Lieutenant General Michael K. Nagata (Retired) served in the US Army for 38 years; 34 of which were in US Special Operations Forces.  He works today as the Strategic Advisor and a Senior Vice President for CACI International, a National Security company headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

His final government position was Director of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center until 2019. Previously, LTG Nagata served as the Commander, Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) in US Central Command, from June 2013 to October 2015.

A native of Virginia, and graduate of Georgia State University, Lieutenant General Nagata initially enlisted as an Army Private, and later received a commission from the Army’s Officer Candidate School as an Infantry Officer in 1982. He initially served as a Platoon Leader in the 2d Infantry Division before volunteering for Army Special Forces in 1984. 

During his Special operations career he served in various positions in both Army and Joint Special Operations.  These included: Detachment Commander, Executive Officer, Battalion S-3, Battalion Executive Officer, and Group Operations Officer. Later, he served as the Commander of 1st BN, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, responsible for the Special Forces Qualification Course. In 1990, he volunteered and assessed for a Special Missions Unit (SMU), in which he served at various times as a Troop Commander, Operations Officer, Squadron Commander, and SMU Commander.

After graduating from the National War College, Lieutenant General Nagata served in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He then served in the Intelligence Community as a Military Deputy for Counter Terrorism. As a general officer, he has served as the Deputy Chief, Office of the Defense Representative to Pakistan (ODRP), the Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counter Terrorism (J-37) on the Joint Staff, and Commander, SOCCENT, before his final assignment at NCTC.

Lieutenant General Nagata today resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife Barbie, and their 5 adult children and two grandchildren are the lights of their lives.