ODNI
News Release: DNI Asks John E. McLaughlin to Head Group That Will Examine Recent
Intelligence Challenges
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:45:00 -0500
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that he has asked John E. McLaughlin, a former Acting Director of Central Intelligence, to head a small group of national security experts who will look into recent challenges facing the Intelligence Community.
The group will review the Dec. 25 bombing attempt by alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab aboard Northwest Flight 253, and the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood, allegedly carried out by Army Maj. Nidal Hasan. The DNI has requested a careful examination of the sequence of events leading up to both incidents, as well as proposals to remedy potential weaknesses in intelligence systems and procedures that these incidents exposed.
"John McLaughlin is especially well-qualified to lead an independent assessment in this area and provide candid, constructive guidance to improve our future performance," Blair said. "I am pleased that his more than three decades of experience and wide range of leadership responsibilities in intelligence will once again be put to use in service to our country. I thank him for accepting this assignment, and look forward to receiving the results of his work."
Media Conference Call with Dr. Ronald P. Sanders, Intelligence Community
Chief Human Capital Officer
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:00:00 -0500
ODNI Congressional Testimony: Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Hearing
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0500
Statement for the Record by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair and National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael E. Leiter - Intelligence Reform: The Lessons and Implications of the Christmas Day Attack.
ODNI Congressional Testimony: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and
Transportation Hearing
Wed,
20 Jan 2010 14:30:00 -0500
Statement for the Record by National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael E. Leiter - The State of Aviation Security - Is Our Current System Capable of Meeting the Threat?
ODNI
News Release: DNI Meets With Pakistani-Americans to Foster Dialogue
Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:30:00
-0500
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair met on Tuesday with Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and nearly two dozen Pakistani-Americans as a part of his efforts to strengthen relationships with members of U.S. immigrant communities, increase cultural awareness and attract prospective employees from their ranks.
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January 22, 2010: Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair Addresses the National Intelligence Community Awards Ceremony - Transcript | Video
ODNI
News Release: ODNI Posthumously Awards 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte National
Intelligence Medal for Valor
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:15:00 -0500
Air Force 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte was posthumously awarded the National Intelligence Medal for Valor today for her courageous efforts to teach Afghan military officials how to gather and interpret military intelligence. She died last May in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device struck her vehicle en route to a Bagram Airfield meeting on the very issue that powers the IC: sharing intelligence.
NCTC Congressional Testimony: House Committee on Homeland Security
Hearing
Wed, 27 Jan 2010
10:00:00 -0500
Statement for the Record by National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael E. Leiter - Flight 253: Learning Lessons from an Averted Tragedy
ODNI Congressional Testimony: Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Hearing
Tue, 02 Feb 2010
02:30:00 ET
Statement for the Record by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair - Annual Threat Assessment of the United States Intelligence Community.
ODNI Congressional Testimony: House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence Hearing
Wed, 03
Feb 2010 10:00:00 ET
Statement for the Record by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair - Annual Threat Assessment of the United States Intelligence Community.
Statement by the Director of Communications
Arthur House
The DNI stated that the combination of reality and politics regarding the December 25 attempted terrorist attack is surprising and that the Intelligence Community is trying to bring intelligence and law enforcement to bear on those who threaten our country. To suggest that his statement is a “blast” at the White House distorts words clearly spoken and seeks to create a conflict where none exits.
Cyber attacks alarm U.S. intelligence czar
WASHINGTON—Recent cyber attacks on Google were a "wake-up call" and neither the U.S. government nor the private sector can fully protect the American cyber infrastructure, Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence, said Tuesday.
"Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication," Blair said in prepared testimony for a Senate intelligence committee hearing.
The Chinese military's "aggressive cyber activities" pose challenges to neighbors, Blair said.
Statement by Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair
On the Passing of Congressman John Murtha
Chairman Jack Murtha was a friend of the men and women of the Intelligence Community. He cared about our work and asked insightful questions to be sure we had the resources required to support policymakers, the military and the acquisition community. Chairman Murtha was a patriot in the truest sense: he worked for a strong America, and he devoted time to meeting with wounded veterans and deployed forces. His keen intellect and strategic focus forced intelligence professionals to work harder and smarter and to look down the road to prepare for tomorrow’s challenges. The Intelligence Community has lost a dear friend.
Statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Regarding United Kingdom Court Decision
The protection of confidential information is essential to strong, effective security and intelligence cooperation among allies. The decision by a United Kingdom court to release classified information provided by the United States is not helpful, and we deeply regret it.
The United States and the United Kingdom have a long history of close cooperation that relies on mutual respect for the handling of classified information. This court decision creates additional challenges, but our two countries will remain united in our efforts to fight against violent extremist groups.
ODNI
News Release: DNI Names Paula Roberts New Chief Human Capital Officer
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:30:00
EST
Director of National
Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that he has selected Paula J.
Roberts to be the next associate director of national intelligence/chief human
capital officer for the U.S. Intelligence Community.
Roberts currently
serves as the director of the Human Development Directorate at the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where she has worked since 1978.
Read
More
APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE: ODNI to Offer 2nd
Annual Summer Seminar for College Students Interested in IC
Careers
Fri, 19 Feb
2010 16:30:00 ET
Press Release from December, 2009:
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 11 through July 23 in Washington, D.C.
The intensive, residential seminar will include lectures, field trips to agencies and work on substantive topics under the direction of Intelligence Community analysts, academics and other professionals. Career opportunities will be highlighted. Students who are selected and approved will receive secret-level security clearances for the duration of the seminar.
“The program’s benefits are many fold,” said Director Dennis C. Blair. “The Intelligence Community is eager to work with some of the nation’s best and brightest. In return, we hope they will benefit from an inside look at what national intelligence is all about.”
The NSAISS application will be available online in January. It is recommended that students who are interested in careers in intelligence begin to gather transcripts, two letters of recommendation and a current resume that must accompany the application. Applicants will also need to complete Standard Form 86 (SF-86)/Questionnaire for National Security Positions, which is available through the Web site of the Office of Personnel Management.
The NSAISS is open to U.S. citizens who are graduate students, and to college seniors graduating in the 2009-2010 academic year and applying to graduate school. The seminar is not open to federal government employees, contractors or currently serving military or activated reservists. Participants will receive travel expenses, room and board, course materials and a $500 stipend.
The debut effort attracted more than 700 applicants for 40 slots.
The curriculum will be developed, in part, by the seminar’s sponsors – the deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, the IC’s chief human capital officer and the Community’s Centers of Academic Excellence Program.
For more information, click here.
Office of the
Director of National Intelligence. This information has recently been updated,
and is now available.
February 22, 2010: Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair Addresses the Alfred M. Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues at Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas)
Statement by the Director of National Intelligence
Mr. Dennis C. Blair
Earlier today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, with my concurrence, announced that DIA Deputy Director Letitia A. Long will be the next director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, effective summer 2010. Ms. Long will be the first woman to head a major intelligence agency.
Ms. Long’s historic appointment reflects her 32 years of exceptional government service, including more than two decades in the Intelligence Community. She is highly respected throughout the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. Her strong leadership skills and understanding of the entire intelligence enterprise will ensure that NGA can continue to deliver outstanding information to policymakers and operators in support of our national security objectives.
I congratulate current NGA Director VADM Murrett for his outstanding leadership these past four years.
The United States Intelligence Community (IC), an integrated network of agencies that work together to protect our Nation's security, is seeking a culturally diverse, technically savvy workforce for exciting careers in a number of fields. Join us at the IC Virtual Career Fair to explore career opportunities, chat with recruiters, and apply for job openings - all from the comfort of your computer!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET
The IC Virtual Career Fair will offer hundreds of career opportunities available in a diverse array of disciplines, including:
- Cybersecurity/Information Assurance
- Engineering and Physical Science
- Foreign Languages*
- Information Technology
- Intelligence Analysis
- Law Enforcement
- Many others
Note: The majority of positions are located in the Baltimore/Washington,
DC area. Not all opportunities are available at all agencies.
*Proficiency in one of the following languages is highly desirable -
Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Mandarin, Pashto, Somali, or Urdu.
At the IC Virtual Career Fair you will be able to:
- Visit virtual booths for Intelligence Community agencies
- Chat with recruiters in real time
- Apply to job openings
- Network with other job seekers
- Watch live presentations
- Download electronic brochures and videos
Best of all there are no travel expenses and suits are not required!
The following Intelligence Community Agencies will be participating in the event:
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)
- National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
- National Security Agency (NSA)
- Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)
- Office
of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
NCTC Congressional Testimony: Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Hearing
Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 ET
Statement for the Record by National Counterterrorism Center Deputy Director for Information Sharing and Knowledge Development, Mr. Russell Travers - The Lessons and Implications of the Christmas Day Attack: Watchlisting and Pre-Screening
Intelligence Community Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer
March 12, 2010
JANE NORRIS: Good morning. The time is 7:31. And job fairs aren’t new to government but the Intelligence Community is reaching out to a web-connected crowd next Tuesday with a virtual career event. Virtual job booths, real-time chats with recruiters and live presentations all from the comfort of your couch and maybe even in your pajamas, if you’d like.
So why go virtual? For that, we turn to Dr. Elizabeth Kolmstetter, Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer for the Intelligence Community in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Good morning, Dr. Kolmstetter. Thanks for joining us today.
ELIZABETH KOLMSTETTER: Good morning.
MS. NORRIS: So why did you decide to go virtual with the career fair?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Well, we really believe this is a cost-effective way to attract a very tech-savvy workforce and it allows us a much greater geographic reach.
TOM TEMIN: And so when someone in their pajamas or otherwise – maybe even less, who knows – when they go to their screen to this job fair, what do they see?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: They’ll be greeted by an entry screen and a welcome screen and a little layout of the actual virtual fair with a layout including the auditorium, the exhibit hall and some other areas that they can explore. And then they’ll go into these areas and really explore the job opportunities and information available.
MS. NORRIS: And how do they interact with recruiters?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Well, this is the virtual part. They will be in real time interacting with recruiters, program managers and experts through chats. They can have public chats where their questions and answers will appear to all participants or request a private chat to get into more depth of their own personal information.
MR. TEMIN: So it’s chat by typing. In other words, they can’t talk to the person or see them.
DR. KOLMSTETTER: That is true. Yes, that will all be through typing.
MR. TEMIN: And how many jobs are going to be listed? What’s the scope of this whole fair?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Well, we really haven’t even counted all of them because we have so many agencies. We have nine, 10 agencies participating. And they are all still posting jobs that they have available right now. But across the government, as you know, in cybersecurity alone, there are over a thousand, probably 2,000 jobs available. And then we have hundreds more in other disciplines.
MS. NORRIS: Dr. Kolmstetter, will people be pre-selected for specific job openings?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: No, we have set this up actually as a very open event. There’s been no pre-selection. Anyone is available to come in and explore. We even know students who aren’t yet in the job market will be participating just to explore opportunities in the Intelligence Community.
MR. TEMIN: Now, the old saying goes, you know, when you’re on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog. So at some point, you’re going to have to see these people in person and do some kind of verification. What’s the process to make sure that who you’re chatting with is the person that shows up for the job?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: That is absolutely a good question because of the virtual nature of this. In order to register, we have asked that applicants also include their résumé. Therefore we already are able to see some of their skills and abilities. And if they’re actually going to be talking with a hiring manager, they may ask some questions and be asked some questions about their background.
If there’s interest in a good match, we ask that they actually submit – and you can do this virtually – a real job application to one of the specific postings. From there, the hiring managers may actually invite one of these applicants in for an interview. And that is the process, really, where we’ll start to really be sure that we’re talking to the person with the same skills and that they really match some of the job qualifications.
MS. NORRIS: We’re talking this morning to Dr. Elizabeth Kolmstetter, Deputy Intelligence Community Chief Human Capital Officer of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They’re talking to us about their career fair, which will take place Tuesday, March 16th from 10:00 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening.
So which agencies will be participating in this? Can you give us a little rundown?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Oh, absolutely. We’re so excited to have – and this is the first IC-wide virtual fair. We are including the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Defense Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, our own Office of Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Naval Intelligence. We’ll also have booths representing government-wide benefits, diversity information and opportunities for heritage Americans.
MR. TEMIN: And do you get the sense that interest in intelligence jobs has risen? I mean, intelligence has been in the news, the whole connecting-the-dot issue after Christmas bombing and so forth. Do you find that that’s causing people to say, hey, I’d like to help out here?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Absolutely. Unfortunately, every time we do have these incidents in the news, that obviously creates more publicity and explains, really, our very, very important role in national security and in the front lines. And we do get a lot of interest. And as you can tell, we’re also trying to brand the Intelligence Community as a really wonderful place to start your career and stay with us for a career because we have so many agencies participating in our very important mission.
MS. NORRIS: And Dr. Kolmstetter, tell us about the special language skills that you’re looking for as well.
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Yes, as we have seen our threat environment go global, we really do need much more breadth in terms of foreign languages in the areas of Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Mandarin, Pashtu, Urdu, as well as just knowing more about these cultures. Cultural expertise in these areas is critically important to our mission.
MR. TEMIN: I imagine getting people that speak those languages well might at the same time also increase the diversity of the workforce.
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Yes, and we are always seeking to increase the diversity, and of course, with the different ethnicities and cultural experiences, but also just diversity of ideas. We see ourselves as a very innovative workforce, and bringing variety of background, experiences and ideas is critical to us.
MS. NORRIS: And so at this point, we are still a little ways away from the actual event on March 16th. Are you still accepting job applicants, and how do they find out more information?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Yes, absolutely. We will allow registration all the way up until the very day of March 16th, next Tuesday. And interested folks just need to get onto our Web site, which is www.icvirtualfair.com, and they’ll get all the information there on how to register.
MS. NORRIS: Well, that sounds fascinating. I’m sure you have lots of registrants already. Can you tell how many applicants there are in queue?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Yes, actually, it’s very exciting. We can pull the numbers just in real time, and we have just reached over 20,000 applicants across the broad spectrum of our job areas, and we’re just excited to have all these folks. And again, maybe some of these are not applicants today but are just seeking more information about career opportunities in our Community.
MR. TEMIN: And if they all show up, I hope your online staff won’t be swamped.
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Well, this is part of the good thing about being virtual. We actually are staffing this across our community in many different agencies. They’re not all going to be in one room, although many of the agencies have set up conference centers and rooms where the folks in the chat rooms will be together. But we are able to distribute our resources, as well, which will help a lot.
MS. NORRIS: And then, Dr. Kolmstetter, how do you share information between agencies and between applicants?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Well, that’s a very good question, and we have really built more through-put in terms of sharing. Again, an applicant – a person interested in a specific job at an agency will have to apply to those positions. And those will all be available and posted, and they can download them at home and go through those.
But as we’ve been pooling our applicants, particularly in the cybersecurity area, if we don’t have enough positions in one agency, we are looking for ways to share the résumés across to other agencies that still have openings so that this is a much more efficient way to help applicants find jobs but also for us to staff.
MS. NORRIS: It’s a good idea. It really is. I foresee more of this happening, and I think this is a great thing, so thanks so much for joining us to talk about it today. We look forward to the career fair. Will you tell us how it went?
DR. KOLMSTETTER: Absolutely. I’d be happy to come back and talk to you. We’ll be tracking the numbers of applications we get and actual hires, so we are very excited. And thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you this morning.
MS. NORRIS: All right, appreciate your time today, as well. That’s Dr. Elizabeth Kolmstetter, Deputy Intelligence Community Chief Human Capital Officer, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, talking to us about their virtual career fair, which will take place Tuesday, March 16th.
(END)
The United States Intelligence Community (IC), an integrated network of agencies that work together to protect our Nation's security, is seeking a culturally diverse, technically savvy workforce for exciting careers in a number of fields. Join us at the IC Virtual Career Fair to explore career opportunities, chat with recruiters, and apply for job openings - all from the comfort of your computer!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET
NCTC Congressional Testimony: House Committee on the Judiciary
Hearing
Wed, 24 Mar 2010
10:00:00 ET
Statement for the Record by National Counterterrorism Center Deputy Director for Information Sharing and Knowledge Development, Mr. Russell Travers - Sharing and Analyzing Information to Prevent Terrorism
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April 6, 2010: Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair Addresses the Bipartisan Policy Center's Conference on the "State of Intelligence Reform."
April 6, 2010: Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy, Plans, and Requirements David R. Shedd Addresses the Bipartisan Policy Center's Conference on the "State of Intelligence Reform."
Statement by the Director of National Intelligence
Mr. Dennis C. Blair
Stephen Kappes is a patriot and a dedicated professional. We are grateful for his service to the CIA, the Intelligence Community and the nation.
We welcome the selection of Michael Morell as the next CIA Deputy Director. His keen understanding of intelligence will help the Community to improve tradecraft and strengthen integration. Michael is an outstanding intelligence professional; all of us in the leadership of the Intelligence Community look forward to working with him.
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April 21, 2010: DNI Dennis C. Blair Addresses the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Fifth Year Anniversary Celebration - Transcript | Video
DNI Blair Celebrates Achievements, Reflects on Challenges
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair was joined today by the leaders of the 16 Intelligence Community organizations and hundreds of ODNI employees to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The ODNI was created to make the IC more integrated, agile and effective. Director Blair used the occasion to congratulate ODNI employees on their accomplishments over the past five years, and to challenge the work force to continue moving forward.
"...We are the only intelligence organization that wakes up every morning and thinks: 'How can we make this entire intelligence enterprise better? How can we combine the magnificent, individual agency skills into the very best intelligence team?'" Director Blair asked the audience.
"Some of you here work in core DNI staff, leading the crucial, cross-Community action plans. Some of you work in mission centers, dedicated to the defeat of terrorists, proliferators, outlaw nations and adversary intelligence services. You lead vital cross-agency missions and research, information sharing, many other areas. ...You knew what great things an integrated Intelligence Community could do."
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 established the ODNI to help the Community work seamlessly to keep the nation safe. Given the Community's size and the scope of the job, reform is a Herculean task. But since its birth on April 21, 2005, the ODNI has spurred progress in information sharing and the use of technology across intelligence agencies; heightened the attention paid to collaboration; and leveraged the IC's collective wisdom to tackle many knotty problems, Director Blair and other speakers said in a courtyard ceremony at the ODNI's McLean, Va., headquarters.
Intelligence professionals should be encouraged by significant gains that have already been made. For the next five years and beyond, the DNI said, continuous improvement and collaboration will be critical.
"If we can truly combine signals, human intelligence, geospatial intelligence, law-enforcement information, open-source intelligence, new kinds of intelligence that haven't even been invented yet; if we can bring analysts together with all the information they need in seamless, imaginative, constantly evolving ways; and if we can maintain and increase the trust of the American people – not only in what we do, but how we do it; if we can do all of that, we'll be the best. But if teamwork, integration or trust falters, we'll be left behind. It's that simple. So, we can't allow that to happen. Ever."
The ceremony followed a meeting of the Intelligence Community Executive Committee, a forum the DNI convenes every other week with the heads of each IC organization to flag, flesh out and resolve a host of issues. At that meeting's conclusion on Wednesday, Director Blair and other IC executives – including CIA Director Leon Panetta, FBI Director Robert Mueller and NSA Director Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander - filed into the courtyard for the start of the anniversary celebration.
In his opening remarks, Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, director of the ODNI’s intelligence staff, said "unprecedented threats to our homeland and way of life" underscore the need for the ODNI.
"No single agency, no single intelligence element in our Community can do what needs to be done across the entire enterprise," he said. "If they could, it would be done already. If we do our jobs right, every intelligence agency and element is more successful, more effective and more integrated than would otherwise be possible."
Striving for excellence is a daily goal at the ODNI, said Andrew Towne, an analyst from the Central Intelligence Agency, now assigned to the office. "It's a place where smart people work hard to find solutions to some extremely tough problems."
For more information about the history and accomplishments of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, click here (http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/2010_Fact_Sheet.pdf).
Transcripts and video footage from the five-year anniversary celebration are available online at www.dni.gov.
# # #
DNI Dennis Blair: U.S. critical infrastructure severely threatened
Published 4 February 2010
Blair: “The United States confronts a dangerous combination of known and unknown vulnerabilities, strong and rapidly expanding adversary capabilities, and a lack of comprehensive threat awareness”
On Tuesday, in his testimony on the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis Blair discussed the issue of threats from cyberspace in the beginning of his testimony. Blair said that neither the public or private sector can protect our critical infrastructure alone.
“I am here today to stress that, acting independently, neither the U.S. Government nor the private sector can fully control or protect the country’s information infrastructure,” Blair said. “Yet, with increased national attention and investment in cyber security initiatives, I am confident the United States can implement measures to mitigate this negative situation.”
Michael Cheek writes that Blair also highlighted the variety and disparate nature of the threats facing the United States. “The United States confronts a dangerous combination of known and unknown vulnerabilities, strong and rapidly expanding adversary capabilities, and a lack of comprehensive threat awareness,” he said.
He also questioned the viability of resiliency, or operating while under attack. Blair said that the United States “cannot be certain that our cyberspace infrastructure will remain available and reliable during a time of crisis.”
Blair announced the creation of an intelligence team to develop and implement a defensive cyber strategy that will be “effective and respectful of American freedoms and values.”
Finally, Blair called for Congress to provide full funding for the cyber security initiatives, such as CNCI, in order to ensure that the United States will be able to effectively combat cyberattacks.
Director
of National Intelligence
May 20, 2010
STATEMENT FROM DIRECTOR DENNIS C. BLAIR TO THE ODNI AND INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY WORKFORCE
It is with deep regret that I informed the President today that I will step down as Director of National Intelligence effective Friday, May 28th.
I have had no greater honor or pleasure than to lead the remarkably talented and patriotic men and women of the Intelligence Community.
Every day, you have worked tirelessly to provide intelligence support for two wars and to prevent an attack on our homeland.
You are true heroes, just like the members of the Armed Forces, firefighters, and police whose job it is to keep our nation safe.
Your work over the past 16 months has made the Intelligence Community more integrated, agile, and representative of American values. Keep it up – I will be cheering for you.
Dennis C. Blair
Gates Calls Clapper Right Choice for Top Intel Post
Sun, 06 Jun 2010 09:14:00 -0500
Gates Calls Clapper Right Choice for Top Intel Post
By John D. Banusiewicz ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, June 6, 2010 - James R. Clapper, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next director of national intelligence, is the right man for the job, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, now serves in a dual capacity as director of military intelligence and undersecretary of defense for intelligence. In a news conference en route to Baku, Azerbaijan, from Singapore, Gates said Clapper would bring vast experience and the right approach to the position. "I think the president could not have found a better person, a more experienced person, or [a person] with a better temperament to do this job and actually make it work than Jim Clapper," the secretary said. Gates said he's heard different opinions of what type of person would be most effective as director of national intelligence, and he offered his own. "What is really key, in my view, in making that DNI office work is the chemistry between the DNI and the other leaders of the intelligence community," he said. "I know that some are looking for a strong executive – a big boss that tells everybody what to do. But structurally, that's almost impossible with this job, because virtually none of the heads of the 16 intelligence agencies actually work for the DNI." Arrangements have been worked out in the last few years to strengthen the position, the secretary said, largely through Clapper's efforts in brokering agreements among the secretary of defense and the directors of the CIA and national intelligence regarding personnel appointments and other matters. The secretary said he's known Clapper for more than 20 years; Clapper was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency when Gates was CIA director. He described Clapper as "very independent-minded," and as a consummate professional who has the respect of virtually everyone in the intelligence community. "He is the first person – and, actually, the only person – that I hired and brought with me when I became secretary of defense," Gates said, acknowledging he "kind of winced with pain" when Obama first asked him about Clapper's possible nomination for the DNI post. "The idea of losing Jim at the Defense Department is a real loss for us," he said. Anyone concerned that Clapper's background is "too military" should consider his service as undersecretary of defense for intelligence, Gates said. "If they look at his record [in that position] and the reforms that he's put in, and his interactions with the civilian intelligence agencies, you will see a record of somebody who can really get along with all of these folks," Gates said. Concerns on Capitol Hill that Clapper isn't forthcoming enough probably stem in part from jurisdictional issues in Congress, the secretary said, noting that he has never has heard a single complaint along those lines from the armed services committees. "I think some of what you see is the jurisdictional conflict between the intelligence committees and the armed services committees in terms of who gets briefed on what," he said. "But Jim has a strong, long record of not only adherence to congressional oversight, but support of it and enthusiastic cooperation. And he has done things from the Department of Defense standpoint significantly to enhance the ability of our overseers on the Hill to do their job." Gates said Clapper added to the value of the director of national intelligence position by coming up with a way to give the DNI meaningful reach into the Defense Department. "Jim came up with the idea of 'double-hatting' himself as both the undersecretary of defense for intelligence [and] as the director of military intelligence," he explained. "In that role as director of military intelligence, he sits on the DNI's executive council and participates as one of the agency heads, if you will, on a par with others within the DNI's executive framework." Gates noted his own opposition in 2004 to the legislation that created the director of national intelligence position, and the fact that he declined the post when it was offered to him in January 2005. "One of the reasons why I opposed the legislation was because I never believed that the Congress would actually give the job all of the authorities that it needed to be successful," he said. The talk back then, he recalled, was creating a "Goldwater-Nichols Act" for the intelligence community. That law forced a reluctant defense establishment to work more as a single entity than as separate services. "But what people never understood," Gates said, "is that the only reason Goldwater-Nichols works in the Department of Defense is because at the end of the day, everybody works for one person. That's not true in the intelligence community. We have intelligence units in the Treasury Department and the State Department and all these other places. Those Cabinet officers are not going to allow their intelligence components to be run by somebody outside their department. "So what you need," he continued, "is somebody who can lead all of those people and bring them to work together, rather than trying to command them to do things. The analogy that I've used is that the DNI is more comparable to a powerful congressional committee chair than it is to a CEO. He has a lot of inherent authority in the law, but ... he has to bring people along though leadership and through accommodating their interests as well as what he thinks is in the national interest. And it's this ability to get people voluntarily to work together, especially, that I think Jim brings to the job." |
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Biographies: Related Sites: |
Unifying U.S. national security
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by Jessica Binsch, Medill News Service
Washington (UPI) Jun 10, 2010
There's general agreement that the United States' security agencies need to be more unified to keep Americans safe, a fact on display at a congressional subcommittee meeting this week.
What the experts and members of Congress cannot agree on is how to bring about that kind of reform.
"The national security system must be modernized to meet the challenges of the 21st century," said James Locher III, head of the Project on National Security Reform, a government-funded think tank.
"The task will be monumental but there is no alternative."
Unlike military threats during the Cold War, new challenges the United States might face include an influenza outbreak, natural disasters or unstable states around the world that could become home to extremists. The military, diplomats, aid workers, law enforcement and many other agencies have to work in tandem to address these issues.
But the current system, based on the 1947 National Security Act, separates the departments and leaves little formal room for shared planning and action. Interagency collaboration, as it's called, is underdeveloped. The difficulties are apparent in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the United States has struggled to effectively combine civilian and military means.
"While national security activities ... require collaboration among multiple agencies, the mechanisms used for such activities may not provide the means Â… needed to meet modern national security challenges," the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan watchdog, wrote in a 2009 report.
Practical problems, however, prevent a closer integration of government agencies and effective information sharing. For example, the Pentagon collects information such as fingerprints or iris scans "in a way that make it incompatible with Homeland Security and FBI databases," John Pendleton of the GAO pointed out at the subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
And it's not just databases that don't match. The State Department and Pentagon "divide the world up differently," Pendleton said. Their regional bureaus hinder policy coordination.
The Pentagon dwarfs other agencies in both budget and manpower. Military people like to convey that all the foreign service officers aren't enough to staff an airplane carrier -- of which the U.S. Navy has 10.
The budgets of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development combined make up about one-tenth of the Pentagon's, Pendleton pointed out.
Because of this lopsidedness, American University Prof. Gordon Adams recommended building up the civilian agencies.
"The focus of reform needs to be on the civilian agencies and capabilities first," said Adams, who is also a fellow at the non-partisan Stimson Center. The civilian agencies lack strategic vision, resources and trained personnel, Adams said. And they need those to be more helpful.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's proposed shared national security budget would better integrate disparate departments -- and it would also help civilian agencies get a bigger share of the fiscal pie. While funding for the military is usually granted even in times of fiscal strain, the State Department and development agencies can have trouble getting lawmaker's ears for their funding requests.
This year, they got help from an unexpected side: the Pentagon. Both Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote to lawmakers to urging them to fully fund the State Department's budget.
"Diplomatic efforts should always lead and shape our international relationships, and I believe that our foreign policy is still too dominated by our military," Mullen wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. He added that "diplomatic and developmental capabilities of the United States Â… reduce the need for military action."
Communicating this reality to taxpayers can be difficult, as Adams explained Wednesday.
"Getting the American people to understand that this long-term investment is in our national security interests is the challenge that every secretary of state has had every year in justifying their budget request," Adams said.
Director of National Intelligence
Washington, DC 20511
July 19, 2010
Acting Director of National Intelligence, David C. Gompert, reaction to the Washington Post series
This morning, the Washington Post began a series of articles on the growth of the Intelligence Community following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The reporting does not reflect the Intelligence Community we know.
We accept that we operate in an environment that limits the amount of information we can share. However, the fact is, the men and women of the Intelligence Community have improved our operations, thwarted attacks, and are achieving untold successes every day.
In recent years, we have reformed the IC in ways that have improved the quality, quantity, regularity, and speed of our support to policymakers, warfighters, and homeland defenders, and we will continue our reform efforts. We provide oversight, while also encouraging initiative. We work constantly to reduce inefficiencies and redundancies, while preserving a degree of intentional overlap among agencies to strengthen analysis, challenge conventional thinking, and eliminate single points of failure. We are mindful of the size of our contractor ranks, but greatly value the critical flexibility and specialized skills they contribute to our mission.
The challenges that lie ahead are difficult and complex. We will continue to scrutinize our own operations, seek ways to improve and adapt, and work with Congress on its crucial oversight and reform efforts. We can always do better, and we will. And the importance of our mission and our commitment to keeping America safe will remain steadfast, whether they are reflected in the day’s news or not.
David C. Gompert
Please note the following two documents by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to the Washington Post series.
- A Q&A regarding intelligence practices and reform efforts post-9/11.
- Truth about Contractors dispels myths surrounding the Intelligence Community’s use of and relationship with contractors.
 U.S. Army modernization on summit agenda Washington (UPI) Jul 21, 2010 - The September future ground forces summit in Washington will focus attention on the U.S. Army's 2010 Modernization Strategy unveiled in April, the organizers said. The Institute for Defense and Government Advancement is having the 3-day Future Ground Forces summit in Washington beginning Sept. 20 -- a major international event to be attended by delegates from across the world. The U.S. Army on April 28 unveiled its modernization strategy, outlining how it will accomplish its goal of fielding a sustainable mix of units with the necessary troops, training and equipment to contend with a range of conflicts. The 2010 Modernization Strategy is the first initiative of its kind to explicitly address changes the service needs to make in the way it equips troops and units as it adapts to a new force generation model in the midst of continuing engagements in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Edward P. Donnelly, incoming director, Force Development, Army G-8, is to make a presentation that will highlight improving and equipping the posture of army, appropriate fielding of modern equipment and the continued pursuit of modernization. Donnelly's presentation is titled "Army Force Development: Army Modernization and Equipment Allocation," IDGA organizers said. The modernization strategy also incorporates recent U.S. Defense Department guidance on the "Future Combat Systems" program that has the Army examining dismounted soldier technologies. To address this part of the strategy, the summit will have a session devoted to "Lightening the Load and Dismounted Soldier" technologies, the organizers said. "This in-depth and interactive series of workshops will examine current research and development in dismounted soldier technology with a focus on lightening the load," IDGA said. The practical application sessions will feature training led by recognized experts, including Professor Karim Abdel-Malek, director, Virtual Soldier Research Program, University of Iowa; Carole Teolis, chairwoman and chief technology officer, TRX Systems, Inc.; and Randy L. Milbert, president, Primordial. IDGA organizers say the summit is a time-critical forum where key military decision makers and industry partners will come together to work their solution into the overall strategy. The Institute for Defense and Government Advancement is a non-partisan information-based organization dedicated to the promotion of innovative ideas in public service and defense. The U.S. Army has come under increasing pressure from the U.S. Congress to cut costs and recent moves in the House of Representatives cut back on several funding requests for 2011. In reports cited by The Army Times, House committee members targeted what they called unsatisfactory performance of some of the equipment. Army officials responded by promising to fix issues raised in Congress. |
Washington (UPI) Jul 21, 2010
The man chosen to be the nation's next chief of intelligence rejected allegations that national security agencies had gone out of control hiring expensive private contractors to do the government's work.
Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper, U.S. President Barack Obama's nominee for director of national intelligence, testified Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence, whose members asked him about this week's Washington Post investigation into the intelligence community. The Post story alleges waste, mismanagement and the overuse of private contractors in the U.S. intelligence community.
"You have entered into the most deadly minefield in Washington D.C.," U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, D-Mo., cautioned Clapper.
Clapper rebuffed the Post's claims, saying budget restrictions imposed limits on private contracting at intelligence agencies.
"I believe that it is under control," Clapper said. "The intelligence community can do many things but printing more money is not one of those things."
National security spending has risen to such levels that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently called it a "gusher," but funding is guaranteed only one year at a time, which makes hiring full-time government employees difficult, Clapper said. There is a demand for more people to move more top-secret information but not enough long-term funding.
"So the obvious outlet for that has been the growth of contractors," Clapper said.
The Post investigation, revealed in a front-page series that ran Monday-Wednesday, claims private contractors are hired for every conceivable job in intelligence and occupy almost 30 percent of the intelligence workforce and almost half the total personnel budget.
Senate Committee on Intelligence chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called for a 10 percent reduction in one year in private contractors for the director of national intelligence, although she acknowledged, "I don't know that that's quite achievable."
The Senate committee issued a report last year that called for the reduction in contractors, based on a 2008 case study by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found contractors were being used in jobs that could be successfully done by government employees for less money.
Clapper he supported a reduction in private contractors for intelligence work but declined to set a specific goal. Clapper spent six years as a private contractor for government intelligence after he retired from the Air Force.
Senate committee members were to have a closed session Wednesday to finish questioning but indicated they would easily approve Clapper's nomination, which will then go to the full Senate for confirmation.
As director of national intelligence, Clapper would oversee the office in charge of coordinating 16 different intelligence agencies.
Clapper will need more authority than allowed previous directors to get the job done, senators said.
"We need someone who can throw elbows," Bond said.
Clapper, who serves as undersecretary of defense for intelligence, would be the fourth director of intelligence since the position was created five years ago. Former intelligence director retired U.S. Navy Adm. Dennis Blair reportedly resigned because of frustrations over a lack of authority to coordinate intelligence activities across several departments.
The national intelligence director "is operating at the 50,000-foot level, making sure everyone has the resources needed," said Mark Lowenthal, president of the Intelligence and Security Academy in Washington and a former intelligence analyst for the State Department and CIA. "The problem is that the DNI has very little enforcement mechanism."
The director of national intelligence has limited authority over to coordinate the activities of other intelligence agencies, said Tim Shorrock, an author and expert on government outsourcing and contracts. The law that created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2004 included, at the behest of Vice President Dick Cheney, a last-minute provision that designates much of the intelligence authority to the Department of Defense.
The Pentagon commands much of the nation's intelligence activity and the intelligence director has limited influence over issues like contracting, Shorrock said.
"It brings a lot of friction and I'm not sure it adds a great deal of quality to the intelligence the government has created," added Gabriel Schoenfeld, a national security senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Any change in restructuring the chain of command, though, won't come at Clapper's initiative. When pressed by senators about the ambiguity in the law, Clapper said he preferred to work within the authority previous intelligence directors had.
"I am in the mode of making the model that we have work, rather than going through the trauma of yet another reorganization," Clapper said.
August 5, 2010
Statement by the Acting Director of National Intelligence
Today, the Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper to be the DNI.
As we face evolving security threats and continue to build an integrated intelligence enterprise, the Intelligence Community and the nation are extremely fortunate to have such a distinguished leader at the helm.
Mr. Clapper has spent more than 40 years in public service, including a 32-year Air Force career and senior Intelligence Community leadership positions. He is one of our nation's most experienced and respected intelligence professionals.
On behalf of the Intelligence Community, I congratulate Mr. Clapper on his confirmation and welcome him to the ODNI.
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