- Info
DCI on the Need to Strengthen the DO
Director of Central Intelligence
Statements
on the Need to Strengthen the Directorate of Operations
On May 5, 1998,
DCI George J. Tenet addressed employees in the CIA Headquarters Auditorium
on the Agency's Strategic Direction. The following are excerpts
from the DCI's address regarding the Directorate of Operations.
First, the threat
environment is growing more diverse, complex, and dangerous -- biological
agents, terrorism, information warfare. It's easier and easier for smaller
and smaller groups to do serious damage, with less visibility and warning.
The potential for surprise has increased enormously.
Everything
we do will have as its primary goal the strengthening of our two most
fundamental capabilities: clandestine collection and all-source
analysis. These are the activities that determine whether or not we
serve our customers day in and day out.
We are in the
espionage business. We are going to stay in the espionage business.
Agent operations have been our backbone for 50 years, and clandestine
technical operations have consistently yielded invaluable intelligence.
I will not let that change.
The challenges
facing HUMINT are great. Some of our most important targets – terrorists,
weapons proliferators, and narco-traffickers, to name a few -- are
hard to get at. We confront technologies that present unprecedented
challenges to our ability to operate under cover. And we must combat
a wider array of counterintelligence concerns.
All of this means
we will have to mount increasingly complex and expensive operations.
At the same time, we have must also be prepared to meet the inescapable
demands to surge. We have to have the agility and the flexibility
to surge without hollowing out the hard target operations that must remain
our principal focus.
To meet these
challenges, we will rebuild our field strength. Over the next few years,
we will increase the number of our operations officers. We will augment
existing stations and increase the number of our stations and bases.
And we will see to it that they have the communications infrastructure
they need to support their operations.
At the core,
our success depends on our people. We will establish a recruitment program
that parallels the very best in private industry. We will bring the best
and the brightest people into CIA day after day, month after month and
prove we have a mission and system of rewards in place to give them the
incentive to stay.
Historical Document
Posted: Apr 06, 2007 05:08 PM
Last Updated: Jun 20, 2008 09:21 AM
Last Reviewed: Apr 06, 2007 05:08 PM