Name Michael Nagata | Role Armed force officer | |
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Promotion of Army Brig. Gen. Kurt S. Crytzer to Major General
Michael K. Nagata is a U.S. Army officer and Lieutenant General.
Contents
- Promotion of Army Brig Gen Kurt S Crytzer to Major General
- Early Career
- Special Operations Command
- Personal life
- References
Early Career
He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1982 and served as a infantry platoon leader with the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Division in South Korea. He graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1984 and commanded detachment of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group where he gained a "reputation for coolness under pressure, and for a wry sense of humor."
In the decision that shaped his career, Nagata volunteered and was selected for the Intelligence Support Activity in 1990, nicknamed "The Activity", an ultra secret unit conducting signal and human intelligence gathering for special mission units of the Joint Special Operations Command. Nagata served as troop commander till 1994 and again as operations officer from 1997 to 1999. He would later serve as squadron commander from 2000-2002 and later unit commander as a Colonel from 2005 to 2008.
In 1993 while deployed on his first tour with The Activity in Somalia, Nagata was "the CIA chief of station’s right-hand man" according to Jerry Boykin (former commander of Delta Force) in Somalia, "functioning as the liaison between the chief of station in Mogadishu and Task Force Ranger, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) task force given the mission to hunt down the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid."
Special Operations Command
From June 2013 to October 2015 Nagata commanded the Special Operations Command Central.
Personal life
Nagata and his wife Barbara have five children. He was born in Alexandria, Virginia to Frances and William Nagata, both from Honolulu, Hawaii. His father is a retired military intelligence colonel and was stationed in Virginia at the time of Michael's birth.