Black joined the National Security Agency in 1959 as an operational linguist/analyst after three years in the Army. While employed at NSA, Black completed a wide variety of assignments including Special Assistant to the Director for Information warfare; Chief A Group ; Chief, NSA/CSS Representative Europe office ; Associate Deputy Director for Operations/ Military Support; and he served as both Chief and Deputy Chief of a major field installation. As he worked his way up to Senior Cryptologic Executive Service, his primary focus was on building new organizations and creating new ways of doing business. Black retired from the NSA in 1997.
In 1997 Black became Assistant Vice President and Director of Information Operations in the Advanced Technologies and Solutions Group of the Science Applications International Corporation. At SAIC, Black led Information Operations research and worked with the Information Operations Technology Center to establish an Institute for the Analysis of Complex Systems to develop advanced techniques for the analysis of networks and critical infrastructures.
Deputy Director at NSA (2000–2006)
Black returned to the NSA in 2000 to become Deputy Director. Since 2002 he was overseeing the Trailblazer Project, which was aimed at analyzing data on computer networks, and at tracking cell phone and email communications. In 2002, the main contract for Trailblazer, ultimately worth US$1.2 billion, had been awarded to Black's former employer Science Applications International Corporation. In April 2005, the outgoing NSA director Michael Hayden told a Senate hearing that the Trailblazer program was several hundred million dollars over budget and years behind schedule. After Michael Hayden's promotion to Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Black was acting Director of the NSA until the appointment of the new NSA director Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander. In August 2006, Black was replaced by John C. Inglis, and offered to take over the position as liaison officer to NSA's British intelligence counterpart. A native of New Mexico, Black currently resides in Pasadena, Maryland with his wife Iris. They have three children.
