U.S. Army Lieutenant General Alan R. Lynn was the Director, Defense Information Systems Agency at Fort Meade, MD.
Education
Lieutenant General Lynn graduated from the California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA, earning a bachelor's degree in English. He also holds a master's degree in National Resource Management from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF). Cyber Security, Senior Executives in Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. His other military education includes the Air Defense Artillery Basic and Advanced Courses, the Signal Officer Advanced Course, the United States Air Force Information Systems Officer's Course where he became a Network Engineer, the Command and General Staff College and the Defense Language Institute for Italian.
Military career
Lieutenant General Lynn commissioned into the United States Army as an Air Defense Artillery Officer. His first assignment was with the 1-51st Air Defense Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, Ft. Ord, CA, where he served as a Chaparral and Stinger Platoon Leader, Air Defense Fire Support Officer, and C Company Executive Officer. Following the Air Defense Artillery Advance Course, he attended the Defense Language Institute to learn Italian. In 1984, he commanded the 1-34th United States Army Artillery Detachment, a Nike Hercules missile special weapons warhead team, in Ceggia, Italy.
Lieutenant General Lynn branch transferred to the Signal Corps, and served as the Training Officer for the 5th Signal Command in Worms, Germany. In 1986, he took command of the 324th Signal Company, 72d Signal Battalion, Karlsruhe, Germany, in support of the US Army Europe (USAREUR) Main Command Post.
Following his second company level command, Lieutenant General Lynn attended the Signal Officer Advance Course at Ft. Gordon, GA, and the Air Force Information Systems Officer's Course at Keesler Air Force Base, MS where he was awarded a new Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of 25E, Network Engineer. He was then assigned as the Division Radio Officer for the 101st Airborne Division. In 1990, he served as the Brigade Signal Officer for the 1st Infantry Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
In June 1992, he graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and returned to Europe where he served as the S-3 (Network Design, Management, and Operations) for the 97th Signal Battalion in Mannheim, Germany. Following his time as the Battalion S3, he was selected to command the newly formed 414th Signal Company as a Field Grade Officer, supporting Land Forces Central Europe (LANDCENT).
From June 1994 to April 1997, Lieutenant General Lynn served as the Signal Branch Lieutenant Colonel's Assignment Officer and the Lieutenant Colonel Command Program Manager in PERSCOM (now Human Resources Command). While serving at PERSCOM, he helped digitize the command's manual slating process.
In 1997, Lieutenant General Lynn assumed command of the 13th Signal Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, TX. He deployed the battalion for Operation JOINT FORGE between 1998 and 1999. While deployed, the battalion supported Task Force Eagle, Multi-Nation Division (North), in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 2000, he was assigned as an Action Officer in the Network Management Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, J6, at the Pentagon. Following the September 11th attack on the Pentagon, he was selected as the Division Chief for the Commander-in-Chief (CINC) Operations and Support Division of the J6.
Lieutenant General Lynn took command of the 3d Signal Brigade, Fort Hood, TX, in 2002. In January 2004, he deployed the brigade to 66 locations across Iraq, creating the world's largest combat communications network at the time.
In 2005, Lieutenant General Lynn was assigned to the Department of the Army Chief Information Officer/G6 Office as the Division Chief for LandWarNet Integration Division. He was later selected to serve as the Executive Officer to the Army CIO/G6.
In 2007, Lieutenant General Lynn became the Chief of Staff for the Defense Information Systems Agency, Arlington, VA. DISA provides command, control, and combat support systems for the President, Secretary of Defense, Combatant Commanders, Joint Staff, military departments, and combat support agencies. As the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Lynn was responsible for coordinating the efforts of a 6,600-member organization and managing a $6-billion yearly budget.
In 2008, Lieutenant General Lynn took command of the 311th Signal Command (Theater), Fort Shafter, Hawaii.