Ernest Purkey

Mr. Purkey was appointed as the Deputy Director, Office of Human Resources (OHR) in March 2022. In this role, he serves as a key advisor to the Director of OHR, ensuring daily operations are consistent with the OHR Director’s and Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) strategic vision while also informing the OHR Director of potential impacts HR operational issues may have on DIA missions. He leads and manages the office headquarters, all operational HR divisions, a globally dispersed workforce comprised of civilian and contractor personnel and a multi-million dollar budget. He also manages a multi-year modernization investment, an effort that includes significant process reengineering, organizational change, data cleansing, and the acquisition of a new human capital management system.

Mr. Purkey’s Intelligence Community (IC) Service, which began in 1987, includes specialization in human intelligence (HUMINT) and counterintelligence (CI) with experience spanning the full range of operations and support from execution to national-level engagement and policy development. He is a proven collaborator with expertise in international engagement, to include 13 years of overseas experience working directly with liaison partners in addition to extensive experience in interagency organizational change, strategic planning, and process development.

Mr. Purkey previously served as the Deputy Chief for Operations in the Middle East Africa Center. He established transparency across Directorate of Operations (DO) and Directorate of Science and Technology portfolios while developing and implementing operational strategies to address IC and Department of Defense objectives. From March 2017 to July 2020, Mr. Purkey served as the DIA Senior Representative to United States Forces Korea (USFK). In this capacity, he ensured the totality of DIA support to the command reinforced USFK plans and the implementation of operations. From October 2015 to March 2017, Mr. Purkey was privileged to serve as one of DIA’s first Career Development Officers (CDO) and Lead CDO for the HUMINT and CI career fields. During this time, he led the implementation the Agency’s new talent management system for the DO while coaching hundreds of employees and leaders on career development. As the Lead CDO, Mr. Purkey worked to ensure merit based and corporate personnel management processes continued to be the standard across the agency.

Prior to these assignments, Mr. Purkey served in a variety of HUMINT and CI operational and staff tours beginning with service in Berlin in 1988. His DoD tenure includes multiple combat and stability operations deployments. During three tours in Korea, Mr. Purkey worked closely with various Korean military and civilian agencies to achieve common defense objectives. Mr. Purkey’s government career includes service with the United States Army, from which he retired after 20 years in 2007.

Mr. Purkey was born in Tennessee and lived in numerous locations in the southern United States as a child. He holds a master’s degree in Political and Military Intelligence from American Public University. He is married to the former Grace DeLong of Hawaii, also a DIA employee, and has two daughters, Allissa and Farah. Mr. Purkey is an avid sports fan and BBQ enthusiast.