You hear a lot about the CIA, but what exactly is the DIA doing there? It seems to operate much more quietly. How does it function? What good is it? Does anyone outside the Pentagon really understand what it’s all about?
For one thing, they are the investigative agency that checks out people who are applying for security clearances. (Formerly the Defense Investigative Service – DIS.)
From www.dia.mil
Huh. I wonder how many of the intelligence community’s member agencies claim to be “nation’s primary producer of foreign military intelligence”.
If you can’t quite put your finger on what it is that the DIA does, you’re not alone. There was an effort to abolish it as redundant a while back.
My theory is this. First, you have the military. Each branch has its own intelligence service; there’s also the NSA, the National Reconaissance Office, the Defense Mapping Agency, etc. - just in the Department of Defense. The DIA sort of brings them all together for the Secretary of Defense.
Then you have the CIA to bring together the intelligence of all the different departments: State, Justice, Energy, and Treasury. So in a way, the DIA can be seen as a sort of mini-CIA for the Pentagon, helping to combine all the multiple sources of intelligence which have to be assembled for the decision makers to make informed decisions.
Once I found a pretty good flowchart of the intelligence community. I’m sure it would be pretty obsolete with the creation of the new DHS.
I don’t know if there is a connection to the DIS. DIS isn’t mentioned on the DIA history page and I still get current hits on Google for “Defense Investigative Service”.
They do military intelligence and run our military attache system, among other things. Here is their website. I’ve run across references to “DIA operations” in books about the FBI, CIA, or better known military agencies but the descriptions are always vague.
The DIS is now the DSS (Defense Security Service). The DSS also has a website. Although the DSS works for the DoD, I don’t think it was ever part of the DIA, though I could be wrong about this–no doubt a perusal of the websites I provided links to will show whether or not I am correct in my belief. I do know that security clearances can be a big giant pain in the neck for people.
I stand corrected. It’s been a few years since I held a clearance (although I got my dossier from DSS several months ago).
OH great. You guys answered his question. Good thinkin’ there fellas. Now we’ll have to kill you.
The DSS is either part of the NSA, or works in tangent with it (they’re based are at Ft. Mead). Incidentally, DSS only does the background checks. Afterward, decisions to revoke a clearance are made by the law-enforcement branch of each services, such as Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
When I was in the Navy (Chinese cryptologic technician - interpretive), I always wondered what exactly the DIA does and who is its staff. The services’ intelligence groups (Army Security Agency, Naval Security Group, etc.) are actually under the direction of NSA. I imagine DIA is a relatively tiny group.
The military is a huge bureaucracy, one wonders exactly how much duplication of function there is.
UnuMondo
I was in the navy stationed at DIA, at Bolling AFB. I worked in the Print/Copy shop, and had a Top Secret security clearance.
DIA is the member of the defense department that works at getting foriegn military intelligence, and getting it to those who need it. There is U.S. branches of the military, but you also have foriegn military members also, as well as civilian-government workers. It has alot of workers.
We printed/copied all kinds of gathered intelligence. Every night
we printed the report that the Pres, V. Pres, Joint Chiefs, Cabinet member use every day for there work. We also printed Handbooks, survival guides for military members, Scott O’Grady had one when he was shot down, it kept him alive in Bosnia, untuil he was rescued. We printed alot of other things, as well.
I hope that helps.