Vice Adm. Matthew Kohler was nominated by Defense Secretary James Mattis to serve as the next deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare (OPNAV N2/N6) and director of naval intelligence, according to a Pentagon statement.
Kohler currently serves as the commander of Naval Information Forces. Once confirmed by the Senate, he would replace current N2/N6 Vice Adm. Jan Tighe, who plans to retire after 34 years of service.
Kohler was commissioned as a naval intelligence officer in 1984 and has since served as the intelligence officer for Fighter Squadron 102 on USS America (CV-66); director of Intelligence (N2) for Commander Amphibious Squadron 1 on USS Peleliu (LHA-5); and N2 for Cruiser Destroyer Group 2 in the USS George Washington (CVN-73) Battle Group.
Ashore he has served as the director of intelligence for U.S. Africa Command; deputy director of naval intelligence; deputy commander of Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet; director of intelligence operations for United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM); director of intelligence for Joint Interagency Task Force South; and more.
He has served in his current role as the commander of Naval Information Forces since the command was established in October 2014. Among his accomplishments in this job was the standup of the Information Warfighting Development Center – comparable to the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center, Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center and Undersea Warfighting Development Center – to develop and teach cyber, electronic warfare, electromagnetic maneuver warfare and other related tactics to deploying ships and units.
