Tighe Takes Charge of Information Warfare, Naval Intelligence

Vice Adm. Jan Tighe assumed the duties of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (DCNO) for Information Warfare (N2N6) and Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) July 15 at the Pentagon.

Tighe succeeded Vice Adm. Ted N. "Twig" Branch, who has submitted his retirement request following a 37-year Naval career. Branch assumed office as the DCNO for Information Warfare/DNI in July 2013. He also served as lead for the Navy's Information Warfare (IW) Community, which brings together the people and capabilities of the Navy's Communications, Networks, Intelligence, Oceanography, Meteorology, Cryptology, Electronic Warfare, Cyberspace Operations and Space areas to the fight. He also served as the Navy's Chief Information Officer and as the Director of Navy Cybersecurity. He was the 65th DNI.

"Information has been elevated to its own warfare domain, analogous to undersea, surface, air and space. If we don't get it right in the Information Domain, what we do in the other domains doesn't matter because the battle is likely to be lost before it ever gets joined," said Branch. "It has been a distinct honor to lead the civilian and military professionals of the Information Warfare Community - the primary practitioners of the IW mission - as they chart the course for the Navy in facing the challenges of warfare in the Information Age."

Branch is a native of Long Beach, Mississippi. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and later earned a master's degree in international relations from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. A naval aviator, he's had operational command at the squadron, ship, aircraft carrier, and Strike Group levels. He's flown A-7s and F/A-18s in combat, completed Navy Nuclear Power Training, and commanded USS Nimitz on an Arabian Gulf combat cruise. As Carl Vinson Strike Group commander, he led initial Navy/Marine Corps relief efforts following the Haiti earthquake. His previous assignment was as Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet.

Prior to assuming the mantle of DCNO/DNI, Tighe was the Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and Commander, U.S. 10th Fleet. She was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and raised in Plantation, Florida. Tighe is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was commissioned as an ensign (special duty cryptology) in 1984. She attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, where she studied Russian. She also attended the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey and in 2001 was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and a M.S. in Applied Mathematics.

As a flag officer, Tighe served as U.S. Cyber Command Deputy J3; N2N6 director, Decision Superiority; Naval Postgraduate School interim president; and deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. 10th Fleet.

Tighe wears both the Information Warfare pin and Naval Aviation Observer wings, earned while deployed as an airborne special evaluator aboard VQ-1 EP-3E aircraft in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. She is also a member of the Acquisition Professionals Community and holds a Level III Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certification in Program Management.

"It is an honor and a privilege for me to assume this responsibility," said Tighe. "I look forward to leading the N2N6 and Naval Intelligence teams, as well as the Information Warfare Community, as we provide the capabilities needed to defend our great nation in the 21st Century."