Bruce Allen Carlson (born October 3, 1949), was the 17th Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The command conducts research, development, test and evaluation, and provides acquisition management services and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war.

[1] He was commissioned in 1971 after completing the University of Minnesota Duluth's Air Force ROTC program as a distinguished graduate.

In April 2009, Carlson was called as a general authority and a member of the LDS Church's Second Quorum of the Seventy.

In June 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama as director of the NRO, an agency that operates the nation's reconnaissance satellites.