Patrick M. Hughes (September 19, 1942 – October 5, 2024) was a United States Army officer who served as the 12th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Previously, he was Director of Intelligence for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1994 to 1996 and the Director of Intelligence at United States Central Command from 1992 to 1994. He was the Commanding General, United States Army Intelligence Agency, and the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army from 1990 until 1992. He joined the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as the Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis (Intelligence), and departed from DHS and Government service in March 2005.
Early life and education Hughes was born on September 19, 1942, in Great Falls, Montana, but shortly after birth his family moved to the small town of Manhattan, Montana, in the Gallatin Valley near Bozeman where he was raised and schooled. During his formative years Hughes was active in sports and school activities and held a variety of jobs from a young age. He often spent summers in Riverton, Wyoming, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where his Father worked and lived. He graduated from Manhattan High School in 1960.
He attended Montana State College (later designated a university) and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah before joining the U.S. Army on January 2, 1962. Following his initial enlistment Hughes returned to Montana State University in January 1965 to pursue a college education and degree. Hughes was commissioned through the Army ROTC Program at Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, in June 1968, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business. He earned a Master of Arts in Business Management from Central Michigan University concurrent with his graduation from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1978. Hughes attended the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) in 1986 as an Advanced Operational Studies Fellow (AOSF) in lieu of attendance at the War College. He received Honorary doctorates from Montana State University (Business) and the National Defense Intelligence College (Military Intelligence) in 1999. His military education and training includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC-RA2) at Fort Benning, Georgia, the Military Assistance Training Advisor Course (MATA) at Fort Bragg, the Counterintelligence Research Officer Course (9666) at Fort Holabird, Maryland, the Military Assistance Security Adviser (MASA) Course at Fort Bragg, and the United States Army Intelligence Center Training Military Intelligence Officers Advanced Course at Fort Huachuca.
He also completed Army Basic Training, Army Medical Corpsman training, Single Engine Pilot training, Basic Airborne School, Jumpmaster training, the Jungle Warfare School Operations Course, and was trained in the Vietnamese language in conjunction with his MATA and MASA training at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, and later the Korean language at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California. He also completed the Electronic Warfare / Cryptology Officer Familiarization Course, the Advanced Military Studies Program (War College-level Fellowship), the Brigade-level Pre-Command Course, the Senior Officer Legal Course, and General Office CAPSTONE training.
Career
Education Hughes enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 2, 1962, and subsequently was trained as a Medical Specialist (911B20), rising to the rank of Specialist 5 (E-5). He was assigned to the 5th Medical Battalion, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) and the 249th Helicopter Ambulance Company (H-21), a United States Strike Command unit, at Fort Carson, Colorado. During his 3-year enlistment he participated in large-scale military exercises "We Will," "Swift Strike II", "Swift Strike III," "Desert Strike," "Coulee Crest," and "Gold Fire I." Following the completion of his enlistment in 1965, he attended Montana State University and subsequently was commissioned as a Regular Army (United States) (RA) officer in the U.S. Army Infantry. During this period he was selected as a Distinguished Military Student (DMS) and Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG). Hughes remained in the U.S. Army Reserve during most of his time at Montana State. He completed his bachelor's degree work in June 1968 and following commissioning he reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for duty with the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Devils in Baggy Pants), 82nd Airborne Division, as a platoon leader in Company B and later as Battalion S-1. During this period he served as a "security cordon" officer in Washington, D.C., during the first inauguration of President Richard Nixon on January 20, 1969, during a time of some turmoil in the United States (Nixon inauguration).
Vietnam War
In March 1969, he began his first tour in South Vietnam as a platoon leader in Company D, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, South Vietnam at Fire Support Base Danger in the Mekong Delta region. In September of that year he was withdrawn from combat along with his unit, the 4th Bn, 39th Infantry and reassigned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and after a brief stay at Tripler Army Medical Center and a period of light duty, he was reassigned as Battalion S-1, first in the 9th ID, then following a transition that included a brief period of assignment to the Hawaii National Guard's 29th Infantry Brigade, to the 3rd Battalion, 27th U.S. Infantry Regiment "Wolfhounds," 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks. During this period the U.S. Army was plagued by post-Vietnam problems, including post traumatic stress disorder, chronic illness, drug use, and organizational disruption. Hughes' job as Battalion S-1 in a post-Vietnam infantry battalion was one of the most challenging jobs of his career and formed many of his personal viewpoints on military service and the importance of individual responsibilities in the military. Hughes subsequently "branch transferred" to Military Intelligence (MI) and attended the Vietnam Military Assistance Training Advisor Course for the Republic of Vietnam (MATA-ARVN) at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, the Army Intelligence School, Fort Holabird, Maryland, and the Vietnam Military Assistance Security Advisor (MASA) Course back at the JFK Center. In August 1971 he was assigned as the Province Phung Hoang (Chiến dịch Phượng Hoàng) program (Phoenix Program) Military Advisor and Province S-2 Advisor, assigned to Advisory Team 49, Long Khánh Province (Vietnam), Military Region III, Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS), U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. He remained in this assignment for 1 full year.
Intelligence work Hughes attended the Army Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, graduating in June 1973. He was next assigned to Camp Zama, Japan. There he served as a strategic intelligence officer with Special Security Office (SSO) until March 1974 when he took command of Army SSO Field Detachment Japan. During this period Hughes provided support to United States Army, Japan, and I Corps (Forward) (USARJ/I Corps), the 500th Military Intelligence Group, and to the Defense Special Representative in Japan (DSR-J), Camp Zama, Japan, and to U.S. military elements in Tokyo, Japan.
In August 1977, Hughes began a series of stateside tours as a student at the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he acted as the illustrator and one of the designers for the Bell Yearbook for the 1977–78 class.
Next assigned to the Army's Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ACSI), at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., he served as a Foreign Liaison Officer from June 1978 to May 1979; as an Intelligence Doctrine Staff Officer until March 1980 and as Assistant to Director of Army Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff until March 1981. During this period Hughes was able to travel widely in connection with his duties, including time in Israel and Egypt, and he participated in activities associated with the Camp David Accords." At the end of this assignment he was recruited for reassignment to the 9th Infantry Division and the Army's High Technology Test Bed (HTTB) which was just forming up at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Back with the 9th Infantry Division (United States), Hughes filled a number of billets, to include Executive Officer of the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion (Combat Electronic Warfare & Intelligence – CEWI) from June 1981 until September 1982. He then served as commander, 9th Operations Support Detachment until he became the 9th_Infantry_Division_(United_States) Division's Assistant Chief of Staff, G2, in May 1983. From there, Hughes took command of 109th MI Battalion . During this nearly 5-year period all of his assignments were directly connected to the HTTB effort, and included the initial use of computers in a tactical unit and at the Division G-2, the application of "dune buggies" in a variety of combat and combat support roles, the application of "state of the art" electronic warfare and electronic intelligence gathering capabilities, advanced camouflage, cover, concealment and denial and deception operations, the application of an experimental airframe and aerial intelligence gathering that formed the initial tactical applications for crewed and uncrewed (crewed test platform) battlefield airborne surveillance (Project Mercury Green), the field testing of new shelters and associated equipment, the testing of digital data input devices, the application in a field unit of long range electro-optic imaging systems and forward looking infrared systems, and numerous other similar activities.
In July 1986, Hughes was selected for a 2-year Advanced Operational Studies Fellowship (AOSF), at the United States Army School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After completing the first year of the fellowship – including travel all over the world and being part of one of the first U.S. military groups to visit the People's Republic of China – he remained at the school as a strategic studies research professor until April 1988.
Hughes was promoted to colonel in June 1988 and took command of the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade (Red Dragons), an element of United States Army Intelligence and Security Command, providing direct support to United States Forces Korea (USFK) and to the military forces of the Republic of Korea. In July 1990, he became the executive officer to the Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (Korea) / Combined Forces Command / United States Forces Korea.
In December 1990 then-Brigadier General Hughes was reassigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ODCSINT) at the Pentagon, and dual-hatted as an Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ADCSINT) and as the Commander, United States Army Intelligence Agency. This command included what was then known as the United States Army Foreign Science and Technology Center (FSTC) at Charlottesville, Virginia, the U.S. Army Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) at Huntsville, Alabama, the Army's Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (AFMIC) at Fort Detrick, Maryland, and the United States Army Intelligence Threat Analysis Center (ITAC). During this period Hughes assisted with direct intelligence support to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm including several trips to Saudi Arabia and significant intelligence preparation of the battlefield work in support of the Army's Chief of Intelligence in Theater (G-2, 3rd Army – ARCENT) and directly to U.S. ground combat units and special operating forces.