From 1982 until 1986, Sullivan was the general counsel of the National Reconnaissance Office, a then secret US satellite intelligence agency). In addition, in 1984–1986, he was the governor of Wake Island, the U.S. possession in the Pacific.
Sullivan was in charge from 1982 to 1986: first as general counsel for the National Reconnaissance Office, a US intelligence agency focused on satellites, and then as governor of Wake Island, the U.S. Pacific territory he managed from 1984 to 1986.