NEWPORT, R.I. - The Obama administration will nominate Gen. Robert Harding, a retired senior Army intelligence officer who earned a master’s degree in business from Salve Regina, to be the next head of the Transportation Security Administration, according to several news outlets.
Harding, 61, is expected to become the fifth person to head TSA since it was formed eight years ago. He became deputy chief for all Army intelligence operations in 2001. Earlier, he served as the Defense Intelligence Agency’s director of operations and director of intelligence for the Army’s Southern Command.
If confirmed, Harding will be the second senior military officer to head TSA. Adm. James M. Loy, former Coast Guard commandant became head of TSA in 2002 before moving to deputy secretary of DHS.