MILNET presents a compilation of information on the United States Intelligence Community.
The U.S. has a number of intelligence agencies whose overall mission is defined by each of the U.S. Presidents. The complexity of the U.S. Intelligence Community is such that one really needs a comprehensive guide. Fortunately, Jeffrey T. Richelson has devoted an entire book to the "community" called The U.S. Intelligence Community1 . The agencies are split into three groups, those concerned with counter intelligence within the U.S. borders; counter-intelligence, offensive intelligence activites, and covert activities outside of the U.S.; and miiltary intelligence inside and outside the U.S.. Intelligence is the key element in Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I ) . Management of the intelligence agencies is conducted by the President of the United States, through the Director of Central Intelligence, who also is the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and intelligence oversight is conducted via the Congress' Intelligence Committees. Collection; systems in the U.S. are typically very sophisticated and technically advanced. U.S. Intelligence agencies are centered in the Washington, D.C. area, see Locations (large graphic!).
The only agency which can conduct intelligence activities (at least according to publicly disclosed intellience documents or charters...see NSA) is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The individual military intelligence groups may cooperate with the FBI to catch spys in their areas of control, but only the FBI can actually conduct surveillance and make arrests on their own. In practice though, it is probably more accurate to say that the FBI is involved in all surveillances and arrests, whereas the military intelligence groups are legally bound to coordinate with the FBI. The only other exception is the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) who may conduct drug related surveillance on their own. And of course city, county and state police may conduct their own surveillance as necessary.
Intelligence in the U.S. is controlled by the Executive Branch, with the President acting on guidance from the Director of Central Intelligence and the Department of Defense. Presidential directives establish the high level goals of the U.S. Intelligence Community, and organizations authorized by the President then define the collection, analysis , and interpretation of intelligence data, and control the content and dissemination of the end "product" of intelligence gathering.
Outside the U.S., the CIA coordinates all intelligence activity. This includes both operations as well as production of intelligence reports and analysis. The authority for this comes from the Intelligence Act of 1947, portions of which still remain classified (specifically the charter and authority of the NSA ). The CIA (through the USAF and the USN) controls the assets used for technial collection of intelligence, i.e.
In short the agencies concerned with activity outside the U.S. are:
The major branches of the military have their own intelligence agencies, all reporting to the Pentagon via the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The military agencies remain in the U.S. because of the ever increasing need for intelligence on the technologies of each of the service areas, i.e. the Navy needs up-to-date intelligence on the submarine technology of our adversaries, the Air Forces concentrates on aircraft and space vehicles. The military agencies are:
One of the attributes of a free society such as that in the United States of America, is the right to access to public information as well as information required by the U.S. Congress in order to fulfill its role in overseeing the activities of the Intelligence Community. Under the Freedom of Information Act , U.S. citizens can apply for disclosure of documents held by the government that pertain to themselves or various other reasons.
2 The Puzzle Palace : Inside the National Security Agency, James Bamford,
Copyright 1982, 1983, Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, published in the U.S. by Penguin Books, 40 West 23rd Street,
New York, N.Y., 10010.
Military Intelligence
Other Issues
1 The U.S. Intelligence Community, Jeffrey T. Richelson, Copyright 1989,
Ballinger Publishing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts.