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MISSION

We are the nation’s first line of defense. We accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where others cannot go. We carry out our mission by:

• Collecting information that reveals the plans, intentions, and capabilities of our adversaries and provides the basis for decision and action.
• Producing timely analysis that provides insight, warning and opportunity to the President and decisionmakers charged with protecting and advancing America’s interests.
• Conducting covert action at the direction of the President to preempt threats or achieve US policy objectives.

HISTORY

“It is now three days since I have received any intelligence… It is of such importance to me to be regularly informed that I must request you send expresses daily. “

--George Washington

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed New York lawyer and war hero, General William J. Donovan, to head the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) after the US entered World War II in 1942. The OSS—the forerunner to the CIA—collected and analyzed strategic information. After World War II the OSS was abolished along with many other war agencies and its functions were transferred to the State and War Departments.

It did not take long before President Harry S. Truman recognized the need for a postwar, centralized intelligence organization. To make a fully functional intelligence office, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 establishing the CIA. The National Security Act charged the CIA with coordinating the nation’s intelligence activities and correlating, evaluating and disseminating intelligence affecting national security.

On December 17, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act which restructured the Intelligence Community by abolishing the position of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) and creating the position the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA). The Act also created the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which oversees the Intelligence Community and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).

WHAT WE DO

CIA’s primary mission is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the President and senior US Government policymakers in making decisions relating to national security. This is a complex process and involves a variety of steps. First, we identify a problem or an issue of national security concern to the US Government. In some cases, CIA is directed to study an intelligence issue—such as what activities terrorist organizations are planning—then a plan to collect information is developed.

There are several ways to collect information. Translating foreign newspaper and magazine articles and radio and television broadcasts provides open source intelligence. Imagery satellites take pictures from space, and analysts write reports about what they see—for example, how many airplanes are at a foreign military base. Signals analysts work to decrypt coded messages sent by other countries. Operations officers recruit foreigners to provide information about their countries.

After the information is collected, intelligence analysts pull together relevant information from all available sources and assess it and what it means for US interests. The result of this analytic effort is timely and objective assessments, free of any political bias, provided to senior US policymakers in the form of finished intelligence products that include written reports and oral briefings. It is important to note that CIA analysts only report the information and do not make policy recommendations.

CIA is not a law enforcement organization. CIA and the FBI cooperate on a number of issues, such as counterintelligence and counterterrorism.

The CIA may engage in covert action at the President’s direction and in accordance with applicable law.

The US Congress has had oversight responsibility of the CIA since the Agency was established in 1947. However, prior to the mid-1970’s, oversight was less formal. The 1980 Intelligence Oversight Act charged the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) with authorizing the programs of the intelligence agencies and overseeing their activities.

OVERVIEW OF CIA’S ORGANIZATION

The CIA is separated into four basic components. These directorates carry out the intelligence cycle—the process of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence information to top US Government officials.

NATIONAL CLANDESTINE SERVICE (NCS)

The NCS serves as the clandestine arm of the CIA and the national authority for the coordination, de-confliction, and evaluation of clandestine human intelligence (HUMINT) operations across the Intelligence Community.

The NCS is the front-line source of clandestine intelligence on critical international developments ranging from terrorism and weapons proliferation to military and political issues. To gather this important intelligence, CIA operations officers live and work overseas to establish and maintain networks and personal relationships with foreign “assets” in the field. The NCS also manages foreign intelligence relationships and carries out special activities authorized by the President in support of US policy goals.

DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE (DI)

The DI analyzes all sources of information to produce timely, accurate, and relevant intelligence that helps the President and others charged with protecting America and advancing US interests make informed decisions. DI analysts use substantive expertise and a variety of sources and methods, including reports from spies, satellite photography, open source information, and sophisticated sensors, to overcome fragmentary reporting and our adversaries’ efforts to deceive and deny information. In addition, the DI employs structured analytic approaches to ensure DI analysis is rigorous, clear, free from bias, and explicit about information gaps that could change our analytic judgments.

The DI’s flagship product is a classified daily electronic publication, the World Intelligence Review (WIRe). Provided to senior policy and security officials, the WIRe updates readers on current developments and identifies trends and developments overseas that have the potential to affect US interests. The DI is also the largest contributor to the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), an Intelligence Community product under the direction of the Director of National Intelligence. The PDB addresses the national security issues of interest to the President and is given only to the President, Vice President, and to those cabinet-level officials the President designates are recipients.

DIRECTORATE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (DS&T)

The DS&T accesses, collects, and exploits information to facilitate the execution of the CIA’s mission by applying innovative, scientific, engineering, and technical solutions to the most critical intelligence problems. It incorporates over 50 different disciplines ranging from computer programmers and engineers to scientists and analysts. The DS&T partners with many other organizations in the Intelligence Community using best practices to foster creative thinking and working level coordination. Officers in the DS&T continually seek to push the boundaries of the state-of-the-art, infusing cutting-edge technologies with effective targeting and tradecraft.

DIRECTORATE OF SUPPORT (DS)

The DS provides a full range of integrated support services to the CIA. They build and operate facilities all over the world; ensure secure and reliable communications over multiple networks; run a supply chain that acquires and ships a huge range of critical, clandestine equipment to even the most remote corners of the globe; secure CIA buildings, people, data, and networks; help hire, train and assign CIA officers for every job in the CIA; provide medical services for employees as well as intelligence operations; and, manage financial and contracting businesses within the CIA. The DS ensures CIA employees are safe, secure, healthy, and fully able to carry on the CIA’s mission worldwide.

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (DIR)

The Office of the Director has several staffs directly subordinate to the D/CIA that support him in his role as Director.

• Office of General Counsel
• Office of Congressional Affairs
• Office of Public Affairs
• Office of Inspector General
• Office of the Associate Director for Military Affairs
• Office of the Chief Financial Officer
• Chief for Policy and Coordination
• Office of the Chief Information Officer
• DNI Open Source Center
• Office of the Chief, Human Resources
• Operations Center
• Director’s Executive Support Staff
• Office of Protocol
• Employee Resources Center