C E N T R A L I N T E L L I G E N C E A G E N C Y

e are the nation’s first line of defense. We accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where 

others cannot go. We carry out our mission by:

•	 Collecting information that reveals the plans, intentions, and capabilities of our adversaries and provides

the basis for decision and action.

•	 Producing timely analysis that provides insight, warning and opportunity to the President and decisionmakers charged with protecting and advancing America’s interests.

•	 Conducting covert action at the direction of the President to preempt threats or achieve US policy objectives.

mission history

he United States Government has carried out intelligence activities since the days of George Washington, but only since World War II have they been coordinated on a government-wide basis. President Franklin

D. Roosevelt appointed New York lawyer and war hero,

General William J. Donovan, to head the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) after the US entered World War II

in 1942. The OSS—the forerunner to the CIA—collected and analyzed strategic information. After World

War II the OSS was abolished along with many other war

agencies and its functions were transferred to the State

and War Departments. 

It did not take long before President Harry S. Truman

recognized the need for a postwar, centralized intelligence

organization. To make a fully functional intelligence office, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 establishing the CIA. The National Security Act charged the

CIA with coordinating the nation’s intelligence activities

and correlating, evaluating and disseminating intelligence

affecting national security.

On December 17, 2004, President George W. Bush

signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act which restructured the Intelligence Community

by abolishing the position of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) and creating the position the Director of

the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA). The Act also

created the position of Director of National Intelligence

(DNI), which oversees the Intelligence Community and

the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).

IA’s primary mission is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and

disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the President

and senior US Government policymakers in making decisions relating to national security. This is a complex process 

and involves a variety of steps. First, we identify a problem or

an issue of national security concern to the US Government.

In some cases, CIA is directed to study an intelligence issue—such as what activities terrorist organizations are planning—then a plan to collect information is developed.

There are several ways to collect information. Translating

foreign newspaper and magazine articles and radio and 

television broadcasts provides open-source intelligence.

Imagery satellites take pictures from space, and analysts

write reports about what they see—for example, how

many airplanes are at a foreign military base. 

Signals analysts work to decrypt coded messages sent by other countries. Operations officers

recruit foreigners to provide information about

their countries.

After the information is collected, intelligence

analysts pull together relevant information from

all available sources and assess it and what it

means for US interests. The result of this analytic effort is timely and objective assessments,

free of any political bias, provided to senior US

policymakers in the form of finished intelligence products that include written reports and 

oral briefings. It is important to note that CIA

analysts only report the information and do not 

make policy recommendations.

CIA is not a law enforcement organization. CIA and the

FBI cooperate on a number of issues, such as counterintelligence and counterterrorism. 

The CIA may engage in covert action at the President’s

direction and in accordance with applicable law.

The US Congress has had oversight responsibility of the

CIA since the Agency was established in 1947. However,

prior to the mid-1970’s, oversight was less formal. The

1980 Intelligence Oversight Act charged the Senate Select

Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) with

authorizing the programs of the intelligence agencies and 

overseeing their activities.

what we do

w t c

It is now three days since I have received

“

any intelligence... It is of such

importance to me to be regularly informed

that I must request you send expresses daily.

“

– George Washington
 NCS

The NCS serves as the clandestine arm of

the CIA and the national authority for the

coordination, de-confliction, and evaluation of clandestine human intelligence 

(HUMINT) operations across the Intelligence Community.

The NCS is the front-line source of clandestine intelligence on critical international developments ranging from

terrorism and weapons proliferation to military and political issues. To gather this important intelligence, CIA

operations officers live and work

overseas to establish and maintain networks and personal relationships with foreign “assets” in 

the field. The NCS also manages

foreign intelligence relationships 

and carries out special activities

authorized by the President in

support of US policy goals.

The DI analyzes all sources of information

to produce timely, accurate, and relevant

intelligence that helps the President and

others charged with protecting America and

advancing US interests make informed decisions. DI analysts use substantive expertise and a variety of sources and methods,

including reports from spies, satellite photography, open

source information, and sophisticated sensors, to overcome fragmentary reporting and our adversaries’ efforts to

deceive and deny information. In addition, the DI employs structured analytic approaches to ensure DI analysis

is rigorous, clear, free from bias, and explicit about information gaps that could change our analytic judgments.

The DI’s flagship product is a classified daily electronic

publication, the World Intelligence Review (WIRe). Provided to senior policy and security officials, the WIRe updates readers on current developments and identifies trends

and developments overseas that have the potential to affect

US interests. The DI is also the largest contributor to the

President’s Daily Brief (PDB), an Intelligence Community

product under the direction of the Director of National

Intelligence. The PDB addresses the national security issues of interest to 

the President and

is given only to

the President, Vice

President, and to

those cabinet-level

officials the President designates are 

recipients.

The DS&T accesses, collects, and exploits

information to facilitate the execution of 

the CIA’s mission by applying innovative,

scientific, engineering, and technical solutions to the most critical intelligence problems. It incorporates over 50 different disciplines ranging from computer programmers 

and engineers to scientists and analysts. The DS&T partners with many other organizations in the Intelligence

Community using best practices to foster creative thinking and working level coordination. Officers in the DS&T

continually seek to push the boundaries of the state-ofthe-art, infusing cutting-edge technologies with effective

targeting and tradecraft.

The DS provides a full range of integrated

support services to the CIA. They build and

operate facilities all over the world; ensure

secure and reliable communications over

multiple networks; run a supply chain that

acquires and ships a huge range of critical,

clandestine equipment to even the most remote corners of the globe; secure CIA buildings, people,

data, and networks; help hire, train and assign CIA officers for every job in the CIA; provide medical services for

employees as well as intelligence operations; and, manage

financial and contracting businesses 

within the CIA.

The DS ensures

CIA employees are

safe, secure, healthy,

and fully able to 

carry on the CIA’s

mission worldwide.

A publication of the Central Intelligence Agency.

For additional copies or information on CIA, please write to:

Public Affairs

Central Intelligence Agency

Washington, D.C. 20505

(703) 482-0623

Or visit our website at:

www.cia.gov

OVERVIEW OF CIA’S ORGANIZATION

The CIA is separated into four basic components. These directorates carry out the intelligence cycle—the process of 

collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence information to 

top US Government officials.

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (DIR)

The Office of the Director has several staffs directly subordinate to the D/CIA that support him in his role as Director.

– Office of General Counsel

– Office of Congressional Affairs

– Office of Public Affairs

– Office of Inspector General

– Office of the Associate Director for Military Affairs

– Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

– Chief for Policy and Coordination

– Office of the Chief Information Officer

– DNI Open Source Center

– Office of the Chief, Human Resources

– Operations Center

– Director’s Executive Support Staff

– Office of Protocol

– Employee Resources Center

national directorate of

clandestine service intelligence science and technology support ( (directorate of ( DI (( DS&T (directorate of ( DS (