# National Intell Director vs CIA director

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-intell-director-vs-cia-director/261766>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 27, 2004, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-intell-director-vs-cia-director/261766 "2004-08-27T10:01:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-intell-director-vs-cia-director/261766/1 "2004-08-27T10:01:39Z")

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“The CIA director currently oversees all 15 of the nation’s intelligence agencies.”

That quote came from a paper on the White House considering the 911 Commission report.

We have 15 intelligence agencies? Anybody care to name them all?

Doesn’t the Pentagon supervise a large share of this work and not the CIA? Is the quote wrong to say the CIA director supervises all 15?

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**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-intell-director-vs-cia-director/261766/2 "2004-08-27T12:52:38Z")

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Central Intelligence Agency  
Defense Intelligence Agency  
Federal Bureau of Investigation  
National Security Agency  
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (formerly NIMA)  
National Reconaissance Office

Those are the six biggies. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies) (scroll to bottom) also includes:  
Air Force Intelligence  
Army Intelligence  
Navy Intelligence  
Marine Corps Intelligence  
Coast Guard Intelligence  
Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate  
Department of Energy: Office of Intelligence  
Department of State: Bureau of Intelligence and Research  
Department of the Treasury: Office of Intelligence Support

Or you could link over to [FAS](http://www.fas.org/irp/official.html), which lists about thirty or forty different organizations with ties to “intelligence.” Whether they count as part of the 15 sounds like an accounting matter to me.

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-intell-director-vs-cia-director/261766/3 "2004-08-27T13:30:10Z")

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> [@drhess](#):
>
> Is the quote wrong to say the CIA director supervises all 15?

It is accurate to say that he supervises them all, but he does not run them all. The National Security Act of 1947 established the Director of Central Intelligence as the titular head of the intelligence community, as well as the head of the CIA, as well as the President’s chief intelligence advisor.

> [@](#):
>
> Doesn’t the Pentagon supervise a large share of this work and not the CIA?

Yes and no. The most expensive intelligence programs – NSA, NGIA, and NRO – are located in DOD, under the SecDef. The SecDef also runs tactical intelligence programs (ie, that have to do with battlefield intelligence, like the enemy is over there, so let’s maneuver our battalion over this way), which are closely linked with the intelligence services of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.