Its doubtful he would have been confirmed by the Senate for the SecState job. NSA Director is not a position that needs the advice and consent of the Senate.
I remember being on the Yahoo message boards a lot back then. At that time I was working for AIRPAC, the Admiral who commands all the Pacific CVN’s and air squadrons, as a Tiger Team Lead. My team and I would fly to where-ever a CVN was located that needed a combat systems tech assist, fix them up then be on our way. You have a great memory.