Michael E. Ennis is a former major general in the United States Marine Corps. He is a native of Minnesota. He graduated from Concordia College with Bachelor of Arts degrees in French and International Relations and from Georgetown University with a Master of Arts degree in Government/National Security Studies.

Career

Ennis was commissioned an officer in the Marine Corps on January 1, 1972 as a graduate of the Officer Candidates Class. After spending eighteen months in Okinawa, Japan, Ennis was assigned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a recruiting officer. In 1978, he began studying Russian at the Defense Language Institute, as well as at the United States Army's Russian Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Afterwards, Ennis returned to Okinawa and later served with the

9th Marine Regiment The 9th Marine Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War II, it served until 1994, when it was deactivated during the post Cold War drawdown. Battalions of the Ninth Marine Regiment, but not the ...

. Upon his return to the United States, he became a translator on the Moscow-Washington hotline. In 1986, Ennis was named Naval Representative to the Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. After returning to United States, he completed a Military Fellowship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was then stationed in

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , American English, US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia. The city stands on t ...

as Assistant Naval Attaché and U.S. military representative to Azerbaijan. Ennis was stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps in 1993. He was then once again assigned to Okinawa, this time with the III Marine Expeditionary Force. In 1998, Ennis was given command of the

Joint Intelligence Center A Joint Intelligence Center (JIC) is a focal point for military intelligence gathered by different intelligence agencies and administered by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The intelligence center of the joint force headquarters. The joint in ...

of the United States Pacific Command. From August 2000 to January 2004, he was Director of Marine Corps Intelligence, where he oversaw USMC Intelligence support to Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF). From 2004 to 2006 he served as Director of Operations (DO) and Director of Defense HUMINT (DH) for the Defense Intelligence Agency. In 2006, he was named Deputy Director of HUMINT of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ennis retired from the Marine Corps in 2007. He was awarded the CIA's

Distinguished Intelligence Medal The Distinguished Intelligence Medal is awarded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for performance of outstanding services or for achievement of a distinctly exceptional nature in a duty or responsibility. Recipients This list includes only ...

in 2008. Awards he received during his military career include the

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with award star, the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal. Since retiring from the Marine Corps, Ennis has served on the Federal Board of Advisors for Benchmark Executive Search. He appeared in the documentary "Meet The Real Cold War Spies Of BRIXMIS" talking about his time with U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM)Archived a
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ennis, Michael E. United States Marine Corps generals Recipients of the Legion of Merit Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) alumni Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Defense Language Institute alumni Living people Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal United States military attachés Year of birth missing (living people)