Lieutenant General Charles E. “Charlie” Croom Jr. was the director for the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Commander of the Joint Task Force of the Global Network Operations in Arlington, Virginia. Croom received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1973 from Rutgers University. At Rutgers he was Commander of Cadets for the ROTC program. In 1977 he obtained a Master’s degree in management and business administration from Webster College in Florida. Croom continued his education, graduating from the National War College in 1989 and from the Executive Development Program at Cornell University in 1996. In 2004 he graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Program at Harvard University.

 

In addition to his educational experience, the Lieutenant General has been assigned to many posts, starting with his days as a student at the Communications-Electronics School at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi in 1973-1974. His first overseas position was in Italy in 1983-1984 as a commander in a communications group of Detachment 25. From 2002-2005 Croom was the director of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Infrastructure and Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration for the US Air Force. He was assigned to his current position in July 2005 and was promoted to Lieutenant General shortly after.