Maj. Gen. Jim H. Keffer is the Chief of Staff, U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and serves as the command’s principal staff officer, assistant, and adviser to the Commander. As the Chief of Staff, he directs and coordinates the staff directorates, comprising over 900 personnel, with the mission of directing the operations and defense of specified DoD networks and, when directed, conducting full spectrum military cyberspace operations to ensure U.S./allied freedom of action in cyberspace while denying the same to our adversaries.
General Keffer is the U.S. Air Force’s senior-ranking career intelligence officer and has served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance at Headquarters U.S. Air Force; Deputy Director for Intelligence, Multi-National Forces Iraq in Baghdad; Senior Military Assistant for the DoD Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; and Air Attaché to Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia. His career spans widely across signals, imagery and human intelligence operations and analysis at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. He also served as the Commander, Air Force Intelligence Analysis Agency.
General Keffer has commanded at the squadron, group, wing and agency levels with the largest unit being a 7000-person worldwide intelligence and cyberspace wing where he was recognized as an “Honorary Chief Master Sergeant.” He served as the Deputy Chief of the Central Security Service (aka the “military part” of the National Security Agency) overseeing 15,000 joint military members conducting global cryptologic and cyberspace operations and reporting directly to the Director of the National Security Agency.
EDUCATION
1982 Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Sciences, magna cum laude, Memphis State University, Tenn.
1983 Master of Science degree in Operations Research, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
1985 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1986 Marine Corps Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1994 Distinguished graduate, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1997 Department of Defense Executive Leadership Development Program, Washington, D.C.
1997 Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
1998 Air War College, by correspondence
1999 Distinguished graduate, National Defense Senior Service School Fellowship, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif.
2004 Combined Air and Space Operations Senior Staff Course, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
2011 U.S. Russia Security Program, JFK School of Government, Harvard University
2012 Enterprise Perspective Seminar, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
2012 Cyberspace Operations Executive Course
ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1982 - December 1983, student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2. December 1983 - September 1986, staff analyst and squadron section commander, 1815th Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
3. September 1986 - March 1987, student, 3470th Student Squadron, Lowry AFB, Colo.
4. March 1987 - April 1989, Warsaw Pact air activity analyst, later, Chief of the Soviet and Warsaw Pact Air Forces Employment Branch, 7450th Tactical Intelligence Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
5. April 1989 - November 1990, intelligence briefer to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, 7455th Tactical Intelligence Wing, Ramstein AB, Germany
6. November 1990 - February 1992, Chief of Tactical Applications, Office of Strategic Programs, National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Md.
7. March 1992 - August 1993, executive officer to the Assistant Deputy Director of Operations, National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Md.
8. August 1993 - June 1994, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
9. July 1994 - October 1995, Commander, 24th Air Intelligence Squadron, Howard AFB, Panama
10. October 1995 - July 1998, long-range joint intelligence planner; later, joint command, control, communications, computers and intelligence planner; later, joint intelligence operational architectures planner, U.S. Atlantic Command, Norfolk, Va.
11. August 1998 - July 1999, National Defense Senior Service School Fellowship, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif.
12. August 1999 - July 2000, student, German language, and attaché designee, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C.
13. August 2000 - May 2003, U.S. Air Attaché to Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia
14. June 2003 - June 2005, Commander, 318th Information Operations Group, Lackland AFB, Texas
15. July 2005 - September 2005, special assistant to the Commander, Air Intelligence Agency, Lackland AFB, Texas
16. September 2005 - December 2008, Commander, 70th Intelligence Wing, Fort George G. Meade, Md.
17. January 2008 - September 2009, Senior Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
18. September 2009 - October 2010, Deputy Director for Intelligence, U.S. Forces-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
19. October 2010 - November 2012, Deputy Chief, Central Security Service, National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Md
20. November 2012 – September 2013, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters U.S. Air Force and Commander, Air Force Intelligence Analysis Agency, Washington, D.C.
21. September 2013 – present, Chief of Staff, U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), Fort George G. Meade, Md.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. November 1990 - February 1992, Chief of Tactical Applications, Office of Strategic Programs, National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Md., as a captain
2. March 1992 - August 1993, executive officer to the Assistant Deputy Director of Operations, National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Md., as a captain
3. October 1995 - July 1998, long-range joint intelligence planner; later, joint command, control, communications, computers and intelligence planner; later, joint intelligence operational architectures planner, U.S. Atlantic Command, Norfolk, Va., as a major
4. August 2000 - May 2003, U.S. Air Attaché to Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia, as a lieutenant colonel
5. January 2008 - September 2009, Senior Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Pentagon, Washington D.C., as a colonel and brigadier general
6. September 2009 - October 2010, Deputy Director for Intelligence, U.S. Forces-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq, as a brigadier general
7. October 2010 - November 2012, Deputy Chief, Central Security Service, National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Md., as a brigadier and major general
8. September 2013 – present, Chief of Staff, U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), Fort George G. Meade, Md., as a major general
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Bronze Star Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTIONS
Second Lieutenant May 26, 1982
First Lieutenant June 6, 1984
Captain June 6, 1986
Major March 1, 1994
Lieutenant Colonel Jan. 1, 1998
Colonel June 1, 2003
Brigadier General June 19, 2009
Major General Sept. 2, 2012
(Current as of August 2015)