Orientation Seminar, National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Md.
2020 Joint & Combined Warfighter School-Hybrid (JCWS-H) (JPME II), Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
2021 National & International Security Leadership Seminar, Alan L. Freed Associates, Capitol Hill Club, Washington, D.C.
2023 U.S. Air Force Senior Leader Orientation Course (SLOC), Joint Base Andrews, Md.
2024 National Security Management Course, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. September 1992 - July 1993, Student, U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer Course, 17th Training Wing, Goodfellow AFB, Tx.
2. July 1993 - September 1994, Executive Officer, 315th Technical Training Squadron, Goodfellow AFB, Tx.
3. September 1994 - September 1995, Intelligence Flight Commander, 604th Air Support Operations Center Squadron (ASOCS) (attached to 2nd Infantry Division), Camp Red Cloud, Republic of Korea.
4. September 1995 - September 1997, Asia Pacific Politico-Military Affairs Officer, HQ Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Va.
5. September 1997 - October 1998, Chief of Squadron Intelligence, 27th Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, Va.
6. October 1998 - September 2001, Intelligence Officer, 102d Operations Support Flight, Otis ANG Base, Mass.
7. September 2001 - August 2005, Intelligence Operations Officer, 101st Fighter Squadron (Operation NOBLE EAGLE), Otis ANG Base, Mass.
8. August 2005 - August 2006, Senior Intelligence Officer, 102d Fighter Wing, Otis ANG Base, Mass.
9. August 2006 - December 2010, Flight Commander, 101st Intelligence Squadron (DGS-MA), Otis ANG Base, Mass.
10. December 2010 - December 2012, Director of Operations, 101st Intelligence Squadron (DGS-MA), Otis ANG Base, Mass.
11. December 2012 - January 2016, dual-hatted as Commander, 102d Air Intelligence Squadron (Air Force Global Strike Command) & ISR Division Chief, 102d Air Operations Center (U.S. Strategic Command), Otis ANG Base, Mass.
12. January 2016 - February 2018, Director, Joint Intelligence (J2), Joint Force Headquarters Massachusetts, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
13. February 2018 - May 2021, Commander, 202d Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance Group, Otis ANGB, Mass.
14. May 2021 - May 2022, Chief of Staff, 102d Intelligence Wing, Otis ANGB, Mass.
15. May 2022 - October 2023, Vice Director & Director, Joint Service Provider, DISA, Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
16. October 2023 - June 2025, J6 Vice Director, DISA, Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 2003 - September 2003, ISR Liaison Officer, CJTF-180 Joint Air Component Coordination Element (JACCE), Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, as a major
2. February 2018 - May 2021, Commander, 202d ISR Group (Cyber National Mission Force), Otis ANG Base, Mass., as a colonel
3. May 2022 - October 2023, Vice Director/Director, Joint Service Provider (JSP), Pentagon, Arlington, Va., as a brigadier general
4. October 2023 - May 2025, J6 Vice Director, DISA, Pentagon, Arlington, Va., as a brigadier general
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Combat Action Medal
Meritorious Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with “V” device and nine oak leaf clusters
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION
General Cornell is a successful serial seed investor and accomplished attorney with extensive expertise advising corporate boards of directors and C-suite executives. He has also served as senior legal officer for a federal banking regulator’s New York region.
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
1st Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, Uijongbu, Republic of Korea (1995)
Dana Farber Cancer Institute Leadership Council, Boston, Mass. (2002-2010)
Trustee, South Boston Allied War Veterans Council (organizer of the Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade), Boston, Mass. (2018-2020)
Chair, ANG Cyber Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance Weapon System Council, Joint Base Andrews, Md. (2020-2021)
Thomas J. Fitzgerald Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 561, Boston, Mass. (2018-present)
Executive Advisory Council, AFCEA DC Chapter, Washington, D.C. (2024-present)
Seven-time Boston Marathon Finisher (2006-2012); Marine Corps Marathon Finisher (2024)
PUBLICATIONS
A Decade of Failure: The Legality and Efficacy of United Nations Actions in the Elimination of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction, Connecticut Journal of International Law Volume 16 (2001), cited by U.S. Department of Justice in Memorandum Opinion for the Counsel to the President: Authority of the President Under Domestic and International Law to Use Military Force Against Iraq (2002)
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 17, 1992
First Lieutenant July 20, 1994
Captain July 20, 1996
Major Oct. 4, 2002
Lieutenant Colonel Oct. 4, 2009
Colonel Nov. 17, 2014
Brigadier General May 25, 2022
(Current as of March 2026)
