Chad Raduege
President, Cyber, Data & Communications, Elara Nova | Retired USAF Brigadier General & Former Commander, White House Communications Agency
Chad Raduege is President of Cyber, Data & Communications at Elara Nova and a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general. He entered the Air Force in 1994 as a distinguished graduate of The Ohio State University ROTC program and retired in 2023 after 29 years in communications, IT and cyber operations, including nine command assignments.
He began in tactical communications at Tinker Air Force Base, later led the group overseeing the Air Force Information Network of roughly 750,000 endpoints, and commanded deployed units supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He served as deputy and then commander of the White House Communications Agency across the 2017 presidential transition, then as Director of Cyberspace and Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer for Air Combat Command. His final posting was Director of C4/Cyber and Chief Information Officer for U.S. European Command, supporting NATO allies through the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the accession of Finland and Sweden.
After retiring, he served as the inaugural executive director of the Oklahoma Cyber Innovation Institute at The University of Tulsa. He is also President and CEO of The Raduege Group, Chairman and CEO of the Air Force Cyberspace & Air Traffic Control Association, and serves on the board of AFCEA International. On Open Door Salon he argued that biopharma data carries national security weight and that the CEO owns a company’s cyber risk.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chad Raduege
Who is Chad Raduege?
Chad Raduege is President of Cyber, Data & Communications at Elara Nova and a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general. He served 29 years in communications, IT and cyber operations before retiring in 2023, including command of the White House Communications Agency and a final posting as Director of C4/Cyber and Chief Information Officer for U.S. European Command.
What is Chad Raduege an expert in?
Chad Raduege’s expertise is communications, IT and cyber operations at large scale. He led the group overseeing the Air Force Information Network of roughly 750,000 endpoints, served as Director of Cyberspace and Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer for Air Combat Command, and later served as Director of C4/Cyber and Chief Information Officer for U.S. European Command.
How does Chad Raduege view cybersecurity in biopharma?
Chad Raduege argues that biopharma data carries national security weight and that the CEO owns a company’s cyber risk. On Open Door Salon he said, “Defense has to be right all of the time. The offense or the hacker just has to be right once and then they’re in.”
What organizations is Chad Raduege associated with?
Chad Raduege is President of Cyber, Data & Communications at Elara Nova, President and CEO of The Raduege Group, and Chairman and CEO of the Air Force Cyberspace & Air Traffic Control Association, and he serves on the board of AFCEA International. After retiring from the Air Force he served as the inaugural executive director of the Oklahoma Cyber Innovation Institute at The University of Tulsa.
On Open Door Salon
“Chad Raduege on Why Biopharma Cybersecurity Is National Security”
Chad Raduege · September 30, 2026
Episode page & show notes on Open Door Salon
In this episode
- Twenty-nine years in Air Force communications, IT and cyber
- Commanding the White House Communications Agency
- U.S. European Command through the Afghanistan withdrawal and the invasion of Ukraine
- Where biopharma sits on a nation-state target list
- Ransomware versus espionage and advanced persistent threats
- The 40-person biotech with no CISO, and why the CEO owns the risk
- What an adversary learns from a venture firm’s due diligence files
- Crown jewels, Mission Defense Teams and building security in
Topics
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