University of Colorado Boulder, 1978
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Inducted March 2019
Colonel Michael D. Rosenbaum (Ret), graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the Military Intelligence Corps. He spent his entire 26-year career as an intelligence officer and served in a variety of assignments. In 1982, he graduated from the Defense Intelligence College with a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence (Distinguished Graduate), and in 1999, he graduated from the Army War College. He has commanded from the platoon to the brigade level. His specialties included tactical, strategic, and signals intelligence. Senior staff positions included tours on the Joint Staff and in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
The highlight of his career was commanding the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), a 1,250-person intelligence center supporting joint military operations, including special mission units and law enforcement agencies performing Homeland Defense/Security missions. Post September 2001, he transformed the NGIC, refocusing core processes and production on transnational threats, and making the “NGIC the centerpiece for Army intelligence analysis and a national treasure.”
His final assignment was the Deputy Director of Strategy, Contingency Planning and Assessments, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD/I). He was the lead author of Taking Stock of Defense Intelligence, “the most comprehensive review of Defense intelligence in 50 years.”
After retirement from the Army in October 2004, he joined Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He worked in Business Development, Program Management, and as an Operations Manager of the Command Solutions Operation (CSO). CSO was comprised of more than 1,300 employees serving in 96 locations, with annual revenues of $300 million dollars. They provide design, systems engineering, integration, and technical support services focused on operations, security, and intelligence. CSO customers include many components within the Department of Defense, the military services, the unified combatant commands, and other Federal, State, and International organizations.
Michael has been happily married for 28 years, and retired, now living in North Bethesda, MD. He and his wife enjoy traveling. He has served on a number of boards focused on Children’s Education and the Arts, and has been a CU-donor, which includes AROTC.