Rear Adm. Kelly Aeschbach relieved Rear Adm. Gene Price as Commander, Office of Naval Intelligence in a June 17 ceremony held at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Md. She also assumed directorship of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office where she will serve as principal advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on maritime issues.
She received her commission as a naval intelligence officer through the Navy ROTC at George Washington University in 1990. Her operational assignments have included Patrol Squadron (VP) 6, with deployments to Adak, Alaska, and Okinawa, Japan; Amphibious Squadron 1, deploying to the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf; Carrier Strike Group 9, taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom; and Deputy Director of Intelligence, U.S. Forces Afghanistan and Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Headquarters Resolute Support, U.S. Central Command, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Her ashore assignments have included serving at the Joint Intelligence Center Pacific in Aiea, Hawaii; Tactical Training Group Pacific in San Diego; Naval Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn.; and U.S. Naval Forces Europe in London; U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla. She was a military fellow at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in McLean, Va.; the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations staff at the Pentagon; Commanding Officer, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic in Norfolk, Va.; and Chief of Staff, Naval Information Forces in Suffolk, Va.
Since 2018, RADM Aeschbach served as Director of Intelligence, J2, U.S. Strategic Command. Her personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint