DNI BLAIR SELECTS CHRISTOPHER KOJM AS CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL (NIC)
Today, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis C. Blair announced that he has selected Christopher Kojm to be the next Chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC). As Chairman of the NIC and advisor to the DNI, Kojm will be responsible for overseeing the analysis and production of coordinated Intelligence Community products, including National Intelligence Estimates.
“Chris is a highly respected national security expert with a deep background in intelligence and foreign policy,” Blair said. “He understands how important quality intelligence is to the policy making process, and he understands the critical need for intelligence to be timely, relevant and objective. He will be an outstanding NIC Chairman.”
Kojm is well known for his work as the Deputy Director of the 9/11 Commission working with Chairman Thomas H. Kean and Vice Chair Lee H. Hamilton. The result of that panel, formally known as the “National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States” culminated in a final report that formed the basis of significant intelligence reforms in 2004. Kojm also later served as a Senior Advisor to another prominent commission – the Iraq Study Group – which was co-chaired by former Secretary James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton.
From 1998-2003, Kojm served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence Policy and Coordination at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the Department of State. In that role, Kojm was responsible for the daily editorial review of intelligence assessments, coordination with IC counterparts, articulation of State Department interests and requirements.
Most recently, Kojm served as a Professor of International Affairs Practice and Director of the U.S. Foreign Policy Summer Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He also served as the Director of the Elliott School’s Master of International Policy and Practice (mid-career) program. Kojm has also served as a visiting Professor at Princeton University.
From 1984-1998, Kojm was a staff member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs under former Chair and Ranking Member Lee H. Hamilton.
From 1979-1984 he was a writer and editor at the Foreign Policy Association in New York City.
Kojm received his Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard College and his Masters Degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently
been updated, and is now available.
May 20, 2009: Mr. Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Addresses the Galileo Awards Ceremony.
Ms. Priscilla Guthrie
began work at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) this
week as Associate Director of National Intelligence and Intelligence Community
Chief Information Officer (CIO). Guthrie, a former Deputy CIO at the Department
of Defense, will help lead the Intelligence Community’s (IC) strategy to
strengthen sharing, integration and management of information across 16
intelligence agencies.
“Priscilla’s skill in IT and background in
management of a large organization well qualify her to further advance our
information-sharing goals,” said Director of National Intelligence Dennis C.
Blair. “Her prior experience in information management issues unique to
national security brings additional strength to this challenge. I look forward
to working closely with her and to her contributions to the Intelligence
Community.”
The CIO’s office is responsible for establishing common
information technology standards across the Intelligence Community and for
directing and managing all IT related procurement for the IC. The CIO is also
tasked with developing IT architecture to support information sharing policies
and objectives throughout the Intelligence Community.
Before joining the
ODNI, Guthrie was the Director of the Information Technology and Systems
Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a non-profit corporation that
administers three federally funded research and development centers to provide
objective analyses of national security issues.
From 2001 to 2006,
Guthrie served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Deputy Chief
Information Officer at the Department of Defense where she was responsible for
information support to deployed forces. Prior to her position at the Pentagon,
Guthrie was a Vice President at TRW, Inc., where she established and led a
small, global unit responsible for driving new IT technology into the company’s
business.
Guthrie was nominated to this position by President Obama on
March 20, 2009, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 21, 2009. She
holds a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Marymount
College.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This
information has recently been updated, and is now available.
May 28, 2009: National Intelligence: A Consumer's Guide (2009)
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently
been updated, and is now available.
May 28, 2009: Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill, Director of the National Counterproliferation Center (NCPC), Addresses the NCPC Open Source Center Conference.
Statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on North Korea’s Declared Nuclear Test on May 25, 2009
“The U.S. Intelligence Community assesses that North Korea probably conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of P'unggye on May 25, 2009. The explosion yield was approximately a few kilotons. Analysis of the event continues.”
The Intelligence
Community’s award-winning Joint Duty Program is featured in a special
documentary airing on public television networks throughout the country.
Visionaries, Inc., a nonprofit public television organization, recently unveiled
“Learning
to Change,” a documentary video in its Visionaries series that provides an
inside look into how the Intelligence Community (IC) Joint Duty Program is
fostering interagency communication and collaboration to make our nation more
secure.
The documentary, hosted by actor Sam Waterston, actualizes the
2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act’s mandate for increased IC
integration through the personal experiences of several Joint Duty Program
participants who discuss the merits of their participation.
“The Joint
Duty program ensures that future intelligence professionals and those who lead
them understand the scope and complexity of the IC and are better able to
integrate and engage its vast resources in support of our mission to protect our
nation,” said Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair. “Part of my job
as DNI is to develop a generation of people who believe that collaborative
behavior and enterprise-wide integration is the normal way of business.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) launched the
Intelligence Community Civilian Joint Duty program in 2006, to instill a new
model of collaboration by requiring employees to serve a period of duty outside
of their parent agency as a prerequisite for senior level promotion. As a
result, Joint Duty personnel gain a deeper appreciation for, and broader
knowledge of, the inner workings of American intelligence, and in the process,
build the collaborative, information-sharing networks so vital to today’s
post-9/11 intelligence mission.
Since its inception the program has
facilitated the creation of hundreds of information-sharing networks, encouraged
and institutionalized joint behavior, and led to increased collaboration across
the Intelligence Community. Today, more than 5,000 IC employees have received
Joint Duty assignment credit. All 16 agencies that comprise the Intelligence
Community participate in the program.
Underscoring the transformational
importance of this program, last September Harvard University’s Ash Institute
for Democratic Governance and Innovations recognized the Joint Duty program as
one of six recipients of its prestigious Innovations in American Government
Award for 2008 from among the over 1,000 programs nominated and considered. For
more information on the award see
http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080910_release.pdf
The documentary
already has begun airing in a dozen states but has not yet aired in the
Washington, D.C. metro area. For upcoming video airtimes of “Learning to Change”
(episode 1503A), please visit http://www.pubtv.net/online/visionaries/air_times.CFM.
This list provides airing schedules for two-week increments and is updated
daily. The video also is available at www.dni.gov/video.
The Visionaries series were created in 1995 to highlight the rarely
told stories of nonprofit organizations around the world that are making a
positive difference in and around their communities. It is presented by public
television station WGBY in Springfield, Mass. and is distributed to stations
affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) by the National
Educational Telecommunications Association. The series has been seen on as many
as 200 public television stations around the country.
Robert S. Litt joined the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence as the general counsel this week
following his June 25 confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Litt was nominated by
President Barack Obama on April 28, 2009.
“The general counsel has the
important responsibility of providing sound legal guidance on critical national
security issues facing the Intelligence Community,” said Director of National
Intelligence Dennis C. Blair. “Bob’s previous experience in national security
law is an asset to me and the entire ODNI, and I look forward to benefitting
from his wise counsel on a wide range of intelligence issues.”
The
general counsel is the chief legal officer of the ODNI. As the head of the
Office of General Counsel, he is responsible for providing legal guidance and
counsel to the DNI and the ODNI staff to assist the DNI in ensuring that
activities of the Intelligence Community are carried out in compliance with the
Constitution and laws of the United States.
Litt was a partner with the
law firm of Arnold and Porter since 1999 before joining the ODNI. He was also a
member of the governing body of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice
Section, and a member of the Advisory Committee to the Standing Committee on Law
and National Security.
From 1993 to 1999, Litt worked at the Department
of Justice where he served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the
Criminal Division and then as the principal associate deputy attorney general.
His duties at DOJ included Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications,
covert action reviews, computer security and other national security matters.
Earlier in his legal career, Litt clerked for Judge Edward Weinfeld of
the Southern District of New York and Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme
Court. From 1978 to 1984, he was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern
District of New York. Litt also spent one year as a special advisor to the
assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs.
He holds
a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.A. and law degree from Yale
University.
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
July 22, 2009: Mr. Dennis C. Blair, Director of
National Intelligence, Addresses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Urdu-speaking police
cadet, an Iraq war vet turned master’s candidate, Rhodes and Marshall scholars
and a nuclear plant guard who attends classes online are among a diverse group
that completed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s first
National Security Analysis & Intelligence Summer Seminar today.
The
group, 40 graduate students, doctoral candidates and recent college graduates,
were chosen from 704 applicants from 280 academic institutions. The seminar’s
goal is to increase interest in Intelligence Community careers and to help
recruiters identify outstanding prospects.
The students, each with a
temporary security clearance, spent two weeks in the Washington, D.C. area
touring Intelligence Community facilities, analyzing problems, attending
lectures by IC leaders and discussing the craft of analysis with currently
serving intelligence officers.
“The students came to us to learn more
about intelligence and to challenge their own assumptions about the role of
intelligence in a transitioning world,” said Dr. Lenora Peters Gant, Director of
the IC Centers of Academic Excellence.
“The students were exposed to
national security leaders who helped them better understand the business of
intelligence including the roles of the 16 IC agencies,” said Dr. Gant.
“Specifically, the site visits at the different agencies gave them an
opportunity to interact with front-line analysts who provided them with a
real-world perspective of the work we do every day.”
The seminar, which
is sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, began July
13.
The Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies of the Paul Nitze
School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University developed
the programs curriculum. John McLaughlin, former Deputy Director of Central
Intelligence and Acting Director of Central Intelligence, leads the seminar’s
faculty.
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
August 4, 2009: Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill,
Director of the National Counterproliferation Center (NCPC), Addresses the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This
information has recently been updated, and is now available.
August 17, 2009: "Growing Diversity" - Federal Times Op-Ed by Ronald Sanders, Associate Director of National Intelligence and Chief Human Capital Officer, and Patricia Taylor, Chief of the Intelligence Community Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Office, ODNI
Growing diversity
1st-generation Americans give intelligence an edge
By RONALD SANDERS and PATRICIA T. TAYLOR
August 17, 2009
Diversity is a mission-critical imperative for the intelligence community (IC), and our definition goes beyond race and national origin, gender and disability. The IC’s mission depends on a workforce diverse in many dimensions, requiring a wide range of expertise and deep knowledge of other cultures, languages, perspectives and ideas. We not only need a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of America, but one that also reflects, understands and can engage all of the countries and cultures of the world — oftentimes clandestinely.
This is where our nation’s heritage Americans come in. These first- and second-generation citizens can offer us the advanced language skills and unrivaled cultural expertise that are as vital to security as they are rare in our general population. They also bring a unique appreciation for the freedoms and opportunities that so many of us take for granted. That’s why the director of National Intelligence has made the recruitment and retention of first- and second-generation citizens a top human capital priority.
However, while we’ve progressed, it’s clear that we have much more work to do if IC is going to be able to successfully attract and retain this largely untapped source of talent.
That’s where our IC Heritage Community Liaison Council comes in. Established last year, the council consists of 17 external organizations representing interests of various ethnic populations, such as the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Organization of Chinese Americans. Modeled after a similar effort pioneered by FBI Director Robert Mueller, the council coordinates outreach and recruiting activities and serves as a forum for improving communications, transparency and trust.
With the council’s help, IC agencies have become more active and visible in their collaborative heritage community outreach efforts, with the FBI, National Security Agency and CIA out front. For example, CIA sponsored a “Spy Tent” at an Arab-American festival in Michigan last spring; hundreds visited the tent to learn more about the agency and the IC. This year, we participated in more than 45 similar events nationwide.
We’ve also expanded our innovative Centers for Academic Excellence, which awards curriculum development grants to universities to meet our future hiring needs and includes schools that have large heritage American student populations. Coupled with student scholarships, these grants are the foundation for an ROTC-like Intelligence Officer Training Corps now included in legislation sponsored by the administration. We’re also implementing significant changes to our security clearance rules, eliminating barriers to clearances for heritage Americans who hold dual citizenship, or who have non-U.S. citizen relatives.
Our efforts can’t stop at recruiting, however. We also want to make sure that employees of all backgrounds feel they are welcome in our workplace and have an equal opportunity to advance and make a difference. To support this, we’ve recently established an IC-wide Affinity Network of 10 employee resource groups. Best-in-class organizations use these affinity groups to help recruit, retain, develop and mentor their top diversity talent. For example, we’ve sponsored a first-ever affinity group for IC employees of Middle Eastern and North African descent to provide these recruits and employees with a support system to help them navigate their careers as IC professionals.
Finally, we monitor closely our annual IC Employee Climate Survey. While the Partnership for Public Service recently named the IC one of the top five Best Places to Work in Government, we know we must continuously measure progress. In that regard, we have developed a form to collect more detailed ethnicity, national-origin and cultural-origin data from heritage applicants and employees; the voluntary form recently cleared the public notice period required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, and we hope to use it soon.
Above all, the success of these initiatives requires strong leadership commitment and robust collaborative partnerships — with heritage American communities and employees, equal employment opportunity, diversity and human capital professionals, and IC mission partners. By working together, we can and will make the IC an employer of choice, particularly for first- and second-generation Americans. As we confront an increasingly complex and chaotic world, our nation’s security will depend on it.
Ronald Sanders is associate director of national intelligence and chief human capital officer, and Patricia T. Taylor is chief, intelligence community equal employment opportunity and diversity, at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Sanders is a first-generation American of Egyptian descent.
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
September 1, 2009: Mr. Dennis C. Blair, Director
of National Intelligence, Addresses the White House Initiative on Historically
Black Colleges and Universities National Annual Conference
Strategy Lays Out Goals and Priorities; Ensures Coordination and Accountability Across 16 Intelligence Agencies
Related documents:
• 2009
National Intelligence Strategy
• 2009
National Intelligence Strategy Fact Sheet
• 2009
National Intelligence Strategy Frequently Asked Questions
The
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair today unveiled the 2009
National Intelligence Strategy – the blueprint that will drive the priorities
for the nation’s 16 intelligence agencies over the next 4 years. The National
Intelligence Strategy (NIS) is one of the most important documents for the
Intelligence Community (IC) as it lays out the strategic environment, sets
priorities and objectives, and guides current and future decisions on budgets,
acquisitions, and operations.
“This strategy advances our original,
founding directive to achieve an Intelligence Community that is integrated and
collaborative. But it really goes much further than that. It reflects a more
refined understanding of the threats we face and how we’ll combat them. In
describing our objectives, it prescribes methods for achieving them that can
only be carried out by an Intelligence Community that is agile, adaptive, and
united. Most importantly, it recognizes that national security hinges on good
intelligence and it provides me with the tools I need to monitor performance and
ensure accountability,” Blair said.
The National Intelligence Strategy
lays out the strategic environment – challenges the U.S. faces not only from
other nations and non-state actors, but also from global trends related to
forces like economics, the environment, emerging technology, and pandemic
disease. It identifies four IC-wide goals to: enable wise national security
policies, support national security actions, deliver top-notch capabilities, and
operate as a team. Finally, it explains the IC’s objectives – what the IC
intends to accomplish (6 mission objectives) and how the IC will accomplish them
(enterprise objectives).
The 6 “mission objectives” are: 1) Combat
Violent Extremism; 2) Counter WMD Proliferation; 3) Provide Strategic
Intelligence and Warning; 4) Integrate Counterintelligence capabilities; 5)
Enhance Cybersecurity; and 6) Support Current Operations (ongoing U.S.
diplomatic, military, and law enforcement operations).
The 7 “enterprise
objectives” are: 1) Enhance Community Mission Management; 2) Strengthen
Partnerships; 3) Streamline Business Processes; 4) Improve Information
Integration & Sharing; 5) Advance S&T/R&D; 6) Develop the Workforce;
and 7) Improve Acquisition.
“Guided by the NIS, we will succeed by
harnessing our skills, work ethic, courage, and creativity. I am confident that
we will become an even more agile, adaptive, and united community. And, we will
operate at all times under the rule of law, respectful of privacy, civil
liberties, and human rights,” Blair concluded.
The Office of the
Director of National Intelligence, now in its fourth year, oversees the
coordination and integration of the16 federal organizations that make up the
Intelligence Community. The DNI sets the priorities for and manages the
implementation of the National Intelligence Program. Additionally, the DNI
serves as the principal adviser to the president and the National Security
Council on all intelligence issues related to national security.
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
September 15, 2009: Mr.
Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Addresses the Commonwealth
Club of California
September 15, 2009: Media
Conference Call with Director Blair on the 2009 National Intelligence
Strategy
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that he has selected Dawn Meyerriecks, an expert in technology and operations management, to be the new Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Acquisition and Technology.
Meyerriecks has extensive experience in designing, building and fielding intelligence and information technology solutions for the government and private industry. She was formerly the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) chief technology officer and the senior vice president for AOL Product Technologies.
“Dawn is well respected for her work in designing, acquiring and delivering effective intelligence and information systems for the Department of Defense, and for providing some of the best commercial products for the public and private sector,” Blair said. “Her understanding of the entire end-to-end process of acquisition will help us deliver state of the art technology efficiently and when it is needed to maintain our advantage over our adversaries.”
The DDNI for A&T is the DNI’s senior acquisition executive and science and technology advisor responsible for integrating science and technology across the IC enterprise, and for ensuring excellence in achieving cost, schedule and performance in acquisition. The office also is responsible for generating and developing research and development advances capable of transforming U.S. intelligence, and providing intelligence advantage over future adversaries.
“Dawn will help us keep pace with the leading edge of technology which is critical to the IC’s ability to deliver better intelligence,” Blair added.
The recently published 2009 National Intelligence Strategy places emphasis on science and technology and research and development by leveraging the explosive pace of technological innovation to improve the IC’s productivity, effectiveness and agility for the entire community.
Since 2006, Meyerriecks has worked as an independent consultant for government and commercial clients. Previously, she was the senior vice president for AOL Product Technologies where she was responsible for full lifecycle development and integration of all consumer-facing AOL products and services, including the relaunch of aol.com, AOL Instant Messenger, and the open client platform.
Prior to AOL, Meyerriecks worked for seven years beginning in 1998 at DISA where she was the CTO and technical director for the Joint Interoperability and Engineering (JIEO) Organization. Her last assignment was to charter and lead a new Global Information Grid Enterprise Services (GIG) organization. Meyerriecks worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1983 to 1998 as a senior engineer and product manager before her tenure at DISA.
Meyerriecks holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University with a double major in business and management science, and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Loyola Marymount University.
She co-chaired a soon-to-be-released acquisition reform study for the National Academy of Sciences, and has served on advisory boards to the National Counterterrorism Center, Sun Federal, Cranite Systems, and the Defense Science Board Summer Studies.
Meyerriecks holds numerous honors and awards for her government service work and for work in private industry including the Government Computer News, Department of Defense Person of the Year for 2004; InfoWorld, 2002 and 2001 CTO of the Year; CIO Magazine, 2002 20/20 Vision Award; Business Week 2.0, 20 Young Execs You Need to Know, 2001; Federal Computer Week, 2000 Top 100 of the year for the government sector; the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, November 2001; the Senior Executive Service Exceptional Achievement Award in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003; and the National Performance Review in August 1996. In November 2001, she was featured in Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 intellectual leaders in the world.
Director of National
Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that he has selected former FBI
Deputy Director Robert Bryant to be the next National Counterintelligence
Executive. The National
Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX), under the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence, serves as the head of national counterintelligence for
the United States Government.
Bryant has many years of investigative,
operational and management experience in counterintelligence, counterterrorism
and law enforcement. As the FBI’s deputy director and chief operating officer,
he managed the day-to-day operations of the FBI and its national
counterintelligence, counterterrorism and criminal programs. Bryant was also
responsible for policy, personnel, budget, technology and security programs.
“A wide range of actors are taking advantage of globalization and the
openness of modern information networks to undermine U.S. interests,” Blair
said. “Robert has more than four decades of experience countering these
substantial threats to our national security and he will be an important asset
in protecting our military, economic and technological resources.”
The
Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX) sets the priorities
for counterintelligence collection, investigations, and operations, and conducts
in-depth espionage damage assessments. To ensure the effectiveness of these
programs, ONCIX also performs periodic reviews of all U.S. counterintelligence
programs, evaluates them against strategic and budgetary goals, and makes fiscal
recommendations to the DNI.
In the recently published 2009 National
Intelligence Strategy, counterintelligence is elevated for the first time as
a mission objective. “Integrate Counterintelligence” is one of six mission
objectives, and the strategy calls for a counterintelligence capability that is
integrated with all aspects of the intelligence process, both offensively and
defensively, to protect our secrets, and to better serve the policymaker and the
operator.
Bryant has had a long and distinguished law enforcement and
counterintelligence career that culminated with his appointment as the deputy
director of the FBI, the number two official in the Bureau. He joined the FBI
in 1968 and worked at the Seattle and Dallas field offices until 1975 when he
was assigned to FBI headquarters in Washington where he was head of the Criminal
Investigative and Records Management Divisions. Bryant returned to the field in
1978 and served in supervisory jobs in the Las Vegas and Kansas City field
offices, and later as the special agent in charge of the Salt Lake City field
division. In 1989, he returned to FBI headquarters as the deputy assistant
director of the Criminal Investigative Division, and in 1991 he was named
special agent in charge of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Field Office. He
later served as the assistant director in charge of the National Security
Division and was appointed in 1997 as the assistant director in charge of the
Criminal Investigative Division.
Bryant’s notable achievements were the
successful investigations and prosecutions of the spies Aldrich Ames, Earl Pitts
and Harold Nicholson, oversight of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation and
the bombing of the Khobar Towers investigation in Saudi Arabia, and the peaceful
resolution of the Montana Freeman standoff. He was most recently the president
and chief executive officer of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Bryant holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and
a law degree from the University of Arkansas.
Statement for the Record by Mr. Michael E. Leiter, Director of the
National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:00:00 ET
Hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Eight Years After 9/11: Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence & the National Counterterrorism Center
(NCTC). This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
October 6, 2009: Remarks by President Obama &
National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Director Michael E. Leiter at NCTC
Headquarters in McLean, Virginia.
ODNI Congressional Testimony: Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Hearing
Tue, 13 Oct 2009
2:30 PM ET
Statement for the Record by Mr. David C. Gompert - Nominee for the Position of Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI)
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
October 21, 2009: Mr. Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Addresses the 2009 GEOINT Symposium - Transcript | Video
October 20, 2009: Intelligence Community Chief Information Officer (CIO) Panel Discussion at the 2009 GEOINT Symposium (Moderated by Intelligence Community CIO, ODNI, Ms. Priscilla Guthrie.) - Transcript | Video
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
October 23, 2009: Press Conference with Deputy
Director of National Intelligence for Collection, Glenn
A. Gaffney, on the Camp Williams, Utah, Data Center - Transcript
| Video
ODNI Congressional Testimony: House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and Subcommittee on
Intelligence Community Management Hearing
Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:00 AM ET
Statement for the Record by Mr. Robert Litt, ODNI General Counsel - Hearing on the Intelligence Community’s practices, policies and procedures as they relate to congressional notification of intelligence activities.
ODNI News Release: DNI Releases Budget Figure for 2009 National
Intelligence Program
Fri,
30 Oct 2009 10:00:00 ET
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair released today the fiscal year 2009 budget figure for the National Intelligence Program (NIP).
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
November 6, 2009: DNI Blair Addresses the World
Affairs Council of Philadelphia.
ODNI News Release: New Principal Deputy DNI Confirmed by
Senate
Tue, 10 Nov 2009
12:30:00 ET
David C. Gompert officially joined the Office of the Director of National Intelligence today as the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence following his Nov. 9 confirmation by the U.S. Senate. President Barack Obama nominated him for the position on Aug. 6, 2009.
ODNI News Release: IC Offers Job Opportunities to Wounded Service
Members
Wed, 18 Nov 2009
16:45:00 ET
The Intelligence Community attracted nearly 200 wounded service men and women yesterday to its first Community-wide job fair for them - emphasizing how their work ethic, resilience and team spirit are needed to further promote IC reform.
ODNI News Release: ODNI Announces Senior Executives' Moves
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:30:00 ET
Ambassador Joseph R. DeTrani will become the new director of the National Counterproliferation Center (NCPC) next month, and Sylvia L. Copeland, an accomplished executive in the Intelligence Community, will replace him as mission manager for North Korea, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced today.
ODNI News Release: ODNI to Offer 2nd Annual Summer Seminar for College
Students Interested in IC Careers
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ET
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced today that it will again offer about 40 highly motivated graduate students and college seniors an opportunity to study with currently serving intelligence analysts and other experts. The National Security Analysis & Intelligence Summer Seminar, a reprise of the first such program the ODNI held last summer, is planned for July 13 through July 24 in Washington, D.C.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
DNI Blair Op-Ed in the Washington Post on Intelligence Reform
The following op-ed
marking the five year anniversary of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 ran on page A31 of the Washington
Post today.
Strengthening our
nation's front line of defense
Reinventing our intelligence
structure is a massive challenge – but we're making real progress.
By Dennis C. Blair
Friday, December 18, 2009 – The Washington
Post – Page A31
The legislation authorizing post-Sept. 11 intelligence reform –
the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 – was signed into
law five years ago this week. We are often asked whether the new organizations,
authorities and additional resources have made a difference. The answer is yes.
To be clear, the task of reinventing our intelligence structure and
integrating the capabilities, cultures and information technologies of 16
diverse intelligence agencies is massive, and it is incomplete. Problems persist
in our technologies, business practices and mind-sets. I have no illusions about
how challenging they will be to overcome. But there is an ocean of difference
between difficult and impossible.
While many successes must remain
classified, there are things the public can and should know about changes that
have been made and how we are directing our efforts and America's resources.
A prime example is the new level of cooperation among FBI, local law
enforcement and U.S. intelligence agencies in the recent arrests of Najibullah
Zazi and David Headley, Americans allegedly associated with foreign terrorist
organizations who are charged with planning attacks in this country and
overseas. In both cases, tips and leads were smoothly passed among those
gathering information in this country and those gathering information overseas,
including foreign intelligence services that provided information or responded
to questions. These investigations connected the dots in exactly the ways the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act envisioned. However, as the
case of Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who has been charged with the Fort Hood, Tex.,
shootings, shows, we must go even further in our efforts to turn intelligence
into the knowledge needed to protect Americans.
Innovative use of
information technology across agencies is enabling analysts to make use of the
enormous amounts of data we are gathering and to distill insights that will help
policymakers in Washington and civil and military officers in the field.
Thousands of analysts form groups spontaneously, in real time, on A-Space, post
insights in Intellipedia, retrieve relevant analyses from the Library of
National Intelligence and interact with the tribal database for Afghanistan.
These tools, among others, ensure that each piece of analysis takes advantage of
work being done and that new insights are immediately available to those who
need them.
Close collaboration among collectors and analysts utilizing
human, satellite and signals intelligence produced key evidence of a prospective
covert uranium enrichment facility in Iran. Teamwork among different agencies in
the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of
a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons.
Initiatives that will
make us even more effective are moving forward. More than 6,000 intelligence
officers are now "joint duty" qualified, and another 5,000 are gaining
interagency experience. Cross-agency teams are making steady improvements in our
administrative information systems so that we can better manage our human and
financial resources; the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity is
funding high-risk, high-payoff projects in quantum computing, identity
recognition, computer network intelligence and other areas that will benefit
many agencies down the line.
The new National Intelligence Strategy
provides the blueprint for further improvement in effectiveness. All U.S.
intelligence organizations collaborated this year to articulate our shared
mission and objectives. The strategy puts unprecedented focus on cybersecurity,
counterintelligence and the impact that problems such as pandemic disease,
climate events, failed states and scarce natural resources have on global
stability. It recognizes the role of intelligence in identifying common
interests and defusing threats in such issues as energy, trade, drug
interdiction and public health.
Like our armed forces and first
responders, intelligence professionals are on the front lines in defense of this
country. Their operations are already collaborative between and across agencies
to an extent that was unheard of five years ago. Continued commitment and
investment in this reform are vital. If we become complacent now, or pessimistic
about future progress, and revert to stovepipes and turf battles, full
transformation will never be achieved.
Continued reform will also not be
possible without a full commitment from the inside. Every intelligence agency,
director, manager and employee has a role in breaking down the remaining
impediments to integration. I find that the overwhelming majority of
intelligence officers recognize the importance and benefits of integration.
While taking pride in their individual skills and agencies, they are eager to
cooperate with others to accomplish the common mission. This is most true in the
field – overseas and closer to home at fusion centers in Los Angeles and
Chicago.
It has been famously argued that information is power and,
therefore, should never be shared. The Sept. 11 attacks showed the fatal flaws
in that logic. Our nation is becoming safer every day because we are aware that
information increases in power only when it is shared. Our mission is a fully
integrated intelligence community, and there is no turning back. My most urgent
priorities are to permanently instill this new culture and to use every tool at
my disposal – from joint duty to recruitment and communications – to build a
generation of intelligence leaders for whom this culture is business as usual.
The writer is director of national intelligence.
January 2, 2010
Statement by the Director of the National
Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)
Mr. Michael E. Leiter
The failed attempt to destroy Northwest Flight 253 is the starkest of reminders of the insidious terrorist threats we face. While this attempt ended in failure we know with absolute certainty that Al-Qa’ida and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the Homeland. Our most sacred responsibility is to be focused on our mission – detecting and preventing terrorist attacks from happening on our soil and against U.S. interests. The American people expect and deserve nothing less.
# # #
The attached message by
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair was sent to employees of the
WASHINGTON, DC 20511
January 7, 2010
The following message by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair was sent to employees
of the United States Intelligence Community:
Colleagues:
The President has completed his preliminary review and briefed the nation regarding the
Abdulmutallab attempted terrorist attack on December 25. He has directed me to lead the
Intelligence Community’s work in improving our procedures and systems to detect and prevent a
similar attempt from succeeding.
That Mr. Abdulmutallab boarded Northwest Flight 153 for Detroit was a failure of the
counterterrorism system. We had strategic intelligence that al Qa’ida in the Arab Peninsula
(AQAP) had the intention of taking action against the United States. We did not direct more
resources against AQAP, nor insist that the watchlisting criteria be adjusted. The Intelligence
Community analysts who were working hard on immediate threats to Americans in Yemen did not
understand the fragments of intelligence on what turned out later to be Mr. Abdulmutallab, so they
did not push him onto the “no fly” list.
We will take a fresh and penetrating look at strengthening both human and technical performance
and do what we have to do in all areas. I have specifically been tasked to oversee and manage work
in four areas:
• Assigning clear lines of responsibility for investigating all leads on high-priority threats, so
they are pursued more aggressively;
• Distributing intelligence reports more quickly and widely, especially those suggesting
specific threats against the U.S.;
• Applying more rigorous standards to analytical tradecraft to improve intelligence integration
and action; and
• Enhancing the criteria for adding individuals to the terrorist watchlist and “no fly” watchlist.
While the December 25 attempt exposed improvement needs and flaws in coordination, it did not
expose weakness in the concepts of intelligence reform or suggest that its progress should be
redirected. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) and the progress of the
past five years will continue to guide our future improvements.
As the White House review stated, “the work by America’s counterterrorism (CT) community has
had many successes since 9/11 that should be applauded… On a great number of occasions since
9/11, many of which the American people will never know about, the tremendous, hardworking
corps of analysts across the CT community did just that, working day and night to track terrorist
threats and run down possible leads in order to keep their fellow American safe.” I strongly agree.
The review also recognizes the barriers to information sharing that existed just five years ago,
which we have worked so hard to dismantle, have indeed been broken down.
The job of collecting, analyzing, and integrating information on a global scale is difficult, and this
community performs that work at high levels every day. We will sustain our dedication and
professionalism to the tasks we now face. We will leverage this challenge to emerge even stronger
and more able to provide the support to national security that President Obama hailed as critical to
our future.
We will meet this challenge. I am confident that together we will deliver to the President the
improvements he has called for.
Dennis C. Blair
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