Michael Studeman

Michael William Studeman (born September 10, 1966) is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who last served as director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office and commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence from August 1, 2022 to July 2023. He most recently served as the Director of Intelligence of the United States Indo-Pacific Command from July 3, 2019 to July 2022, and previously was the Director of Intelligence of the United States Southern Command.

Born in Fairfax, Virginia, He attended the College of William & Mary, earning a B.A. degree in 1988. Studeman later completed an M.A. degree in national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in March 1998. His master's thesis was entitled Dragon in the Shadows: Calculating China's Advances in the South China Sea. Studeman also graduated from the National War College in 2016.

At the Sea, Air, and Space Conference in Washington, DC, April 5, 2023, Studeman explained how the PRC might use supposedly noncombatant vessels such as fishing trawlers to attack both military and civilian shipping and aviation in international waters. These attacks may include ramming of opponents’ vessels and using lasers to blind pilots of opponents’ civilian and military aircraft.

In the September 2024 episode of the "Decoding Geopolitics" podcast, Studeman argued there was a 60% chance of war with China. Family He is the son of Navy admiral William O. Studeman and Gloria Diane (Jeans) Studeman. His father served as Director of the National Security Agency from 1988 to 1992 and the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1992 to 1995. On December 28, 1991, Michael Studeman married Brenda Lynne Draper in Middlesex County, Virginia.