Navy admiral tapped to be the next chief of the NSA

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is announcing that the head of the Navy’s Cyber Command has been chosen to be the next chief of the troubled National Security Agency.

Vice Adm. Mike Rogers, also a former intelligence director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is being nominated to replace Army Gen. Keith Alexander.

The NSA has been rocked by former analyst Edward Snowden’s disclosures of its secret surveillance programs that collect phone and Internet data around the world and now faces enormous pressure to change its ways.

Rogers has long been considered the heir apparent for the job, which includes taking command of U.S. Cyber Command, which like the NSA is based at Fort Meade, Md. Alexander is planning to retire in mid-March.