This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
On July 18, 2019, NATO diplomats carefully balanced the top posts in the alliance, with Rose Gottemoeller, an American, holding the No. 2 position. She was scheduled to step down that fall, to be succeeded by Mircea Geoana, a former Romanian foreign minister.
The appointment of a Romanian to the deputy post cleared the way for the United States to nominate someone for the intelligence job, allied diplomats said. The United States already held one of the seven assistant secretary general posts, with John Manza leading the operations division, overseeing NATO activity in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Former American officials revealed that officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had hoped to tap a former senior official for the job, someone with experience in a top leadership post at the Pentagon or intelligence agencies. However, many of the top former officers were unacceptable choices to the White House, and other senior officials declined to be considered.
Despite lacking a high profile outside the intelligence world, James Cattler was well respected, former officials said. He served as the chairman of the National Intelligence Management Council and as the national intelligence manager for the Near East for the director of national intelligence.
Mr. Cattler was an “inspired choice,” said Douglas Wise, a former C.I.A. officer and deputy head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. “He knows the civilian side of intel, the policy side and, with his military and D.I.A. background, knows the military intel side of things as well.”
Mr. Cattler was expected to continue the focus established by his predecessor, Mr. von Loringhoven. The alliance did not share specific intelligence on terrorism threats; those were shared bilaterally. Instead, allied officials said, it provided broad information on strategic trends within the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and other groups. On Russia, the intelligence sharing had been at times more tactical.
