A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Intelligence Community (IC), DIA informs national civilian and defense policymakers about the military intentions and capabilities of foreign governments and non-state actors. It also provides intelligence assistance, integration and coordination across uniformed military service intelligence components, which remain structurally separate from DIA.[4] The agency's role encompasses the collection and analysis of military-related foreign political, economic, industrial, geographic, and medical and health intelligence.[5] DIA produces approximately one-quarter of all intelligence content that goes into the President's Daily Brief.[6]
DIA's intelligence operations extend beyond the zones of combat, and approximately half of its employees serve overseas at hundreds of locations and in U.S. embassies in 140 countries.[7] The agency specializes in the collection and analysis of human-source intelligence (HUMINT), both overt and clandestine, while also handling U.S. military-diplomatic relations abroad.[8] DIA concurrently serves as the national manager for the highly technical measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) and as the Defense Department manager for counterintelligence programs. The agency has no law enforcement authority, contrary to occasional portrayals in American popular culture.
DIA is a national-level intelligence organization which does not belong to a single military element or within the traditional chain of command, instead answering to the Secretary of Defense directly through the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Three-quarters of the agency's 17,000 employees are career civilians who are experts in various fields of defense and military interest or application;[9][10] and although no military background is required, 48% of agency employees have some past military service.[11] DIA has a tradition of marking unclassified deaths of its employees on the organization's Memorial Wall.
Established in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, DIA was involved in U.S. intelligence efforts throughout the Cold War and rapidly expanded, both in size and scope, after the September 11 attacks. Because of the sensitive nature of its work, the spy organization has been embroiled in numerous controversies, including those related to its intelligence-gathering activities, to its role in torture, as well as to attempts to expand its activities on U.S. soil.[citation needed]
Less known than its civilian equivalent or its cryptologic counterpart,[16] DIA and its personnel have at times been portrayed in works of American popular culture. As with other U.S. foreign intelligence organizations, the agency's role has occasionally been confused with those of law enforcement agencies. DIA's parent organization, the Department of Defense, features in fiction and media much more prominently due to the public's greater awareness of its existence and the general association of military organizations with warfare, rather than spycraft.
Comparison to other intelligence community members
CIA
DIA and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are distinct organizations with different functions. DIA focuses on national level defense-military topics, while CIA is concentrated on broader, more general intelligence needs of the President and Cabinet. Additionally, due to DIA's designation as a combat support agency, it has special responsibilities in meeting intelligence requirements specifically for the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Combatant Commanders, both in peace and at war. Although there are misconceptions in the media and public about the DIA–CIA rivalry, the two agencies have a mutually beneficial relationship and division of labor. According to a former senior U.S official who worked with both agencies, "the CIA doesn't want to be looking for surface-to-air missiles in Libya" while it is also tasked with evaluating the Syrian opposition.[8] CIA and DIA Operations Officers all go through the same type of clandestine training at Camp Peary, an interagency Defense installation under CIA administration better known in popular culture by its CIA nickname "The Farm".[8]
DIA and the military services
DIA is not a collective of all U.S. military intelligence units and the work it performs is not in lieu of that falling under intelligence components of individual services. Unlike the Russian GRU, which encompasses equivalents of nearly all joint U.S. military intelligence operations, DIA assists and coordinates the activities of individual service-level intelligence units (i.e. 25 AF, INSCOM, etc.), but they nevertheless remain separate entities. As a general rule, DIA handles national-level, long-term and strategic intelligence needs, whereas service-level intelligence components handle tactical, short-term goals pertinent to their respective services.[17] DIA does, however, lead coordination efforts with the military intelligence units and with the national DOD intelligence services (NSA, NGA, NRO) in its role as chair of the Military Intelligence Board and through the co-located Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.
The Military Intelligence Integrated Database (MIDB) is due to be replaced by the Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System (MARS) beginning in spring 2024.[18][19]
DIA is organized into four directorates and five regional centers[20]
Directorate for Operations:
Defense Clandestine Service (DCS): DCS conducts clandestineespionage activities around the world and is the executive agent for human intelligence operations throughout the Department of Defense.[21] Staffed by civilian and military personnel, the DCS is a consolidation of the former Defense Human Intelligence Service and works in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency'sDirectorate of Operations, among other national HUMINT entities. It globally deploys teams of case officers, interrogation experts, field analysts, linguists, technical specialists, and special operations forces.[22]
Defense Attache System (DAS): DAS represents the United States in defense and military-diplomatic relations with foreign governments worldwide. It also manages and conducts overt human intelligence collection activities. Defense Attaches serve from Defense Attache Offices (DAO) co-located at more than a hundred United States Embassies in foreign nations, represent the Secretary of Defense in diplomatic relations with foreign governments and militaries, and coordinate military activities with partner nations.
Defense Cover Office (DCO): DCO is a DIA component responsible for executing cover programs for agency's intelligence officers, as well as those for the entire Department of Defense.[23][24][25]
Directorate for Analysis: The Directorate of Analysis manages the all-source analysis elements of DIA, and is responsible for developing and deploying analytic tradecraft throughout the Defense Intelligence Enterprise. Analysts analyze and disseminate finalized intelligence products, focusing on national, strategic and operational-level military issues that may arise from worldwide political, economic, medical, natural or other related processes. Analysts contribute to the President's Daily Brief and the National Intelligence Estimates. Analysts serve DIA in all of the agency's facilities and DIA has the most forward deployed analysts in the Intelligence Community.[26]
Directorate for Science and Technology: The Directorate for Science and Technology manages DIA's technical assets and personnel. These assets gather and analyze Measurement and Signature Intelligence, which is a technical intelligence discipline that serves to detect, track, identify or describe the signatures (distinctive characteristics) of fixed or dynamic target sources. This often includes radar intelligence, acoustic intelligence, nuclear intelligence, and chemical and biological intelligence. DIA is designated the national manager for MASINT collection within the United States Intelligence Community, coordinating all MASINT gathering across agencies. DIA is also the national manager of the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS), the central Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) processing network for the United States, and Stone Ghost, a network for US and partner nations.[27]
Directorate for Mission Services: The Directorate for Mission Services provides administrative, technical, and programmatic support to the agency's domestic and global operations and analytic efforts. The Directorate also manages DIA's training centers -- the Joint Military Intelligence Training Center and the Joint Military Attaché School. This includes providing counterintelligence to the agency as well as serving as the counterintelligence executive agent for the Department of Defense.
Centers: DIA is divided into five regional centers and two functional centers which manage the agency's efforts in these areas of responsibility. These centers are the Americas and Transnational Threats Center, the Indo-Pacific Regional Center, the Europe/Eurasia Regional Center, the Middle East/Africa Regional Center, the China Mission Group, the Defense Resources and Infrastructure Center, and the Defense Combating Terrorism Center. DIA also manages Community-wide centers such as the National Center for Medical Intelligence, the Missile and Space Intelligence Center, the National Media Exploitation Center, and the Underground Facilities Analysis Center (UFAC).
The DIA has its own police force (established in 1963), made up of federal officers who protect DIA people and property. DIA Police provide law enforcement and police services, emergency response and physical security at DIA campuses.[29]
DIA Police have 170 sworn, uniformed officers that protect and police the six DIA sites (Headquarters, Reston, Charlottesville, DIA Logistics Operation Center, National Center for Medical Intelligence and Missile and Space Intelligence Center).[29]
DIA Police has 26 Special Agents that carry out security investigations.[29]
From World War II until the creation of DIA in 1961, the three Military Departments collected, produced and distributed their intelligence for individual use. This turned out to be duplicative, costly, and ineffective as each department provided their own, often conflicting estimates to the Secretary of Defense and other Federal agencies.[30] While the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 aimed to correct these deficiencies, the intelligence responsibilities remained unclear, the coordination was poor and the results fell short of national reliability and focus. As a result of this poor organization, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed the Joint Study Group in 1960 to find better ways for organizing the nation's military intelligence activities.[30]
Acting on the recommendations of the Joint Study Group, Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of his decision to establish the DIA in February 1961. He ordered them to develop a plan that would integrate all the military intelligence of the DoD, a move that met strong resistance from the service intelligence units, whose commanders viewed DIA as undesirable encroachment on their turf. Despite this resistance, during the spring and summer of 1961, as Cold War tensions flared over the Berlin Wall, Air Force Lieutenant General Joseph Carroll took the lead in planning and organizing this new agency. The JCS published Directive 5105.21, "Defense Intelligence Agency" on August 1, and DIA began operations with a handful of employees in borrowed office space on October 1, 1961.[30]
DIA originally reported to the Secretary through the JCS. The new agency's mission was the continuous task of collecting, processing, evaluating, analyzing, integrating, producing, and disseminating military intelligence for DoD and related national stakeholders. Other objectives included more efficiently allocating scarce intelligence resources, more effectively managing all DoD intelligence activities, and eliminating redundancies in facilities, organizations, and tasks.[30]
DIA begins operation
A U-2 reconnaissance plane discovered Soviet missiles in Cuba based on a flight path selected by DIA analysts
Following DIA's establishment, the Services reluctantly transferred intelligence functions and resources to it on a time-phased basis to avoid rapidly degrading the overall effectiveness of defense intelligence. A year after its formation, in October 1962, the agency faced its first major intelligence test during the superpower Cuban Missile Crisis confrontation that developed after Soviet missiles were discovered at bases in Cuba by Air Force spy planes.[30]
In late 1962, DIA established the Defense Intelligence School (now the National Intelligence University), and on January 1, 1963, it activated a new Production Center. Several Service elements were merged to form this production facility, which occupied the "A" and "B" Buildings at Arlington Hall Station, Virginia.[30]
The agency also added an Automated Data Processing (ADP) Center on February 19, a Dissemination Center on March 31, and a Scientific and Technical Intelligence Directorate on April 30, 1963. DIA assumed the staff support functions of the J-2, Joint Staff, on July 1, 1963. Two years later, on July 1, 1965, DIA accepted responsibility for the Defense Attaché System—the last function the Services transferred to DIA.[30]
The early 1970s were transitional years as the agency shifted its focus from consolidating its functions to establishing itself as a credible producer of national-level intelligence. This proved difficult at first since sweeping manpower decrements between 1968 and 1975 had reduced agency manpower by 31 percent and precipitated mission reductions and a broad organizational restructuring. Challenges facing DIA at this time included the rise of Ostpolitik in Germany; the emergence of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the Middle East; and the U.S. incursion into Cambodia from South Vietnam.[30]
DIA sets intelligence requirements for numerous installations, such as the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen, which checks compliance with strategic arms treaties worldwide.
The agency's reputation grew considerably by the mid-1970s, as decision makers increasingly recognized the value of its products. Agency analysts in 1972 concentrated on Lebanon, President Richard Nixon's visit to China, the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, the formation of Sri Lanka, and the prisoners of war being held in Southeast Asia. Subsequent challenges involved: détente; the development of arms control agreements; the Paris peace talks (Vietnam); the Yom Kippur War; and global energy concerns.[30]
Intense Congressional review during 1975–76 created turbulence within the Intelligence Community. The Murphy and Rockefeller Commission investigations of charges of intelligence abuse ultimately led to an Executive Order that modified many Intelligence Community functions. At the same time, with U.S. involvement in Vietnam ending, defense intelligence faced a significant decline in resources. During this period, DIA conducted numerous studies on ways of improving its intelligence products. Despite these and other Community-wide efforts to improve intelligence support, the loss of resources during the 1970s limited the Community's ability to collect and produce timely intelligence and ultimately contributed to intelligence shortcomings in Iran, Afghanistan, and other strategic areas.[30]
Following the promulgation in 1979 of Executive Order 12036, which restructured the Intelligence Community and better outlined DIA's national and departmental responsibilities, the agency was reorganized around five major directorates: production, operations, resources, external affairs, and J-2 support.
By the 1980s, DIA had transformed into a fully integrated national-level intelligence agency. Its 1981 flagship publication Soviet Military Power, the most comprehensive overview of Soviet military strength and capabilities at the time, was met with wide acclaim; SMP continued to be produced by DIA as a serialized publication roughly over the next decade. In 1983, in order to research the flow of technology to the Soviet Union, the Reagan Administration created Project Socrates within the agency. Over the following years Project Socrates's scope broadened to include monitoring of foreign advanced technology as a whole. Project Socrates ended in 1990 with Michael Sekora, the project's director, leaving in protest when the Bush Administration reduced funding.[citation needed]
In 1984, the Clandestine Services organization, designated STAR WATCHER, was created under DIA with the mission of conducting intelligence collection on perceived areas of conflict and against potential adversaries in developing countries. A critical objective was to create a Joint Services career path for case officers, since individual Services were inconsistent in their support of clandestine operations, and case officers were routinely sacrificed during reductions in force. Ultimately, the organization was created to balance CIA's espionage operations which primarily targeted Soviet KGB/GRU officers, but ignored and were dismissive of Third World targets in areas of potential military conflict.[30]
In the 1980s, DIA moved into the newly built Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters (seen here in 1988), which now represents only one wing of the sprawling complex.
Although there were previous attempts to establish such a DoD level espionage organization, there was no authorization document by which it could be established. This changed when Gregory Davis, a military intelligence officer, defined and established a clandestine services program under the U.S. Southern Command's "Plan Green". The program was then authorized by JCS Chairman John Vessey, and sanctioned by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence ("SSCI"), with the sponsorship of Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ). The Goldwater–Nichols DoD Reorganization Act was crafted partly to force military officers to serve in a Joint Services assignment in order to qualify for flag rank—ensuring the future of case officers from each Service. The clandestine organization within DIA grew and flourished, and was cited by the SSCI for its intelligence achievements. Personnel selection and training were rigorous, and the case officers were notable for their advanced educations, area knowledge, and multilingual capabilities. The program was partially gutted under President Bill Clinton as he foresaw no conflict which would justify its existence, but, it was resurrected under President George W. Bush.[30]
Designated a combat support agency under the Goldwater–Nichols Act, DIA moved to increase cooperation with the Unified & Specified Commands and to begin developing a body of joint intelligence doctrine. Intelligence support to U.S. allies in the Middle East intensified as the Iran–Iraq War spilled into the Persian Gulf. DIA provided significant intelligence support to Operation Earnest Will while closely monitoring incidents such as the Iraqi rocket attack on the USSStark, the destruction of Iranian oil platforms, and Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti oil tankers. The "Toyota War" between Libya and Chad and the turmoil in Haiti added to DIA's heavy production workload, as did unrest in other parts of Latin America, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burma, Pakistan, and the Philippines.[30]
Post–Cold War transformation
With the end of the Cold War, defense intelligence began a period of reevaluation following the fall of the Soviet system in many Eastern European countries, the reunification of Germany, and ongoing economic reforms in the region. In response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, DIA set up an extensive, 24-hour, crisis management cell designed to tailor national-level intelligence support to the coalition forces assembled to expel Iraq from Kuwait.
By the time Operation Desert Storm began, some 2,000 agency personnel were involved in the intelligence support effort. Most of them associated in some way with the national-level Joint Intelligence Center (JIC), which DIA established at The Pentagon to integrate the intelligence being produced throughout the Community. DIA sent more than 100 employees into the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations to provide intelligence support.
On September 11, 2001, seven DIA employees lost their lives[31] along with 118 other victims at the Pentagon in a terrorist attack when American Airlines Flight 77 piloted by five Al-Qaedahijackers plowed into the western side of the building, as part of the September 11 attacks. The death of seven employees at once was the largest combined loss in DIA's history. On September 11, 2009, DIA dedicated a memorial to the seven employees lost in the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon. The memorial is located in the garden at the Defense Intelligence Agency Analysis Center in Washington, D.C.[31]
In 2012, DIA announced an expansion of clandestine collection efforts. The newly consolidated Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) would absorb the Defense HUMINT Service and expand DIA's overseas espionage apparatus to complement the work of corresponding elements at CIA. DCS would focus on military intelligence concerns—issues that the CIA has been unable to manage due to lack of personnel, expertise or time—and would initially deal with Islamist militia groups in Africa, weapons transfers between North Korea and Iran, and Chinese military modernization. The DCS works in conjunction with CIA's Directorate of Operations and the Joint Special Operations Command in overseas operations.[32]
In October 2015, the Pentagon said that DIA appointed a British Royal Air Force officer as its first deputy director in charge of improving integration between U.S. intelligence units and spy agencies of other English-speaking countries in the Five Eyes alliance. This was the first time that a foreign national was appointed to a senior position at a U.S. intelligence agency.[33][34]
Today, corporations carry out a large amount of DIA's workload. In fiscal year 2020 alone, such activity included work in DIA's Science & Technology Directorate,[35] National Media Exploitation Center,[36] and Missile & Space Intelligence Center.[37] Corporations also worked on technology transfer analysis and assessments at DIA's Charlottesville branch,[38] planned and analyzed DIA's workforce,[39] carried out technical support,[40] and conducted polygraph examinations and background investigations.[41]
Employment requirements and polygraph
Department of Defense polygraph brochure distributed to applicants by DIA and NSA, among other intelligence components
Due to the sensitive nature of DIA's work, all of its personnel, including interns and contractors, are subject to the same security standards and must obtain a Top Secret clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) access.[42]Collateral Top Secret clearances granted by the DoD are not sufficient to grant access to DIA's SCI information. Additionally, the SCI access granted by other intelligence agencies, such as CIA or NSA, do not transfer to DIA and vice versa.
In addition to the rigorous background investigations, psychological and drug screening, as well as security interviews, DIA requires that its applicants pass the agency polygraph. In fact, DIA exercises operational control over the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA), which establishes polygraphing standards and trains polygraphers for placement across the entire intelligence community. In 2008, the agency started expanding its polygraph program in an attempt to screen 5,700 prospective and current employees every year.[43] This was a several fold increase from 2002 when, according to information provided to Congress, DIA conducted 1,345 polygraphs. According to the unclassified DIA document cited in the news report, since the mid-2000s the agency started hiring contract polygraphers in addition to the permanent DIA polygraphers and added 13 polygraphing studios to those the spy organization already operated. This expanded polygraph screening at DIA continued notwithstanding documented technical problems discovered in the Lafayette computerized polygraph system used by the agency; the organization allegedly refused to change the flawed Lafayette polygraph but declined to comment as to the reasoning.[44]
Unlike the CIA and NSA polygraphs, DIA polygraphs are only of Counterintelligence Scope (CI), rather than Full Scope (FS) (also known as Expanded Scope Screening or ESS), which is ostensibly more intrusive as far as one's personal life is concerned. DIA administered only a handful of FS polygraphs and only for those personnel who were to be detailed to the CIA. Additionally, DIA conducted a handful of FS polygraphs on its personnel remaining overseas in excess of 6.5 years, although this practice appeared to be outside the scope of DIA's authorization at the time.[45]
Like with other intelligence agencies, failing to pass the DIA polygraph is a virtual guarantee that an applicant will be judged unsuitable for agency employment. In fact, according to a report published by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense of Intelligence, while the usually more stringent NSA is willing to give its applicants several shots at passing the polygraph, DIA tends to give one or at most two opportunities to clear the test, after which the employment offer is rescinded.[46] The same report recommended that DIA seek permanent authority to conduct more intrusive Expanded Scope Screenings due to their supposed usefulness in eliciting admissions from applicants.[47]
Similarly to other intelligence agencies, employees are required to take periodic polygraph examinations throughout their careers. However, no unfavorable administrative actions will be taken against them based solely on their results.[48]
Budget and personnel
DIA's budget and exact personnel numbers are classified. Classified Information is not willingly revealed to the public or with anyone that does not have a need-to-know[49] verified. The agency does reveal that currently, it has approximately 17,000 employees, two-thirds of whom are civilians[9] and approximately 50% of whom work at more than 141 overseas locations.[7] In 1994, it was revealed that DIA requested approximately $4 billion in funding for the period of 1996–2001 ($6.3 billion inflation adjusted), averaging $666 million per year ($1.05 billion inflation adjusted).[50] The agency, however, has nearly doubled in size since then and also assumed additional responsibilities from various intelligence elements from across the Department of Defense, CIA and wider intelligence community. In 2006, at the height of Donald Rumsfeld's push to further expand the scope of military intelligence beyond tactical considerations, DIA was estimated to receive up to $3 billion annually.[51]
According to classified documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published by The Washington Post in 2013, the National Intelligence Program (NIP) component of the overall US intelligence budget contained approximately $4.4 billion/year for the General Defense Intelligence Program (GDIP), which is managed by DIA, even as it is not exclusively for the agency's use.[52] The numbers exclude the Military Intelligence Component (MIP) of the overall US intelligence budget, which by itself has averaged more than $20 billion per year in the past decade.
Notable cases of espionage
DIA is one of a few U.S. federal organizations, such as the CIA and FBI, that rely on human espionage to collect information. For this reason, the agency has been involved in numerous espionage events over the course of decades.
Spying for DIA
Victor Kaliadin (Russian: Виктор Калядин) – a CEO of a Russian company "Elers Electron", who in 2001 was sentenced to 14 years in prison for selling a ring run by a DIA agent technical information on Arena, the Russian active protection system for tanks. He died of his fourth heart attack in 2004.[53]
Igor Sutyagin
Igor Sutyagin – Russian arms control and nuclear weapons specialist convicted in 2004 of spying for DIA. Released in 2010 in exchange for Russian spies arrested in the U.S. during the break-up of the Illegals Program. Denies any involvement in spying.
Edmond Pope – A retired intelligence officer-turned-"businessman", sentenced by a Russian court in 2000 to 20 years for buying up and smuggling classified military equipment out of the country as scrap metal.[54] He was soon pardoned by newly elected Vladimir Putin but continues to assert that the Russian authorities used him as a scapegoat for their broken system.[55] In the same interview with Larry King, however, he spoke of a plot by unspecified people in the U.S., as part of which Pope was being slowly poisoned in the Lefortovo Prison, with the hopes that he would eventually have to be transferred to a hospital, abducted on his way and smuggled out of the country; he claims that his representatives stopped the plot.
Jerzy Strawa – a Polish engineer and an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Trade executed in 1968 at Mokotów Prison for passing industrial and defense information to DIA agents while on official trips in Austria and West Germany.[56]
Natan Sharansky – a former high ranking Israeli politician and Soviet dissident who, during his life in Russia, was sentenced to 13 years of prison with hard labor for spying for DIA. The prosecution alleged that he gave a DIA agent in journalist's disguise—Robert Toth—a list of people who had access to military and other secrets.[57] Sharansky was released in 1986 following a spy exchange that took place on the Glienicke Bridge between the USSR and the Western allies. In 2006, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Charles Dennis McKee – a DIA officer who, along with CIA's Matthew Gannon, died as a result of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing.[58] The incident produced numerous conspiracy theories that the flight was bombed because the officers were aware of illicit U.S. intelligence drug activities or that the case was related to them trying to secure the release of American hostages in Lebanon. He is notably absent from DIA's memorial wall (below)
Spying against DIA
Ana Montes
Ana Belén Montes – a senior DIA analyst arrested in 2001 for spying for the G2 of Cuba and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors alleged that she started spying in the mid-1980s, around the same time when CIA's Aldrich Ames started his interaction with the KGB.
Ronald Montaperto – a senior DIA intelligence analyst who pleaded guilty in 2006 for giving classified information to China's MSS. Montaperto claimed that he was tricked and served only three months in jail due to letters of support from other pro-China intelligence analysts, pejoratively known as the "Red Team", who "harshly [criticize] anyone who raises questions about the threat posed by Beijing's communist regime."[59][bettersourceneeded] One of such supporters, Lonnie Henley, was initially reprimanded by the ODNI for his support of Montaperto but was later promoted to acting national intelligence officer for East Asia.[60][bettersourceneeded]
Waldo H. Dubberstein – a senior DIA intelligence officer for the Middle East and an associate of CIA arms smuggler Edwin P. Wilson who was indicted in 1983 for selling DIA secrets to Libya. The day after being charged, he was found dead in what was ruled a suicide.[61]
Henry Kyle Frese, former counterterrorism analyst for the DIA. He held "Top Secret" (TS) clearance.[62] On February 20, 2020, Frese pleaded guilty to the willful transmission of Top Secret national defense information. He was sentenced on June 18, 2020, to two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty. [63][64]
Controversies
Alleged torture with drugs, gay porn, and loud music
A declassified FBI correspondence alleging DIA misconduct
In 2003, the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "Working Group" on interrogations requested that DIA come up with prisoner interrogation techniques for the group's consideration. According to the 2008 US Senate Armed Services Committee report on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody, DIA began drawing up the list of techniques with the help of its civilian employee, a former Guantanamo Interrogation Control Element (ICE) Chief David Becker. Becker claimed that the Working Group members were particularly interested in aggressive methods and that he "was encouraged to talk about techniques that inflict pain."[65]
It is unknown to what extent the agency's recommendations were used or for how long, but according to the same Senate report, the list drawn up by DIA included the use of "drugs such as sodium pentothal and Demerol," humiliation via female interrogators and sleep deprivation. Becker claimed that he recommended the use of drugs due to rumors that another intelligence agency, the name of which was redacted in the Senate report, had successfully used them in the past.[66] According to the analysis of the Office of Defense Inspector General, DIA's cited justification for the use of drugs was to "[relax] detainee to cooperative state" and that mind-altering substances were not used.[67]
Some of the more lurid revelations of DIA's alleged harsh interrogations came from FBI officers, who conducted their own screenings of detainees in Guantanamo along with other agencies. According to one account, the interrogators of what was then DIA's Defense Humint Service (referenced in FBI correspondence as DHS[68]), forced subjects to watch gay porn, draped them with the Israeli flag, and interrogated them in rooms lit by strobe lights for 16–18 hours, all the while telling prisoners that they were from FBI.[69]
The real FBI operatives were concerned that DIA's harsh methods and impersonation of FBI agents would complicate the FBI's ability to do its job properly, saying "The next time a real Agent tries to talk to that guy, you can imagine the result."[69] A subsequent military inquiry countered FBI's allegations by saying that the prisoner treatment was degrading but not inhumane, without addressing the allegation of DIA staff regularly impersonating FBI officers—usually a felony offense.[70]
Similar activities transpired at the hands of DIA operatives in Bagram, where as recently as 2010 the organization ran the so-called "Black Jail". According to a report published by The Atlantic, the jail was manned by DIA's DCHC staff, who were accused of beating and sexually humiliating high-value targets held at the site.[71] The detention center outlived the black sites run by the Central Intelligence Agency, with DIA allegedly continuing to use "restricted" interrogation methods in the facility under a secret authorization. It is unclear what happened to the secret facility after the 2013 transfer of the base to Afghan authorities following several postponements.[72]
DIA's harsh interrogation methods at times paled in comparison to those of some U.S. special operations forces. In 2004, interrogations by Joint Special Operations Command's high-value targets special operations task forces (including Task Force 6-26) were so heavy-handed and physical with the detainees that two DIA officials complained, as a result of which they were threatened and put under surveillance by abusive military interrogators. The two DIA officials managed to share their accounts of abuse with the agency leadership, prompting DIA Director Lowell Jacoby to write a memo on this topic to the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.[73]
In 2014, Canadian electronic music group Skinny Puppy sent the Defense Intelligence Agency a symbolic bill of $666,000, after finding out that the agency used their music in Guantanamo during "enhanced interrogation" (deemed torture by some) sessions.[74] Their music was originally heard at GTMO by a guard, who happened to be a fan of Skinny Puppy and could not understand how his favorite music was being used in such a manner: "[Skinny Puppy's] songs are characterized by ... lyrics that call out corporate wrongdoing. The songs I heard at GTMO were heavily distorted, almost to the point of inaudibility. Even so, I would never have imagined that Skinny Puppy's music would, or could, be used for enhanced interrogation". The officer conducting interrogation sessions allegedly stating that the Canadian group's songs—which are "characterized by relentless drumbeats, panicked, convulsive riffs, synth samples"—were very effective for "enhanced interrogation."[citation needed]
Attempts to expand domestic activities
Since mid-2000s, DIA has come under scrutiny for requesting new powers "to covertly approach and cultivate 'U.S. persons' and even recruit them as informants" without disclosing they are doing so on behalf of the U.S. government.[75] George Peirce, DIA's general counsel, told The Washington Post that his agency is "not asking for the moon" and that DIA officers "only want to assess their [individual U.S. citizens'] suitability as a source, person to person", while protecting the ID and security of the agency operatives.[76] The provision allowing DIA to covertly approach U.S. citizens was reportedly removed from the bill at the request of Senator Ron Wyden.[77] It is unclear if the agency has received any additional powers since but it is known that until at least 2005 and possibly later, DIA's "personnel stationed in major U.S. cities [have been] ... monitoring the movements and activities—through high-tech equipment—of individuals and vehicles"; this occurred parallel to the NSA's warrantless surveillance that was of similarly dubious legality.[78]
In 2008, with the consolidation of the new Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (DCHC), DIA secured an additional authority to conduct "offensive counterintelligence", which entails conducting clandestine operations, domestically and abroad, "to thwart what the opposition is trying to do to us and to learn more about what they're trying to get from us."[79] While the agency remained vague about the exact meaning of offensive counterintelligence, experts opined that it "could include planting a mole in a foreign intelligence service, passing disinformation to mislead the other side, or even disrupting enemy information systems", suggesting strong overlap between CI and traditional HUMINT operations.[80]
According to the agency, Americans spying for a foreign intelligence service would not be covered under this mechanism and that DIA would coordinate in such cases with the FBI which, unlike any DIA components at the time, is designated a law enforcement agency. The media showed particular interest in the domestic aspect of DIA's counterintelligence efforts due to the fact that agency's newly created DCHC had absorbed the former Counterintelligence Field Activity, which had become infamous for storing data on American peace activists in the controversial TALON database that was eventually shut down.[80]
9/11 and Able Danger
Anthony Shaffer, a former DIA officer, has claimed that DIA was aware of and failed to adequately act against one of the organizers of the September 11 attacks prior to the event, in what became known as the Able Danger controversy. Shaffer's claims were rejected and later his security clearance was revoked, with the Pentagon denying any wrongdoing. Later Shaffer published his book Operation Dark Heart but, upon complaints from DIA and NSA that it included national security information, the Defense Department went as far as to buy and destroy the initial 10,000 copies of the book, causing the Streisand effect.[81]
German Neo-Nazi murders
In 2011, the German government uncovered a far-rightterrorist group named National Socialist Underground, which was linked to a series of murders, including the murder of a police officer. A report by Stern claimed German BfV and DIA officers witnessed the murder of a policewoman during their surveillance of the "Sauerland" group—an Islamist organization that planned attacks on U.S. military installations in Germany—but that neither of the agencies reported it, thus enabling subsequent violent acts by the same criminal entities. The magazine cited an unverified DIA report that confirmed the agency's officers were at the site of the incident.[82][83] The authenticity of the alleged DIA observation protocol, on which Stern based its report, was swiftly denied by the BfV, while DIA refused to comment. An unnamed U.S. "insider expert" for intelligence matters told Der Spiegel he deemed it unlikely that DIA could be involved in that type of operation.[84]
A memorial wall at the DIA headquarters is dedicated to those agency employees who lost their lives in the line of their intelligence work[85] and whose deaths are not classified. The wall was first dedicated on December 14, 1988, by DirectorLeonard Perroots. It "commemorates the profound individual sacrifices made on behalf of the United States by DIA members and acts as a reminder of the selflessness, dedication, and courage required to confront national challenges..."[85]
"POOR IS THE NATION THAT HAS NO HEROES, BUT BEGGARED IS THE NATION THAT HAS AND FORGETS THEM."[86]
DIA also maintains a memorial in the headquarters courtyard dedicated to personnel lost in the attacks of 9/11 on the Pentagon. Additionally, the agency maintains the Torch Bearers Wall at its Headquarters. The Torch Bearers award is the highest honor bestowed to former DIA employees and recognizes their exceptional contributions to the agency's mission.
In popular culture
Television
The Brave (TV series) - A Directorate for Analysis featured as one of two teams (alongside Defense Clandestine Service) in defending the United States. DIA provides intelligence support to the special forces in covert missions in hostile environments.
Embassy Row – Annie Walker runs into Ryan McQuaid at the Russian Embassy Ball, where he is secretly trying to buy Russian helicopters for DIA, which the agency intends to use in areas where American-made helicopters would attract too much attention.
"Admiral's Daughter" – Amanda, Daughter of Admiral Kendall, works for DIA's Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) under a cover identity of a "party girl", which unsettles her unsuspecting father.
"Better Angels" – the episode revolves around an investigation into the death of Michael Dawson, an employee of Defense Clandestine Service (DCS), and whether DCS had anything to do with the incident.
"Tell-All" – commander Patrick Casey is discovered dead, along with his DIA ID and a codeword written in his own blood. The NCIS investigation is hampered by DIA's secrecy and attempts to conceal national security information.
"Need To Know" – a DIA operative George Roca comes in conflict with investigators from NCIS, who are not let on a sensitive DIA operation.
"Ex-File" – a DIA employee working on highly classified project finds her husband killed; the DIA sends a team to accompany the NCIS investigators due to the possibility that they may come in contact with classified information.
NCIS Los Angeles – Hetty Lange, played by Linda Hunt, the operations manager at the NCIS office in Los Angeles, formerly served with DIA and earned an Award of Merit at the agency
NCIS: Hawaiʻi - Kate Whistler, portrayed by Tori Anderson, a special agent on detail from DIA to NCIS.
Season 5 – involves a rogue DIA psychiatrist, Anson Fullerton, (Jere Burns), who turns out to be a murderer and a spy bent on blackmailing Michael Westen into doing his dirty work. Fullerton is responsible for burning Westen and is the founder of the Organization which serves as the main villainous group in the series.
Seasons 4–7 – during one of the operations, Michael Westen burns and later befriends a counterintelligence officer Jesse Porter (Coby Bell), who used to work for the Counterintelligence Field Activity, an entity incorporated into DIA at the time. Porter works with Westen throughout the rest of the series.
"Patient Zero" – Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Greg Carter inadvertently causes a deadly virus outbreak as a result of DIA's illegal bioweapons research.
"The Event Horizon" – Alexander Hatcher is a former DIA field operative who, during his service with the agency in 1980s, began research on a secret Iranian sleeper agent project titled "The Flood". He is murdered, placing "The Flood" under spotlight.
Lost (2004 TV series) – Kelvin Inman, a member of the Dharma Initiative, is a former DIA officer.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film) – the Smiths' come into conflict when they are both assigned to kill Benjamin "The Tank" Danz (Adam Brody), a DIA prisoner being transferred by the agency to the FBI.
Spies Like Us – the agency sends two of its expendable agents into Soviet Central Asia to act as decoys for a more potent DIA team.
The Men Who Stare at Goats – Based on an actual DIA research into extrasensory perception named Stargate Project. The program was featured in the 2004 book and 2009 film, both titled The Men Who Stare at Goats although neither mentions it by name.
Metal Gear – two characters in the Metal Gear franchise, Nastasha Romanenko and Richard Ames, served as DIA operatives.
Fallout 4 - an abandoned fictional DIA facility is featured in the game as a former base of the Railroad, one of the factions. Furthermore, a robot, programmed originally by the DIA and taken from the aforementioned facility, is using mathematical calculations to predict the outcome of situations said faction is involved in.
Tabletop roleplaying games
Delta Green - the DIA is one of the government agencies player characters can be part of. Characters are intelligence analysts, military attachés or instructors for the defense intelligence college. The 2019 sourcebook The Complex also adds the options of members of the Defense Clandestine Service.
Twilight: 2000 – a World War III role-playing game that features the US government after a nuclear strike. This causes the Continuity of Operations (COOP) to collapse with no clearly legitimate US government in powers. Regions and military units divide between a Civilian-led government (Civgov) of questionable authority and a Military-led government (Milgov) with no civilian control over them. Likewise the CIA pledges allegiance to the Civgov while the DIA becomes the Milgov's equivalent to the CIA.
Fiction
Area 7 (novel) – A cryptanalyst working for the DIA foils two plans in the novel, involving a vaccine against a highly-lethal biological weapon known as the Sinovirus.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon – DIA recruits a Chinese official, who is eventually exposed and killed in a staged robbery before the DIA extracts him.
Brotherhood of War – features Sanford "Sandy" Felter, a military officer who is involved in intelligence work throughout his career. In the epilogue of The Generals it is stated that Felter reaches the rank of lieutenant general, and ends his career as Director of the DIA
The Pitt – features a DIA officer who investigates the accidental destruction of the city of Pittsburgh.
Seal
The flaming torch and its gold color represent knowledge, i.e., intelligence, and the dark background represents the unknown—"the area of the truth" still sought by the worldwide mission of the agency.[87] The two red atomic ellipses symbolize the scientific and technical aspects of intelligence today and of the future. The 13 stars and the wreath are adopted from the Department of Defense seal and mean glory and peace, respectively, which the DoD secures as part of its work.[88]
Human intelligence is intelligence-gathering by means of human sources and interpersonal communication. It is distinct from more technical intelligence-gathering disciplines, such as signals intelligence (SIGINT), imagery intelligence (IMINT), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT). HUMINT can be conducted in a variety of ways, including via espionage, reconnaissance, interrogation, witness interviews, or torture. Although associated with military and intelligence agencies, HUMINT can also apply in various civilian sectors such as law enforcement.
Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or other intelligence activities conducted by, for, or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations or persons.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. federal government. It provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the National Security Agency (NSA), imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The NRO announced in 2023 that it plans within the following decade to quadruple the number of satellites it operates and increase the number of signals and images it delivers by a factor of ten.
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary investigative law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate major criminal activities involving the Navy and Marine Corps, though its broad mandate includes national security, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, cyberwarfare, and the protection of U.S. naval assets worldwide. NCIS is the successor organization to the former Naval Investigative Service (NIS), which was established by the Office of Naval Intelligence after the Second World War.
The Strategic Support Branch (SSB) was a United States intelligence organization created by the Department of Defense (DoD) with support from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The SSB's mission was to provide an intelligence capability for field operation units, and U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF), in support of anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism missions in war zones and beyond. The SSB has been dissolved with many of its activities and capabilities transferred to DIA's Defense Clandestine Service.
The Directorate of Operations (DO), less formally called the Clandestine Service, is a component of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was known as the Directorate of Plans from 1951 to 1973; as the Directorate of Operations from 1973 to 2005; and as the National Clandestine Service (NCS) from 2005 to 2015.
Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) was a United States Department of Defense (DoD) agency whose size and budget were classified. The CIFA was created by a directive from the Secretary of Defense, then Donald Rumsfeld, on February 19, 2002. On August 8, 2008, it was announced that CIFA would be shut down. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) absorbed most of the components and authorities of the CIFA into the Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center, which was later consolidated into the Defense Clandestine Service.
The Marine Corps Intelligence is the intelligence arm of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of Intelligence and supporting activities within the U.S. Marine Corps as well as supervising the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA). The department supports the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) in his role as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), represents the service in Joint and Intelligence Community matters, and exercises supervision over the MCIA.
The Central Intelligence Agency, known informally as the Agency, metonymously as Langley and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and conducting covert action through its Directorate of Operations. The agency is headquartered in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia.
The under secretary of defense for intelligence and security or USD(I&S) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that acts as the principal civilian advisor and deputy to the secretary of defense (SecDef) and deputy secretary of defense (DepSecDef) on matters relating to military intelligence and security. The under secretary is appointed as a civilian by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president.
The DCI Exceptional Collector National HUMINT Award is a decoration awarded annually by the U.S. Director of Central Intelligence to recognize individuals and groups for improved Human Intelligence (HUMINT) collection and reporting of information that is of significant value to the U.S. intelligence community.
National governments deal in both intelligence and military special operations functions that either should be completely secret, or simply cannot be linked to the sponsor. It is a continuing and unsolved question for governments whether clandestine intelligence collection and covert action should be under the same agency. The arguments for doing so include having centralized functions for monitoring covert action and clandestine HUMINT and making sure they do not conflict, as well as avoiding duplication in common services such as cover identity support, counterespionage, and secret communications. The arguments against doing so suggest that the management of the two activities takes a quite different mindset and skills, in part because clandestine collection almost always is on a slower timeline than covert action.
Clandestine HUMINT asset recruiting refers to the recruitment of human agents, commonly known as spies, who work for a foreign government, or within a host country's government or other target of intelligence interest for the gathering of human intelligence. The work of detecting and "doubling" spies who betray their oaths to work on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency is an important part of counterintelligence.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a United States intelligence agency that "provides objective intelligence on foreign countries", also informally referred to as the Agency. The CIA is part of the United States Intelligence Community, is organized into numerous divisions. The divisions include directors, deputy directors, and offices. The CIA board is made up of five distinct entitles called Directorates. The CIA is overseen by the Director of Central Intelligence. Under the Director of Central Intelligence is the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. Under this the CIA is divided into four directorates. These directorates are as follows:
United States Army Counterintelligence (ACI) is the component of United States Army Military Intelligence which conducts counterintelligence activities to detect, identify, assess, counter, exploit and/or neutralize adversarial, foreign intelligence services, international terrorist organizations, and insider threats to the United States Army and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
The Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (DCHC) is a component of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency. It is mandated to manage, develop and execute U.S. Department of Defense counterintelligence and human intelligence activities worldwide; it's also responsible for oversight for training, doctrine, policy, information technology architecture, planning and career management.
The Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) is an arm of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which conducts clandestine espionage, intelligence gathering activities and classified operations around the world to provide insights and answer national-level defense objectives for senior U.S. policymakers and American military leaders. Staffed by civilian and military personnel, DCS is part of DIA's Directorate of Operations and works in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations and the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command. DCS consists of about 500 clandestine operatives, which is roughly how many case officers the CIA had in the early 2000s before its expansion.
In 1995 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency had delivered intelligence reports to the U.S. government between 1986 and 1994 which were based on agent reporting from confirmed or suspected Soviet operatives. From 1985 to his arrest in February 1994, CIA officer and KGB mole Aldrich Ames compromised Agency sources and operations in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, leading to the arrest of many CIA agents and the execution of at least ten of them. This allowed the KGB to replace the CIA agents with its own operatives or to force them to cooperate, and the double agents then funneled a mixture of disinformation and true material to U.S. intelligence. Although the CIA's Soviet-East European (SE) and Central Eurasian divisions knew or suspected the sources to be Soviet double agents, they nevertheless disseminated this "feed" material within the government. Some of these intelligence reports even reached Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, as well as President-elect Bill Clinton.
All-source intelligence is a term used to describe intelligence organizations, intelligence analysts, or intelligence products that are based on all available sources of intelligence collection information.
↑ DIA:LocationsArchived November 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine , Defense Intelligence Agency, Updated: February 5, 2013. Retrieved: September 28, 2013.
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