CENTCOM (Central Command): A unified command of the Defense Department, headquartered at MacDill AFB. CENTCOM manages U.S. troops and military operations in the countries of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia.
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency): The CIA, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, collects, evaluates, and disseminates information on political, military, economic, scientific, and other developments abroad. Its spies collect intelligence on threats to U.S. interests, among them terrorism, weapons proliferation and development, international drug trafficking and criminal syndicates, and foreign espionage.
CIPFIN (Defense Critical Infrastructure Program for Finance): A database and element of the Defense Critical Infrastructure Program that identifies and assesses the security of physical assets, cyberassets, and infrastructures in the public and private sectors that are essential to national security.
DHS (Department of Homeland Security): Established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, DHS came into existence on January 24, 2003. It is in charge of developing and coordinating a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen the United States against terrorist threats or attacks. It includes the Transportation Safety Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the INS).
DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency): The largest producer and manager of foreign military intelligence for the Department of Defense. It is one of sixteen members of the U.S. intelligence community. The DIA director is the primary adviser to the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on military intelligence matters. It manages the Defense Attaché program.
DNI (Director of National Intelligence): A cabinet-level position, the DNI is a sort of intelligence czar whose role is to coordinate all sixteen agencies and departments that make up the intelligence community. The DNI is the principal adviser to the president and the National Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security. The DNI also oversees and directs the implementation of the National Intelligence Program. In reality, the power of the DNI has depended less on the definition given in the legislation than on the title holder’s relationship to the president and to the heads of the various intelligence agencies.
DoD (Department of Defense): An executive department headed by the secretary of defense. The DoD is responsible for providing, organizing, and managing the military forces needed to prevent and fight wars and protect the security of the United States. The major elements of these forces are the army, the navy, the Marine Corps, and the air force, consisting of about 1.3 million men and women on active duty. They are backed, in case of emergency, by the 825,000 members of the reserves and National Guard. In addition, there are about 600,000 civilian employees in the DoD.
DOHA (Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals): A component of the Defense Legal Services Agency of the Defense Department that provides legal adjudication and claims decisions in personnel security clearance cases for contractor personnel doing classified work as well as for the Defense Department and twenty other federal agencies and departments.
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation): The primary federal law enforcement agency responsible for counterterrorism investigations and federal crimes within the United States. Its director holds a cabinet-level position.
FISD (Federal Investigative Services Division): Carries out background investigations used by government agencies to determine individuals’ suitability for employment and security clearances. In 2005, the Defense Security Service transferred the DoD personnel security investigative function (and about sixteen hundred personnel) to FISD. Most of the major agencies of the intelligence community outside the DoD are responsible for their own security investigations and clearance programs.
GAO (Government Accountability Office): Established in 1921, GAO is an independent budget and accounting agency that works for Congress. GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars, and the head of GAO is the comptroller general of the United States.
GEOINT (Geospatial Intelligence): Consists of imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial (mapping, charting, and geodesy) information concerning the physical features of Earth and underground. Prior to 9/11, the U.S. Geologic Survey was responsible for producing imagery and geospatial data for the United States.
IO (Information Operations): Information operations, sometimes called influence operations, are primarily engaged in influencing foreign perceptions and decision making. During armed conflict, they also include efforts to achieve physical and psychological results in support of military operations. Military IO includes psychological operations (PSYOP), military deception, and operations security (OPSEC), which are measures to protect the security of U.S. operations and information and further their goals.
JCITA (Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy): Located in Elkridge, Maryland, JCITA is the primary training organization specializing in advanced counterintelligence. Established in 2000, it is a part of the Defense Intelligence Agency. JCITA provides training to over ten thousand military and defense agency personnel around the world through in-residence, mobile training, and distance learning.
JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff): The senior staff of military officers who advise the president, the defense secretary, and the National Security Council on military matters. It is made up of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VCJCS), and the chiefs of the army, navy, air force, and Marine Corps, all appointed by the president following Senate confirmation. Headquartered in the Pentagon, the JCS has no operational authority but has become increasingly important in planning the strategy and tactics of the military’s counterterrorism efforts.
JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command): JSOC was created in 1980 as a hostage rescue force. It was revamped by army general Stanley McChrystal in 2003 to become a proficient offensive military force engaged largely in killing and capturing top terrorist leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Yemen, and elsewhere.
JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller): Air force personnel on the ground helping to guide pilots in the air to hit their targets.
JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force): Under the direction of the FBI, a JTTF brings together federal, military, state, and local law enforcement entities to investigate, analyze, and develop sources on terrorism within the United States. From 35 on 9/11—the first was established in New York City in 1980—the number of JTTFs grew to 106 by 2011. The largest, in New York, Washington, and Los Angeles, include hundreds of employees and liaison officers from other agencies; the smallest are no larger than a dozen or so people.
NCTC (National Counterterrorism Center): Established by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, NCTC integrates and analyzes all intelligence on terrorism and counterterrorism and designs strategic counterterrorism plans. It is a subordinate organization of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It maintains the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), an authoritative list fed by two primary sources: international terrorist information from NCTC and domestic terrorist information from the FBI.
NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency): A Department of Defense combat support agency that provides geospatial intelligence in support of national security. NGA also develops imagery and map-based intelligence solutions for U.S. national defense, homeland security, and safety of navigation. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, NGA has major facilities in Washington, northern Virginia, and St. Louis.
NIEs (National Intelligence Estimates): Produced by the interagency National Intelligence Council, NIEs are the authoritative overall future assessments of the intelligence community, usually produced at the top secret classification level. Subjects can range from projections of Russian and Chinese nuclear forces to the national security impact of climate change.
NIMA (National Imagery and Mapping Agency): Renamed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2003.
NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command): A U.S.-Canadian military organization charged with warning of attacks against the United States from missiles, aircraft, or spacecraft. It controls airspace over North America. The commander is responsible to both the U.S. president and the Canadian prime minister.
NRO (National Reconnaissance Office): The NRO was established in September 1961 as a classified agency of the Department of Defense and declassified only in 1992. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, NRO manages the design and construction of the nation’s reconnaissance satellites, which are the main collection assets for geospatial intelligence source data. Most of its activities are undertaken by contractors.
NSA (National Security Agency): Established in 1952, the NSA eavesdrops around the world. Its mission is also to protect U.S. national security information systems and to collect and disseminate foreign signals intelligence (called SIGINT, or intercepts). Its areas of expertise include cryptanalysis, cryptography, mathematics, computer science, and foreign language analysis. It is part of the Department of Defense and is staffed by civilian and military personnel.
ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence): The navy’s lead intelligence center, it is headquartered at the National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC) in Suitland, Maryland. It produces maritime intelligence and analyzes and assesses foreign naval capabilities, trends, operations, and tactics, global civil maritime activity, and an extensive array of all-source analytical products.
OPSEC (Operation Security): Measures taken to prevent documents, technology, and plans from being disclosed to unauthorized personnel.
OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense): The OSD formulates general defense policy and policy related to the DoD. It is organized primarily through a set of undersecretaries: undersecretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics; undersecretary for intelligence; undersecretary for personnel and readiness; and undersecretary for policy.
SECDEF (Secretary of Defense): Under the president, who is commander in chief, the defense secretary exercises authority and control over the Department of Defense. The department is composed of the Office of the Secretary of Defense; the military departments and the military services within those departments; the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff; the combatant commands; the defense agencies; DoD field activities; and such other offices, agencies, activities, and commands as may be established or designated by law or by the president or the defense secretary.
SOCOM (Special Operations Command): SOCOM was activated on April 16, 1987, in response to congressional action in the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 and the Nunn-Cohen Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 1987. Congress mandated a new four-star command to prepare special operations forces (SOF) to carry out assigned missions and, if directed by the president or the secretary of defense, to plan for and conduct special operations.
SOF (Special Operations Forces): A term used to describe elite military units proficient in counterinsurgency, training foreign military forces, civil affairs, and psychological operations. They are more highly qualified, both physically and mentally, and better equipped than conventional forces. They operate in small teams and are made up of the army’s Special Forces; otherwise known as Green Berets; U.S. Navy SEALs; and the air force’s special operations airmen.
SPACECOM (Space Command): Established in 1984 and shut down in 1992, SPACECOM was previously one of the unified joint commands with functional rather than geographic responsibilities—military operations, weapons, exercises, plans, and strategy related to space. Headquartered at Peterson AFB, its commander was “triple-hatted,” serving also as commander in chief, North American Air Defense Command, and commander, Air Force Space Command.
TOSA (Technical Operations Support Activity): A clandestine intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) organization that supports special operations, JSOC, and other short-term intelligence collection efforts that demand close-in presence. Formerly known as the Intelligence Support Activity, The Activity, and Grey Fox.
USD(I) (Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence): This individual serves as the principal staff assistant and adviser to the defense secretary and the deputy defense secretary on all military intelligence, counterintelligence, security, and other intelligence-related matters. The USD(I) provides oversight and policy guidance for all DoD intelligence activities, but also manages a few select operations. See DPAO, chapter 4.