President Biden has nominated Tonya P. Wilkerson to serve as the under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, the White House announced on May 2.
In this role, Wilkerson would serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on intelligence, counterintelligence, and security matters – a post that has been vacant since February of this year when Ronald S. Moultrie stepped down.
If confirmed, she would bring “over three decades of experience across the intelligence community, including leadership skills, experience across multiple mission areas, and deep expertise in the space sector,” the White House said in a press release.
Wilkerson currently serves as the ninth deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Before her time at NGA, Wilkerson was the associate deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency for Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021.
From 2015 to 2019, Wilkerson also held various positions within the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) where she was involved in a range of activities, including research and development, acquisitions, and operations.
Notably, Wilkerson served as a “change management leader” within the NRO when the agency began to shift its focus to exploring new and viable commercial geospatial intelligence opportunities for national security missions.
