History
The Honorable John Hamre, the Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 1999, directed the Air Force through the Defense Reform Initiative Directive #27 to establish the joint Department of Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory, responsible for counterintelligence, criminal and fraud computer evidence processing, analysis, and diagnostics on Feb. 10, 1998. He also directed the creation of a training program responsible for providing computer investigation training to individuals and Department of Defense elements that must ensure Defense information systems are secure from unauthorized use, counterintelligence, and criminal and fraudulent activities. He directed that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) commander in conjunction with the Defense Criminal Investigative Organizations’ Enterprise-wide Working (DEW) Group plan the creation of the programs and submit a report to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence by May 31, 1998. The plan was subsequently approved, and AFOSI established Operating Location - Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory (OL-DCFL) in August 1998.
The Defense Computer Investigations Training Program held its first classes in a rented classroom at the end of the 1998 fiscal year, and moved into its current Maryland location in September 1999. The training program was later established as an academy upon its accreditation by the American Council of Education Oct. 1, 2006.
The name of the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, or DC3, was adopted in October 2001, encompassing both the training program and laboratory, and would also house the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Institute (DCCI) after the institute’s creation in May 2002. The institute’s mission is to enhance through research, science, engineering, analysis, and planning current and future capabilities to conduct electronic forensic analysis, threat analysis, cyber investigations, and operations.
Through execution of the three major mission areas of DC3: the laboratory, the academy, and the institute, the Cyber Crime Center strives towards fulfilling its mission of delivering the world’s best digital forensics, training, and intrusion response for the advancement of DoD law enforcement, counterintelligence and overall cyberspace dominance.
Originating Documents
DoD Directive - DoD Executive Agent for DC3, 1 March 2010
Wolfowitz Policy Memo Outlining DCFL And DCITP, 17 August 2001
DRID 27 DCFL And DCITP, 10 February 1998