William P. Crowell
14th Deputy Director of the National Security Agency
In office February 2, 1994 – September 12, 1997
Preceded by	Robert L. Prestel
Succeeded by	Barbara A. McNamara
Personal details
Born	William Perry Crowell, Jr. (1940-11-26) November 26, 1940 (age 85) Louisiana, U.S.
Spouse	Judy
Children	2
Profession	independent consultant in information technology, security and intelligence systems, intelligence official

William Perry Crowell (born November 26, 1940) is the former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency. He served from February 1994 until September 1997.

Crowell was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1940. His family moved to Dallas, TX in 1952 where he attended Woodrow Wilson High School. He was a member of the ROTC reaching the rank of Lt. Colonel, was a member of the rifle team and led the Pershing Rifles performance group. In 1956 he was elected President of Key Club International, a high school community service organization of 65,000 members and in that capacity traveled extensively, including a trip with Radio Free Europe to European capitals for meetings with senior officials of West Germany, Berlin, Paris and London.^[1][2][3]

Crowell entered on duty with the National Security Agency in July 1962. His first assignment was as a recruiter for Masters and PhD graduates in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science at leading universities.^[4] After serving in several capacities in HR, he accepted a division chief assignment overseas. Upon completing that assignment, he returned to headquarters as a special assistant to the Director NSA in the Office of the Executive Director and served under two directors of the Agency in that capacity. During the remainder of his early career at NSA he served in a wide variety of assignments including Head of special projects for A Group (Operations Analysis); Deputy Chief of Counterintelligence (and acting Chief) for A Group; Chief of Staff for A2, Deputy Chief R&D for military systems; Assistant Deputy Director for Administration, Chief of the Science and Technology Organization; Chief of the Analysis Organization for the Soviet Union; and Deputy Director for Plans and Programs. In July 1989 he resigned from the National Security Agency.

Vice President at Atlantic Aerospace Electronics Corporation (1989–1990) In 1989 Crowell became Vice President and Director of Space Systems of Atlantic Aerospace Electronics Corporation. Atlantic Aerospace worked in many areas of research and development, including imagery processing techniques, signals processing, mathematics research, high-precision radar, and low-observable technology. Mr. Crowell established a new business that drew upon the technology strengths of the company to produce products for the Intelligence Community and successfully positioned the company to perform satellite systems work for the Aerospace Corporation and the NRO.^[5]

Crowell returned to the NSA in 1990 just days before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to become Chief of Staff of the Agency. As Chief of Staff, Mr. Crowell directed the daily activities of the office of the Director and Deputy Director of NSA, including the oversight of congressional relations and external customer relations. He represented the Director and Deputy Director in external activities, including public speeches, intelligence community boards, congressional testimony and oversight boards. In response to the challenges of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Mr. Crowell developed a number of information systems, including networks, information displays, analyst support systems, and video-conferencing systems that provided the Directorate with access to real time information and also were used to improve analyst interaction and production.

The National Security Operations Center is responsible for carrying out the Signals Intelligence mission of the National Security Agency (NSA). This involves operating collection facilities across the globe, processing the signals that are collected, and producing intelligence reports for high-level policy makers and military leaders.

During his tenure, Mr. Crowell implemented significant changes to the scope, cost, and efficiency of these operations. He closed down the majority of conventional collection sites, which had employed thousands of people, and replaced them with a new structure of remote collection systems located in three regional collection facilities. He also initiated the development of new collection systems that focused on modern telecommunications and information technologies, as well as the emerging global Internet.

Additionally, he encouraged the development of tools to enhance analytic efficiency and effectiveness, such as high-performance networks, automated textual analysis and language support systems, and artificial intelligence techniques. Mr. Crowell played a key role in establishing the Regional Centers, which were instrumental in enabling the NSA to expand and develop its military workforce with expertise in all areas of cryptology.

President Clinton appointed Mr. Crowell as Deputy Director in February 1994, the senior civilian position in the National Security Agency. In this position, he served as chief operating officer of the Agency, guiding and directing the development of strategies and policy and serving as the principal advisor to the Director. He represented the Agency before congressional committees, presidential boards, and the public media. He fostered broad reexamination of core business processes, resulting in dramatic changes in strategic direction designed to cope with the continuing and rapid changes in cryptography, communications and information technology.^[4]

Crowell retired from the NSA in September 1997.

• Unisys Corp
• Boeing Corp
• Hidden Level Technology
• ManTech International
• HRL Laboratory
• Kuprion, Inc.
• RunSafe Corp.
• Anametric, Inc.
• Lookingglass Cyber
• EdgeTheory, LLC

A native of Louisiana, Crowell currently resides in Leesburg, Virginia with his wife Judy.^[1][2][3]