Secretary Carter presented the award to Director Clapper for his years of service to the DoD and its mission during a visit to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence headquarters near Washington. Clapper is a retired Air Force lieutenant general and previously served as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

“In a dynamic and competitive world, organizations that succeed do so because they’re open to change,” Secretary Carter said. “Throughout his career Jim has led necessary change – as the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, at the Pentagon, and now as DNI – to ensure we stay ahead.”

The Distinguished Public Service Award is the department’s highest honor for private citizens and non-career public servants. This year, Secretary Carter has presented the award to a bipartisan list of distinguished current and former officials, including former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and Henry Kissinger; former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft; former Sen. John Warner; and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson.

Director Clapper has served as DNI since 2010. He retired from the military in 1995 after a distinguished 32-year career in uniform that began as a rifleman in the Marine Corps Reserve. That career included stops as the Air Force’s top uniformed intelligence officer; as director of intelligence for U.S. Forces-Korea, U.S. Pacific Command and Strategic Air Command. After retiring from the Air Force, he spent six years in the private sector before joining the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, becoming its first civilian director and leading its transformation into the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

“No one has more aptly and consistently demonstrated the instinct to serve than Jim Clapper,” Secretary Carter said. “He has served his nation selflessly and with distinction for over five decades. In doing so, he has helped ensure that millions and millions can get up in the morning, go to school, go to work, live their lives, dream their dreams, and give their children a better future.”