Careers in

United States

IntelligenceBy: Patrick Shea

Peer Advisor; Department of Political Science

For those interested in

serving their country in a

setting other than the military,

the intelligence community

can be an exciting and

rewarding field.

The United States has 16

different intelligence branches

that provide a variety of

services to the federal

government.

General Advice Work in the intelligence community requires a security

clearance, this comes with many stipulations.

Security clearances take up to eight months to process,

because of this intelligence internships have earlier

deadlines that usual.

The agency you are interested in should have an

application deadline posted.

It should be sometime in the fall (late October/November)

General Advice cont. The security clearance process includes a background

check and polygraph, keep this in mind if/when:

Meeting/communicating with foreign nationals

Using/purchasing/selling illegal narcotics (often will

disqualify a candidate )

Using/purchasing/selling fake IDs (often will disqualify a

candidate)

Using Facebook/twitter/instagram/etc.

General Advice cont. The minimum GPA requirement for a majority of the

agencies is a 3.0, however due to the high demand for these positions candidates with below a 3.5 are often not considered.

When giving examples of classes, focus on the skills learned and how you could apply them to new situations rather than the actual subject matter learned.

Language skills are always preferred, even a basic understanding can help you over a candidate with no skill.

Certain languages are more highly sought after than others; Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, Pashtun, Farsi

Central Intelligence

Agency The CIA is by far the most well know intelligence agency in

the United States. It was established in 1947 by the National Security Act.

The mission of the CIA defined by the CIA website is Collecting intelligence through human sources and by other

appropriate means.

Correlating and evaluating intelligence related to the national security and providing appropriate dissemination of such intelligence.

Providing overall direction for and coordination of the collection of national intelligence outside of the United States through sources by elements in the intelligence community authorized to undertake such collection.

Performing such other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting national security as the President of Director of National Intelligence may direct.

Organization and Structure The CIA is broken down into 4 distinct directorates

which all serve a different purpose and have different

objectives.

National Clandestine Service (NCS)

Directorate of Intelligence (DI)

Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T)

Directorate of Support (DS)

National Clandestine Service

The NCS is the directorate responsible for collecting

human intelligence around the world as well as

executing covert action.

NCS officers are often stationed in the field after a

period of intense training.

Officers must possess strong language and

interpersonal skills.

Their primary duty is to recruit foreign nationals to

become human intelligence assets for the United States.

Directorate of Intelligence The Directorate of Intelligence is responsible for analyzing various

sources of intelligence and preparing briefs to inform superiors as well as policy makers of potential threats to national security.

Their primary function is the analysis of various sources of intelligence, including human intelligence as well as open source and signal intelligence in regions where human intelligence is unavailable.

Analysts often have an area of expertise and are stationed at CIA headquarters. They often spend time in the field in their region of expertise.

They may also be “lent out” to do work for other agencies, such as policy analysis for the U.S. Department of State in a particular country.

Strong writing and analytical skills are needed and language skills are preferred.

Directorate of Science and

Technology The DS&T is responsible for the development and

implementation of new technologies that can assist

officers to gather and process intelligence data.

The DS&T employs individuals from a variety of

backgrounds, especially engineering, computer

science, and information technology; as well as

working with private sector companies and institutions

to conduct research.

Directorate of Support The Directorate of support is responsible for day to day

operations of the agency. This includes security of its

facilities, management of financial assets, delivery of

equipment, and many other behind the scene

operations.

Employment and Internship

Opportunities The CIA has an extensive recruiting and internship

process in most major universities across the country

as well as from the military (Special Forces and

Intelligence)

Many professionals also join the agency after working a

variety of civilian jobs including engineers, journalists, and

administrative positions.

Please visit the following websites for more information

Internships-https://www.cia.gov/careers/student-

opportunities

Defense Intelligence Agency The DIA is the primary source of military intelligence for

the United States and falls under the Department of

Defense.

The DIA defines its current mission as, supporting

warfighters and policy makers in an era of persistent

international conflict and enduring U.S. fiscal

challenges.

Contribution to National

Security The DIA’s primary contribution to national security is

providing information on the military capabilities of

other nations as well as non-state actors that pose a

threat to national security.

This role has changed from primarily monitoring Russian

strength during the cold war to monitoring the military

assets of non-state actors such as Al-Qaeda as well as

traditional threats like Iran and North Korea.

Structure The DIA is broken up into sections based on various

regions and objectives, they are the following

Americas Center

Asia/Pacific Center

Europe/Eurasia Center

Middle East/Africa Center

Defense Combating Terrorism Center

Directorate for Science and Technology

All regional branches have both a Directorate for

Analysis and a Directorate for Operations

Employment Opportunities The DIA employs both military personal as well as

civilians with expertise in analysis, foreign language,

and computer information skills.

The DIA also offers an extremely competitive internship

program.

For more information please go to:

http://www.dia.mil/Careers.aspx

National Security Agency The NSA is responsible for the

collection of signal intelligence

(intercepted communication)

and information assurance

(protection of U.S.

communications/intelligence)

from foreign governments and

enemies of the U.S.

Contribution to National

Security The NSA is broken into two main divisions to serve its

two primary functions

The Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) branch collects signals

intelligence from foreign intelligence agencies as well as

individuals who pose a threat to national security.

This includes deciphering intercepted communications and

distributing them to other agencies.

The Information Assurance branch serves to protect the

U.S. intelligence community’s networks and other

vulnerable electronic resources.

Employment Opportunities The NSA is always looking for new employees,

especially those with knowledge of high demand

languages or advanced computer skills

The NSA also has a very competitive internship program

http://www.nsa.gov/careers/index.shtml

National Geospatial-

Intelligence Agency The GEOINT was

originally founded

as the National

Imagery and

Mapping Agency

and serves both the

Department of

Defense as well as

the U.S.

Government.

Contribution to National

Security The primary role of the GEOINT is

to provide satellite imagery and geographical analysis in support of U.S. military and intelligence goals and operations.

In recent years GEOINT has began to analyze and evaluate threats to U.S. and global environmental security

GOEINT also conducts extensive research and scientific development but all information on this is highly classified.

Satellite image of UBL

compound

National Reconnaissance Office

The NRO is responsible for designing and operating

America’s Intelligence satellites. The NRO collects

information on areas too remote or too hostile to gather

intelligence by other means. This includes both imagery

as well as signals intelligence.

Contribution to National

Security The NRO designs and operates satellites to provide a

variety of services to the various U.S. intelligence

agencies.

Signals intelligence to the NSA

Various imagery to CIA, GEOINT

Military measurement and signature intelligence to the

DIA

Employment Opportunities Both the NRO and GEOINT employ a variety of specialized

technicians as well as other individuals with a very specific skill set. These employees often have prior experience in the intelligence community coming from another agency such as the NSA, CIA, or DIA.

Both agencies also rely heavily on contracts with private firms involved with the design and upkeep of some of their technology.

Because of this employment opportunities are limited, but some are available to those who qualify

GEOINT-

NRO- http://www.nro.gov/careers/careers.html

Air Force Intelligence Air Force Intelligence collects

various forms of intelligence to

support Air Force operations, as

well as airborne surveillance on

enemy targets.

Army Intelligence The Military Intelligence Corps of the

Army serves to collect intelligence in

support of operations as well as conduct

electronic warfare.

Marine Corps Intelligence Marine Corps Intelligence provides

intelligence in support of operations as

well as developing doctrine on force

structure.

Office of Naval Intelligence The ONI was founded to report on the activities and

advancements of other nation’s naval forces. Currently

the ONI conducts intelligence in support of maritime

operations as well as conducting intelligence on and

countering threats to international trade, such as

pirates.

Coast Guard Intelligence The primary role of

CGI is to protect the coast of the United States from maritime threats, including WMDs through major ports. CGI also collects intelligence on maritime human trafficking and narcotics smuggling.

Employment in Armed Forces

Intelligence Members of both active duty and reserve are eligible to

serve under their respective branch of military intelligence

Each branch has different opportunities and regulations for

entry into respective intelligence programs, if interested ask

a recruiter for further details.

http://www.army.mil/

http://navy.com/

http://www.marines.mil/

http://www.af.mil/

http://www.uscg.mil/

FBI National Security Branch The FBI provides an opportunity to participate in

the intelligence community domestically.

The FBI has an extensive intelligence program to

fulfill its duties as the main intelligence department

responsible for ensuring national security.

Gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations

attempting to carry out attacks on the United States

Preventing intelligence agencies of foreign countries

from successfully gathering intelligence on the

United States

Drug Enforcement

Administration DEA intelligence focuses on gathering information on

the narcotics industry including drug selling, smuggling,

and manufacturing networks.

As opposed to other agencies the primary purpose of

gathering intelligence at the DEA is to make arrests

and seize illegal narcotics.

Office of Terrorism and

Financial Intelligence The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI)

falls under the Department of the Treasury. Its main

purpose is to safeguard financial systems against illicit

use and combating rouge nations, terrorist

organizations and organized crime

It is broken up into four departments

Office of Foreign Assets Control

Office of Intelligence and Analysis

Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes

Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture

Contribution to National

Security The primary role of the TFI is to

monitor and determine the source

of funding for threats against U.S.

national security

Additionally the Office of Foreign

Assets Control has the authority to

freeze the assets of known

terrorists or enemies of the state.

Employment and Internship

Opportunities The TFI is currently under size restrictions due to governmental

budget cuts and is not expanding, however other divisions in the

Treasury, including the financial crimes division are hiring.

All job openings posted at usajobs.gov

There are no internship programs for the TFI, however the

Treasury has a volunteer internship program.

See: http://www.treasury.gov/careers/Pages/pathways-

programs.aspx for information about Treasury’s upcoming

Pathways program.

Sources https://www.cia.gov/about-cia

http://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Pages/Office-of-Terrorism-and-Financial-Intelligence.aspx

http://www.dia.mil/About.aspx

http://www.nsa.gov/about/index.shtml

https://www.nga.mil/About/NGAStrategy/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.nro.gov/about/nro/index.html