Robert Brendan Murrett (born October 8, 1952) is an American academic, intelligence officer, and retired Vice Admiral in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He was the fourth Director of the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

, serving from July 2006 through July 2010. In 2011, Murrett joined the

Institute for Security Policy and Law The Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL), formerly known as the ''Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT)'', is a multidisciplinary research institute based in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs an ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

where he now serves as deputy director. He is also a faculty member at the

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Maxwell School) is the professional public policy school of Syracuse University, a private research university in Syracuse, New York. The school is organized in 11 academic departments and 13 ...

, and serves on the

Institute for Veterans and Military Families The Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) is an interdisciplinary research institution that informs and advances the policy, economic and wellness concerns of the America’s veterans and families. It is housed in the #National Vete ...

(IVMF) advisory board at

Military career

Following his commissioning into the

, Murrett was assigned as an afloat intelligence officer, including

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

, and western Pacific deployments aboard ''Kitty Hawk'', ''America'', and ''Independence'' Following assignment to the Defense Intelligence College in 1980, Murrett was detailed to the

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

Intelligence Plot (OP-009U) as a watch stander and briefing officer for Navy civilian and military leaders. From 1983 to 1985, he served as Assistant Intelligence Officer for Commander, Second Fleet. He participated in deployments to the North Atlantic, the

European theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

, and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

aboard ''Mount Whitney'' and ''Nassau''. Between 1986 and 1989, Murrett was assigned as Assistant Naval Attaché to the

U.S. Embassy The United States has the second most Diplomatic mission, diplomatic missions of any country in the world List of diplomatic missions of China, after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as obse ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. In 1989, Murrett reported to Commander in Chief,

U.S. Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

, where he was assigned as Operational Intelligence Officer. From 1992 to 1995, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence for Commander, Carrier Group Eight, and deployed to the European and Central Command theaters aboard ''Theodore Roosevelt''. Murrett was also assigned as J2 CJTF 120 aboard ''Wasp'' for operations in the Caribbean. Between 1995 and 1997, Murrett was Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence for Commander, Second Fleet and served concurrently as N2 for NATO's Striking Fleet Atlantic and as J2 for U.S. Atlantic Command's CJTF 120. From June 1997 until September 1998, he was assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations Staff as Executive Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence. Murrett was then assigned as Director, Intelligence Directorate, Office of Naval Intelligence in September 1998. Murrett assumed the duties of Commander, Atlantic Intelligence Command (AIC) on 12 August 1999. He was responsible for the transition of AIC to Joint Forces Intelligence Command in October 1999. Murrett served as the Director for Intelligence,

U.S. Joint Forces Command United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. USJFCOM was a functional command that provided specific services to the military. The last commander was Army Gen. Ray Odi ...

, from 10 August 2000 through 25 January 2002. From 31 January 2002 through March 2005, Murrett was assigned as the Vice Director for Intelligence, J2, on the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

. He served as the Director of Naval Intelligence from 1 April 2005 to 7 July 2006, when he became the director for the

.NGA more than Mapquest for the military
Accessed 05-06-2008

Education and training

Murrett received his bachelor's degree in history from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

in 1975, and master's degrees in government and strategic intelligence from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and the Defense Intelligence College, respectively. ''This article contains information from the United States Federal Government and is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

References

Official Biography from Navy
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Murrett, Robert B. 1952 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) University at Buffalo alumni Georgetown University alumni National Intelligence University alumni United States Navy admirals Directors of the Office of Naval Intelligence Directors of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency American expatriates in Norway Syracuse University faculty