Rear Admiral Mike Brookes, USN

Rear Adm. Mike Brookes assumed command of the Office of Naval Intelligence and became the Director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office in July 2023.

 

Brookes is the son of a career naval officer and a 1987 graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He also holds a Master of Arts in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Brookes attended Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and was commissioned in March 1989.

 

Brookes’ operational tours include imagery intelligence officer for the Checkmates of Fighter Squadron [VF] 211, embarked aboard USS Nimitz [CVN 68]; assistant intelligence officer [N21] for Cruiser-Destroyer Group One, embarked aboard USS Constellation [CV 64]; assistant chief of staff for intelligence [N2] for Carrier Strike Group 7, embarked aboard USS Ronald Reagan [CVN 76]; deputy director of intelligence [DJ2] for Joint Special Operations Command, where he deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan, as director of intelligence [J2] for a joint special operations task force; and information warfare commander for Carrier Strike Group One, embarked aboard USS Carl Vinson [CVN 70].

 

Ashore, Brookes served as international programs officer for N2 Directorate, U.S. Pacific Fleet; officer in charge, Maritime Watch, Joint Forces Intelligence Command; intelligence operations and plans officer, Naval Special Warfare Command, where he augmented a joint special operations task force in Kabul, Afghanistan, deputy director of intelligence [DDI], National Joint Operations Intelligence Center [NJOIC] for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10^th Fleet.

 

Brookes commanded the Joint Intelligence Center Central, U.S. Central Command, Tampa, Florida, and the Kennedy Irregular Warfare Center, Suitland, Maryland. He also served as the director of intelligence [J2], U.S. Strategic Command and as the director of Intelligence, J2, U.S. Southern Command.

 

His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and Meritorious Service Medal among other personal, campaign, unit, and service awards.

CAPT Matt Waldron became the Deputy Director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) in July 2023. In this role, he leads strategic alignment and integration of NMIO resources to advance maritime intelligence integration, information sharing, and national-level Maritime Domain Awareness.

Born in Georgia and raised in Maryland, Waldron graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He holds a Master of Arts in strategic intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College and completed a military fellowship at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

A permanent cutterman, Waldron served on six ships over 12 years, conducting afloat operations including search and rescue, counterdrug, humanitarian assistance, and fisheries missions from the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean and the Bering Sea to the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Waldon’s staff assignments have included intelligence tours as the intelligence branch chief with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) sector Los Angeles–Long Beach, as the division chief of the Intelligence Coordination Center’s Maritime Smuggling Division, and as the USCG liaison to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis. Most recently, he was the USCG liaison to Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), serving as the principal advisor to the USINDOPACOM Commander for Coast Guard operations responsible for aligning strategic and operational objectives in the command’s area of responsibility.

Waldron commanded the 110-ft patrol boat Pea Island (WPB 1347), homeported in Key West, Florida,, and the 210-ft medium-endurance cutter Valiant (WMEC 621), homeported in Jacksonville, Florida.

CAPT Waldron’s military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (7), the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, and the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation.