The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced that David Cattler will take over as the next director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), which handles most of the Federal government’s personnel security vetting tasks. His first day on the job will be March 24.
“Mr. Cattler has extensive leadership experience within the intelligence community, military, and NATO, making him the ideal candidate to hit the ground running and lead DCSA,” the DoD wrote in a March 15 press release.
Cattler has spent the last four years as the assistant secretary general for intelligence and security at NATO. Prior to that, he has served multiple times as an intelligence enterprise mission manager in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
With three decades of experience, Cattler has significant intelligence collection management and analytic experience at the national, joint, and service levels, and has advised the President, civilian agencies, Pentagon and military leaders, and operational forces through roles at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Joint Staff, National Security Council, and during a career as a naval surface warfare officer.
Cattler is set to replace Acting Director Daniel Lecce at DCSA, who has been serving in an acting capacity since September 2023. The Pentagon said Lecce will return to his current position as deputy director.
“Mr. Cattler understands the criticality of the DCSA security mission to the Department, our federal partners, and industry,” the Pentagon wrote.
Often referring to itself as “America’s Gatekeeper,” DCSA is most notably the Federal agency in charge of security clearances – making it a strategic asset to the nation and its allies by ensuring a trusted Federal and industrial workforce and enabling industry’s delivery of uncompromised capabilities. DCSA uniquely blends industrial security, counterintelligence support, personnel vetting, and security training to advance and preserve America’s strategic edge.
“I’m very proud to join the Gatekeepers at our nation’s premier security agency,” Cattler wrote on his LinkedIn.
