Colonel Nadine Nally is a career Army intelligence and cyber operations officer with more than 25 years of experience leading high-performing teams at tactical, operational, and strategic levels. She currently serves as the Deputy Commander of Operations (DCO) at the Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) at U.S. Cyber Command. In this critical role, she assists the Commander in leading, managing, and directing operational planning for offensive and defensive operations, as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations to enable activities across all domains. Recognized as a premier strategic leader who consistently delivers under pressure, she has masterfully navigated the CNMF through complex, real-world crises. Recently, she spearheaded the military response to multiple highly disruptive cyberspace events, providing decisive leadership and daily updates directly to the National Security Council to safeguard U.S. national security.
Throughout her career, Colonel Nally has commanded and advised at the highest levels of the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, and across the interagency. Her strategic assignments include serving as Director for Defense Innovation and Cyber Policy on the National Security Council staff at the White House, Military Assistant and Cyber Advisor to the Under Secretary of the Army, and Senior Cyber Advisor and Chief of Staff to the Director of Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
She also shaped cyberspace policy and operations as a Strategic Planner on the Joint Staff J5 and as a Cyber Liaison Officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, where she spearheaded initiatives to improve government-private sector information sharing.
Colonel Nally's operational command experience is extensive and foundational to the modern Army cyber enterprise. She dual-hatted as commander of the 781st Military Intelligence Battalion (Cyber) and Task Force One within the CNMF, and she was instrumental in standing up the Army's first cyber units, including growing the 782nd Military Intelligence Battalion from 20 to more than 450 personnel to support joint force commanders worldwide. Her combat service includes deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where she commanded a special mission unit providing Signals Intelligence.
(SIGINT) Terminal Guidance to Brigade Combat Team Commanders, and to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom, where she led the Real Time - Regional Gateway to enhance national-to-tactical intelligence collection capabilities.
Driven by a passion for integrating emerging technologies into defense strategy, Colonel Nally is dedicated to setting the future direction of the joint cyber enterprise and actively mentoring the next generation of national security leaders. She is a graduate of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, holding a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy. Additionally, she holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus and a Bachelor of Arts in English/Journalism from Morgan State University. Colonel Nally is a Madison Policy Forum Fellow and a graduate of the Junior Officer Cryptologic Career Program, a premier SIGINT and Cyber immersion fellowship at the National Security Agency.