President Donald Trump has nominated Rear Adm. Heidi Berg to take command of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, Navy Space Command, and the 10th Fleet, the Pentagon announced Friday. If confirmed by the Senate, Berg will also pin on a third star.
Fleet Cyber Command serves as the Navy’s component to U.S. Cyber Command and oversees the service’s information network operations, as well as offensive and defensive cyber missions. Navy Space Command supports U.S. Space Command by planning and executing space-related operations, while 10th Fleet exercises operational control over Fleet Cyber Command-assigned force.
Berg, who is currently the deputy commander of those organizations, brings decades of operational and intelligence experience to the nomination. A native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, she graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1991 before studying Russian at the Defense Language Institute and Arabic at the Kalimat Institute in Cairo. She also holds a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Oxford University.
Her operational career includes flying more than 1,000 hours in EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft, deployments with surface and submarine units, and service on the Sixth Fleet staff in Italy. She also deployed to Kabul in 2012 as director of the International Security Assistance Force Red Team.
Ashore, Berg has held multiple commands, including Navy Information Operations Command Bahrain, where she supported operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and the Navy Element of the Defense Intelligence Agency. She also commanded the Joint Military Intelligence Training Center.
Her staff and leadership assignments span the intelligence community and Navy headquarters. She has served as deputy for Plans and Policy at Fleet Cyber Command, deputy National Intelligence Officer at the National Intelligence Council, and military advisor to the deputy director of National Intelligence. She was also Information Warfare Director at Navy Personnel Command, strategic advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations, and acting director of the Navy Digital Warfare Office.
As a flag officer, Berg has served as director of intelligence (J-2) at U.S. Africa Command, director of strategy, plans and policy (J-5) at U.S. Cyber Command, and as assistant deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans, and strategy.
Her awards include multiple personal, campaign, unit, and service commendations. In 2021, she was made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the president of France.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)
