Ronald S. Moultrie is a former senior national security official who retired as the Director of Operations of the National Security Agency (NSA). Moultrie was a Senior CIA Officer, served in the United States Air Force, and is a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy. During Moultrie’s leadership tenure in NSA’s Operations Directorate, the Agency achieved unprecedented status as arguably the world’s preeminent Cyber organization. Moultrie conceptualized, designed, and implemented the governance model that the Agency uses to this day to identify, assess, and respond to high-priority global events. His framework, which emphasizes agility and response, has enabled NSA to remain the world’s premiere Cyber leader, in a rapidly evolving, information-centric, highly-networked environment.
Having served in senior leadership positions in NSA, the CIA, the Director of National Intelligence’s (DNI) Office, and the DoD, Moultrie was optimally suited to play the key leadership role in a number of high-profile events. The most significant of these events was the 2013, Edward Snowden insider, incident where Moultrie led several hundred of the Agency’s most experienced and skilled personnel to assess the impact to NSA’s internal operations and external partnerships, and more importantly to identify and correct the deficiencies that led to the event.
The Secretary of the Navy the Hon. Richard Spencer, seeking a national security official with a comprehensive understanding of cybersecurity and technology, asked Moultrie to chair the review of the Department of the Navy’s (DON) Information Management (IM) structure. Moultrie’s review, completed in July 2019, led to the immediate establishment of a single, accountable CIO to bolster the DON’s warfighting and cybersecurity capabilities and to provide the Navy and Marine Corps with a decisive information advantage in the Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains. Moultrie’s report enabled the Department to establish a new functional structure and digital roadmap to enhance the DON’s future networking and information management capabilities and outcomes. Moultrie has been a driving force in the Navy’s digital modernization efforts since June 2018 having participated as a key Principal in the Comprehensive Cybersecurity Review (March 2019). His unique insights and invaluable recommendations will enable the Navy to better protect and manage its almost $200B in annual resources and it 900,000+ globally dispersed personnel.
In addition to his distinguished government career, Moultrie is a Board member of The Better Angels Society, a philanthropic Board that serves Filmmaker Ken Burns as he produces world-class documentaries. He is the member of Pallas Advisors, and serves on advisory boards for Resolute Consulting and MITRE. Moultrie is a champion for Wounded Warriors and diversity programs.
A 3-Star General equivalent during his last decade in the government, Moultrie is one of the National Security Community’s most decorated officers. He has received a Presidential Rank Award, the Navy’s Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Director of National Intelligence’s Seal Medallion, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the CIA Donovan Award, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Gold Medal, and is a three-time recipient of NSA’s highest award, the Exceptional Civilian Service Award (Moultrie received this award more times than any other officer in NSA’s history). For his stellar 7-plus years of military service, Moultrie received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and U.S. Air Force Meritorious Service medal.
The proud son of a military family, Moultrie spent most of his formative years in New Jersey. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Maryland, earned a Master’s Degree from the National Intelligence University, a Russian Language Degree from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and completed studies at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
