Liberian President Joseph Boakai selected Major General Charles Johnson (retd.) as Director of the National Security Agency. The appointment is pending Senate confirmation.

His appointment comes many months after he resigned as Minister of National Defense.

He previously served as Chief of Staff of the Liberian Armed Forces for six years.

Despite being born in Monrovia, examinations on his military past revealed that he finished one of his officer training courses at the Nigeria Army School of Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna State.

He also graduated from the Command and General Staff College of the United States Army.

In 2007, he completed officer candidate school and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was also the Military Assistant to Brownie J. Samukai Jr., former Minister of National Defense, during his time in the AFL.

Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appointed Johnson to Brigade Commander of the 23rd Infantry Brigade in 2014, making him the first Liberian to hold that position in the AFL since the Liberian Civil War’s end.

Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the United Methodist University in 2004.