Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
October 27, 2008
Pg. 9
Staffing hiked for overseas operations
By Peter Eisler, USA Today
LANGLEY, Va. — The CIA has more than doubled the number of science and technology officers sent overseas to support foreign spy operations since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Hundreds" of the specially trained officers have moved abroad to provide eavesdropping and communications devices, disguises and other high-tech support for field agents as the CIA has re-emphasized intelligence collection from human sources, according to agency information provided in response to a USA TODAY inquiry.
The CIA said the increase represents a 150% hike in overseas staffing for its Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T), which fills the role made famous by "Q" in James Bond films. The agency won't disclose the exact number of officers involved because its budget and staffing are classified, but the figures represent a rare public acknowledgement of the heightened pace of its foreign operations. The shift also reflects an increased emphasis on "close access" programs, in which information is collected directly from sources on the ground, as opposed to remotely via satellite or aircraft.
The intelligence community's needs for high-tech equipment have "changed fundamentally" since the start of the war on terrorism and "demand … has increased dramatically," says Stephanie O'Sullivan, the deputy CIA director who heads the Directorate of Science and Technology. For example, she adds, "there was a big explosion after 9/11 in the need for tracking and locating technology" to hunt leaders of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Presidential directive
Overall staffing within the directorate has grown "a little bit … by a couple of hundred," O'Sullivan says. Many of the science and technology officers moved abroad were reassigned from domestic duties, she adds.
The changes follow a 2004 presidential directive to re-emphasize "human intelligence" collection at CIA and add 50% more operatives and analysts.
The growth in overseas postings of science and technology officers is a reflection of how you attack (today's) targets," says Jeffrey Richelson, author of The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. Working against terrorists, "you need more reliance on … the planted listening device or the (hidden) video camera that can photograph comings and goings in a particular area," adds Richelson, a senior fellow at the National Security Archive, a George Washington University research center in Washington.
The directorate usually gets more attention for developing disguises, bugged pens and other gadgets, but the DS&T's scientists and engineers are at least as likely to be working on advanced computer applications or analyzing a video released by al-Qaeda.
In a 2005 assignment, a CIA operative sent in a sketch — a letter-size sheet of paper with a line drawing that was meant to show the design of an improvised explosive device he saw in Iraq. "He said, 'I was working … with this guy, and he's building IEDs, and here's what I saw,' " O'Sullivan recalls. The sketch, she adds, "is what comes back to us."
It was enough.
DS&T's analysts soon found a match in their files. O'Sullivan pulls out a photo of the real device, and the battery, wiring and switches are arranged identically.
"Our experts … pulled (this) from their archives and said, 'That's this design,' " she says.
Based on that, they were able to provide information about where the bomb builder got his materials and training.
'More integrated'
The directorate now has 30% of its staff working in offices outside the CIA. DS&T technicians help on aerial reconnaissance work at the Pentagon, for example.
"The community is infinitely more integrated than it used to be," O'Sullivan says. "There are things that we do today that the community couldn't have pulled off … even five years ago."
The CIA says demand for the directorate's services has grown anywhere from two to 10 times since the terrorist attacks in 2001. Much of that has been driven by the increased emphasis on counterterrorism missions.
Traditional intelligence operations tend to be longer-term missions aimed at uncovering "the intentions and capabilities of your adversaries … so you can develop your own policies to address them," says Robert Wallace, a former CIA operations officer and co-author of Spycraft. "With the terrorist, your premium is speed … find the terrorists, know what the next attack is and prevent it."
That translates into new demands on the CIA's science and technology staff, Wallace says.
Congress and several independent commissions on intelligence reform also have pushed the CIA and other intelligence agencies to better incorporate cutting-edge technology into their operations.
"The intelligence community … must lead the way in developing new sensors, analytical enablers, knowledge management tools and other capabilities to provide the nation's policymakers and war fighters with an information advantage," the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a report this year.
Some in Congress see the DS&T's growing workload as a good sign.
"It is one section of the CIA that is producing solid results," says Rep. Pete Hoekstra, of Michigan, who is the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "DS&T has demonstrated ingenuity and initiative."
October 27, 2008
Pg. 9
Staffing hiked for overseas operations
By Peter Eisler, USA Today
LANGLEY, Va. — The CIA has more than doubled the number of science and technology officers sent overseas to support foreign spy operations since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Hundreds" of the specially trained officers have moved abroad to provide eavesdropping and communications devices, disguises and other high-tech support for field agents as the CIA has re-emphasized intelligence collection from human sources, according to agency information provided in response to a USA TODAY inquiry.
The CIA said the increase represents a 150% hike in overseas staffing for its Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T), which fills the role made famous by "Q" in James Bond films. The agency won't disclose the exact number of officers involved because its budget and staffing are classified, but the figures represent a rare public acknowledgement of the heightened pace of its foreign operations. The shift also reflects an increased emphasis on "close access" programs, in which information is collected directly from sources on the ground, as opposed to remotely via satellite or aircraft.
The intelligence community's needs for high-tech equipment have "changed fundamentally" since the start of the war on terrorism and "demand … has increased dramatically," says Stephanie O'Sullivan, the deputy CIA director who heads the Directorate of Science and Technology. For example, she adds, "there was a big explosion after 9/11 in the need for tracking and locating technology" to hunt leaders of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Presidential directive
Overall staffing within the directorate has grown "a little bit … by a couple of hundred," O'Sullivan says. Many of the science and technology officers moved abroad were reassigned from domestic duties, she adds.
The changes follow a 2004 presidential directive to re-emphasize "human intelligence" collection at CIA and add 50% more operatives and analysts.
The growth in overseas postings of science and technology officers is a reflection of how you attack (today's) targets," says Jeffrey Richelson, author of The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. Working against terrorists, "you need more reliance on … the planted listening device or the (hidden) video camera that can photograph comings and goings in a particular area," adds Richelson, a senior fellow at the National Security Archive, a George Washington University research center in Washington.
The directorate usually gets more attention for developing disguises, bugged pens and other gadgets, but the DS&T's scientists and engineers are at least as likely to be working on advanced computer applications or analyzing a video released by al-Qaeda.
In a 2005 assignment, a CIA operative sent in a sketch — a letter-size sheet of paper with a line drawing that was meant to show the design of an improvised explosive device he saw in Iraq. "He said, 'I was working … with this guy, and he's building IEDs, and here's what I saw,' " O'Sullivan recalls. The sketch, she adds, "is what comes back to us."
It was enough.
DS&T's analysts soon found a match in their files. O'Sullivan pulls out a photo of the real device, and the battery, wiring and switches are arranged identically.
"Our experts … pulled (this) from their archives and said, 'That's this design,' " she says.
Based on that, they were able to provide information about where the bomb builder got his materials and training.
'More integrated'
The directorate now has 30% of its staff working in offices outside the CIA. DS&T technicians help on aerial reconnaissance work at the Pentagon, for example.
"The community is infinitely more integrated than it used to be," O'Sullivan says. "There are things that we do today that the community couldn't have pulled off … even five years ago."
The CIA says demand for the directorate's services has grown anywhere from two to 10 times since the terrorist attacks in 2001. Much of that has been driven by the increased emphasis on counterterrorism missions.
Traditional intelligence operations tend to be longer-term missions aimed at uncovering "the intentions and capabilities of your adversaries … so you can develop your own policies to address them," says Robert Wallace, a former CIA operations officer and co-author of Spycraft. "With the terrorist, your premium is speed … find the terrorists, know what the next attack is and prevent it."
That translates into new demands on the CIA's science and technology staff, Wallace says.
Congress and several independent commissions on intelligence reform also have pushed the CIA and other intelligence agencies to better incorporate cutting-edge technology into their operations.
"The intelligence community … must lead the way in developing new sensors, analytical enablers, knowledge management tools and other capabilities to provide the nation's policymakers and war fighters with an information advantage," the Senate Intelligence Committee said in a report this year.
Some in Congress see the DS&T's growing workload as a good sign.
"It is one section of the CIA that is producing solid results," says Rep. Pete Hoekstra, of Michigan, who is the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "DS&T has demonstrated ingenuity and initiative."