WASHINGTON — President Biden has nominated U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth to be the next director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the Defense Department announced Jan. 10.

Whitworth currently serves as director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.He was previously commander of the Joint Intelligence Center Central, commanding officer of the Navy Element of U.S. Central Command, and commanding officer of the Kennedy Irregular Warfare Center. He also served as director of intelligence for U.S. Africa Command and director of Intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command.

If confirmed by the Senate, Whitworth will become the eighth director of NGA, succeeding Vice Adm. Robert Sharp who has run the agency since February 2019. 

NGA provides geospatial intelligence, or data derived from overhead satellites, to the Defense Department, the intelligence community and homeland security agencies.

Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...