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Army Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton Tapped To Become the Next DISA Director

The cyber expert will oversee the combat support agency into the near-peer era.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul T. Staunton, presenting at an AFCEA TechNet Augusta conference, is slated to become the next director of DISA. Credit: AFCEA/Mike Carpenter

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul T. Stanton, presenting at an AFCEA TechNet Augusta conference, is slated to become the next director of DISA. Credit: AFCEA/Mike Carpenter

With the upcoming retirement of Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, President Biden has appointed Army Maj. Gen. Paul T. Stanton to become the next director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and commander of Joint Forces Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN), Fort Meade, Maryland.

Gen. Stanton, who has been the commanding general of both the Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Eisenhower in Georgia, has also been appointed to the grade of lieutenant general, the U.S. Department of Defense announced today.

Gen. Skinner is expected to retire this fall after three years at the helm. He took over the position from Navy Vice Adm. Nancy A. Norton, who retired in February 2021.

Gen. Stanton will manage more than 20,000 warfighters, civilians and contractors positioned worldwide, who provide defense communications solutions to the president, Department of Defense, secretary of defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and combatant commanders. According to the agency, DISA also operates joint, interoperable command and control capabilities for the department, which support more than 200,000 warfighters in 150 countries.

Upon U.S. Senate approval of his nomination, the Army general would also oversee the 24/7 operations and protections of the JFHQ-DODIN.

“We are thrilled with the nomination of Paul Stanton to lead DISA and JFHQ-DoDIN,” said AFCEA President and CEO, Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, USA (Ret.). “Paul will bring an impressive background to this new position formed by his many years of joint and Army assignments in the cyber domain. From the beginning of his tenure as commander of Cyber Center of Excellence, for example, he worked to ensure that soldiers at all levels received the required cybersecurity training to match maturing threats. He is a visionary and innovator who will call upon his expertise to guide the Defense Department to be a global leader in cyber operations."

Gen. Stanton is a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He transitioned to the Cyber Branch in 2015 and has three degrees in computer science, including a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

“AFCEA is humbled to have partnered with DISA/JFHQ-DoDIN under Gen. Skinner’s stalwart leadership,” Gen. Lawrence said. “Together, we have been able to help numerous government and industry operators come together to discuss meeting the global cyber and digital security challenges. Bob Skinner is an authoritative and insightful leader who was instrumental in ushering in palpable change for good across the defense and intelligence landscapes. We wish him luck in his future endeavors.”