MGT 7-1.indd - KMI Media Group

In the Human
Domain
NEW DEFENSE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE
AND HUMAN INTELLIGENCE CENTER
MANAGES COMPLEMENTARY DISCIPLINES.
(Editor’s Note: This article, provided by the Public Affairs
Office of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is the first of a series
of profiles of key commands in the geospatial and intelligence
fields.)
The director of national intelligence’s Vision 2015 highlights
that in today’s dynamic global environment, national security
depends on anticipating risks and out-maneuvering adversaries,
not just out-muscling them. Therefore, intelligence is more
critical than ever, particularly counterintelligence (CI) and
human intelligence (HUMINT).
To streamline the management of the Department of
Defense CI and HUMINT enterprises, these complementary
disciplines, which both operate in the human domain, were
recently merged into the new Defense Counterintelligence and
Human Intelligence Center (DCHC).
HUMINT is defined as a category of intelligence derived from
information collected and provided by human sources, while CI
is information gathered and activities conducted to identify,
deceive, exploit, disrupt or protect against espionage, other
intelligence activities, sabotage or assassinations conducted for
or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations, persons or their
agents, or international terrorist organizations or activities.
DCHC was established within the Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) to centrally manage departmentwide CI and
HUMINT enterprises, develop programs that support DoD component
CI and HUMINT functions, and execute assigned CI and
HUMINT activities worldwide.
The director of DIA, Army Lieutenant General Michael
Maples, serves as both the DoD CI and HUMINT manager,
while Army Major General Theodore Nicholas is the director
of DCHC.
“The standup of this center is an exciting development in
the defense intelligence enterprise,” Nicholas said. “We are taking
defense CI and HUMINT to a new level, ensuring outstanding
support to our customers.”
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When creating DCHC, Nicholas looked at the existing CI
and HUMINT oversight practices and took the best from each
program and streamlined the processes, resulting in greater
information sharing. CI focuses on preventing adversaries from
collecting intelligence, while HUMINT seeks to collect intelligence.
The two disciplines have commonalities when it comes
to acquiring and managing sources, reporting information,
training and targeting.
The establishment of DCHC marks the first time that DoD
has integrated CI and HUMINT at the defense level.
“This integration reflects the importance that DoD is placing
on CI and HUMINT. Both programs are indispensable to
countering foreign intelligence threats and to winning the fight
against terrorism,” Nicholas said.
BEST DEFENSE
The following analogy is an attempt to explain why CI and
HUMINT are two very distinct but complementary disciplines
that have been brought together. This analogy is not intended
to minimize the complexities of the CI and HUMINT disciplines,
but rather to simplify the concept in order to allow greater
appreciation and understanding of why the two were placed
side-by-side within DCHC.
Consider the human domain as a playing field, on which
there is a team consisting of an offense, HUMINT, and a defense,
CI. To accurately understand this analogy, the old adage that
“the best defense is a strong offense” must be embraced.
In other words, CI, the defense, must be prepared to go on
the offense at any time, and HUMINT, the offense, must keep
its adversary on the defense. Both enter the playing field, or
the human domain, just as a football team enters the stadium.
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