A Guide to the Defense Intelligence Agency

What is the Defense Intelligence Agency?

The Defense Intelligence Agency is a Federal agency that stands as a fundamental member of the Intelligence Community of the United States’ Federal Government. The Defense Intelligence Agency is a major producer and manager of military intelligence for the Department of Defense; the Defense Intelligence Agency is responsible for providing military intelligence to defense policymakers, warfighters and force planners positioned within the Department of Defense and the United States Intelligence Community.

In general, all initiatives and responsibilities carried out by the Defense Intelligence Agency are delivered in support of the United States’ military planning and operations as well as their weapon systems acquisitions.

The stated mission of the Defense Intelligence Agency is provide timely, cogent and objective military intelligence to defense planners, warfighters and national security policy makers. The Defense Intelligence Agency, which is considered a fundamental organization within the Intelligence Community, is the predominant advisers to the United States Secretary of Defense as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding issues related to military intelligence.

In alignment with the Military Intelligence Board, the Defense Intelligence Agency unifies the Defense Intelligence Community on primary issues such as the raw number of deployed forces, policy, resources and assessments. In addition, to provide support to weapon systems planners and the domestic defense industry, the Defense Intelligence Agency plays a fundamental role in providing intelligence on foreign weapon systems.

The Defense Intelligence Agency is led by a director, who generally is a three-star military officer. The DIA is organized into the following primary operational centers and directorates:

The Defense Counterintelligence and HUMINT Center

The Directorate for Information management and Chief Information Officer

The Directorate for MASINT and Technical Collection

The Directorate for Analysis

The Directorate for Intelligence, Joint Staff

The Defense Intelligence Operations Coordination Center

Defense Intelligence Agency Quick Facts:

The following details outline the administration of the Defense Intelligence Agency:

The Defense Intelligence Agency was formed on October 1st of 1961 by Robert McNamara

The headquarters of the Defense Intelligence Agency are located in The Pentagon Building

The number of employees is classified; however, the Defense Intelligence Agency is through to operate with roughly 17,000 employees, of which 35% are military agents and 65% civilians.

The operating budget of the Defense Intelligence Agency is classified

The Defense Intelligence Agency is responsible for the jurisdiction over the United States Department of Defense

The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency is Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess

Government Agency of the Executive Branch

Government agencies are defined as organizations, councils, and offices operating under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government of the United States of America; each federal agency retains specific administrative jurisdiction over specific facets latent within the operations of the United States Government. The Defense Intelligence Agency functions as a government agency under the Executive Branch of the United States government, which is comprised of 3 total branches; in addition to the Executive branch – which is responsible for the regulation and enforcement of operational legislation existing within the United States of America – there also exists the Legislative and Judicial Branches.

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