Brigadier General Michael Cornell received his commission in 1992 as a Distinguished Graduate of AFROTC Detachment 115 at the University of Connecticut, where he finished first in his cadet class. He is a career Air Force intelligence officer and cyber professional with conventional and special operations experience spanning the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war in support of the White House, Pentagon E-Ring, National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command, US Strategic Command, US Northern Command, and multiple overseas combatant commands. He also served as a military liaison to the Federally Funded Research & Development Center (FFRDC) at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
A seasoned operator, General Cornell facilitated counterair sorties for U-2 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) collection missions over Iraq, enabled close air support (CAS) to US and allied forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, defended U.S. critical infrastructure from adversary cyber attacks, and planned and executed counterterrorism missions that killed or captured 115 high value targets across the CENTCOM theater of operations.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, he participated in NORAD’s scramble of the first fighter aircraft to the World Trade Center and mobilized for Operation NOBLE EAGLE. In 2002, the Department of Justice cited his published work on weapons of mass destruction in a legal opinion to the President concerning the authority to use military force in Iraq. In 2007, 1st Air Force named him its Field Grade ISR Officer of the Year.
The general commanded at the squadron, group, and field agency echelons, and led expeditionary forces around the world, including a year in a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) unit with 2nd Infantry Division along the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ), multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf, and joint duty in Afghanistan with 10th Mountain Division, 18th Airborne Corps, and NATO. He directly participated in interagency operations against the enemy with State Department and Central Intelligence Agency teams assigned to protect the Afghan president, for which he was awarded the Air Force Combat Action Medal.
General Cornell’s final assignment was as the senior uniformed officer at the Pentagon for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), where he led 4,000 military, civilian, and contractor personnel in operating and defending a $14B information technology (IT) and cybersecurity infrastructure that secures key Department of War (DoW) cyber terrain and provides uninterrupted communications capabilities to the White House, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Military Command Center (NMCC), Intelligence Community partners, and all DoD component offices within the National Capital Region. As DISA’s senior operational leader for the National Leadership Command Capability (NLCC), he enabled the President and other National Leadership to execute essential functions under steady state, continuity of operations, and continuity of government conditions, regardless of time, environment, or location.
General Cornell holds a law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law and an Executive Certificate in National Security Management from the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs. He is a graduate of more than two dozen professional military education schools and training programs including, but not limited to:
- – Joint & Combined Warfighter School
- – Air War College
- – Air Force Senior Leader Orientation Course
- – Joint Air & Space Operations Senior Staff Course
- – NSA Executive SIGINT Orientation Course
- – Air Force Cyber Operations Fundamentals Course
- – NORTHCOM Joint Task Force Commander’s Course
- – DoW’s National & International Security Leadership Seminar
- – Executive Leadership Cybersecurity Course at the University of Texas Center for Infrastructure Assurance & Security
General Cornell is a Joint Qualified Officer and a proud graduate of paratrooper training at the U.S. Army Airborne School. His major awards and decorations include:
- – Defense Superior Service Medal
- – Legion of Merit
- – Meritorious Service Medal (with four oak leaf clusters)
- – Joint Service Commendation Medal
- – Air Force Commendation Medal (with four oak leaf clusters) – Air Force Achievement Medal
- – Air Force Combat Action Medal
- – Meritorious Unit Award (with three oak leaf clusters),
- – Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (with “V” device and nine oak leaf clusters)