Biography

Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn is a native of Middletown, Rhode Island and a 1977 graduate of Middletown High School. Mike was an excellent scholar and an outstanding athlete. He was captain of the Rhode Island State Champion Middletown High School football team as well as President of the Student Body. He entered the University of Rhode Island in 1977. Mike was a stalwart on the varsity swimming and water polo club teams where he earned All New England and All East honors on the latter team.

He was a four-year enrollee of the Army ROTC program, a three-year ROTC Scholarship awardee and earned honors as an Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management Science and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps.

Lieutenant General Flynn’s assignments include multiple tours as a paratrooper, staff officer and commander at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the 82d Airborne Division, 18th Airborne Corps, and Joint Special Operations Command, where he deployed for Operations Urgent Fury in Grenada and Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Additionally, he served with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana; and the United States Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. In addition to Grenada and Haiti, Mike’s other deployments include Central America and the Balkans.

Lieutenant General Flynn served as the Assistant Chief of Staff, G2, 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from June 2001 and the Director of Intelligence, Joint Task Force 180 in Afghanistan until July 2002. He commanded the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade from June 2002 to June 2004 and was Director of Intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command from July 2004 to June 2007, with service in Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF). He served as the Director of Intelligence, United States Central Command from June 2007 to July 2008 and Director of Intelligence, Joint Staff from July 2008 to June 2009.

He assumed duties as the Chief, CJ2, International Security Assistance Force, with the additional appointment as the CJ2, United States Forces-Afghanistan on 15 June 2009. As such, he was NATO’s Director of Military Intelligence for International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan. Prior to his assignment as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, he served as the Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Partner Engagement before becoming the 18th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency on 24 July 2012.

He is a graduate of the Intelligence Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Army’s Electronic Warfare and Signals Intelligence Program, Combined Arms Staff Officer’s Course, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and the United States Naval War College.

He has a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth Kansas, and a Master of Arts Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.

His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Bronze Star Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (with Silver Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Achievement Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters), the NATO Service Medal, and several service and campaign medals. Lieutenant General Flynn also earned the Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, and the Joint Staff Identification Badge.

Lieutenant General Flynn remains a strong supporter of the University of Rhode Island and the Army ROTC Program. Since graduating from URI, he has remained an ardent supporter of the ROTC program. He has maintained contact with the cadets and the Army ROTC program through his generous support of ROTC functions. He has spent his entire life serving his community and nation during peace and war. His exemplary devotion to duty, personal bravery and outstanding leadership is in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his family and the University of Rhode Island.

Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn and his wife Lori live in Washington, D.C.