Marking the Tenth Anniversary

Resilience • Courage • Strength 
Courage Tracking down the most infamous terrorist of our time required 

the very best tradecraft and 

 the very best technology... 

 But it also required one other essential American quality-

 the courage to take risks. 

 –Former D/CIA Leon E. Panetta

“

”

Strength When it gets tough, we work harder.

 There is no problem too hard for the men and women who work here...

 The attitude has always been—we’re going

 to get this done.

 –Former DCI George J. Tenet 

“

”

Resilience We are up against a resilient enemy;

 we must be more resilient.

 –D/CIA David H. Petraeus

“

”
From the first moment of terror, America has shown, through the courage 

and strength of its people, a powerful resilience.

At the World Trade Center, professionals dedicated to public safety, joined by 

men and women from countless walks of life, went bravely into harm’s way 

to save others.

At the Pentagon, colleagues, friends, and strangers came together to rescue 

those threatened by fire and smoke.

And in the skies over Pennsylvania, the passengers and crew of a once-ordinary 

flight stood up to their attackers and shattered their plans.

It has been 10 years since the brutal attacks on America. Looking back, 

we can see the effects they have had and the impact of our country’s response.

Washington, DC

Shanksville

New York
September 11th had a profound effect on our country and our institutions, 

including the Central Intelligence Agency. We are still guided by the same mission—

to protect America—yet we have adapted and evolved to meet the range of 

challenges posed by al-Qa’ida and its violent allies. 

The Agency, which had worked for years against this deadly enemy, responded to 

the attacks as a team, defined by dedication and skill and bolstered by the sacrifice 

of our fellow Americans.

This scorched and tattered 

flag, recovered from the debris 

of Ground Zero, hangs in the 

Office of the Director of CIA. 

It is a constant reminder 

of the strength and durability 

of the nation we serve.
An Agency Transformed

The long and difficult war against al-Qa’ida and its extremist allies has, of necessity, 

reshaped our Agency. We are even more agile, adaptive, and collaborative. But, as 

always, our people are at the heart of our successes. Given the sheer scope and 

intensity of the security challenges our country faces overseas, and the decisive 

role intelligence plays in meeting them, we represent a capability the United 

States needs more than ever.

Many of the changes within CIA—starting with agility—are not confined to 

a single Directorate or issue. More than half our workforce has been hired since 

9/11. We are a more diverse Agency, having recruited exceptional talent, including

first-generation Americans, from communities across our country. We have 

significantly increased our foreign language capabilities.

Closer communication and integration—internally among our Directorates 

and externally with our Intelligence Community, military, and other partners—

has been key to our successes. Our relationship with Congress is strong. 

Our accountability to the American people is real. Our analysts reach out 

to external experts. Our public website conveys the mission and values of CIA.

Each Agency Directorate—The National Clandestine Service, Directorate of 

Intelligence, Directorate of Science & Technology, and Directorate of Suppor t—

met the demands imposed by the attacks of September 11th. Innovation, 

dedication, and courage have been defining traits.

 This is an Agency actively involved in taking 

the fight to this enemy on a variety of battlefields.

 That’s the big change. That makes us very different.

 

 —Former D/CIA Michael V. Hayden

“

”

We’ve been running at a sprinter’s

 speed for a marathoner’s distance

 for the last 10 years and

 that’s not going to stop.

 —DD / C I A M i c h a e l J . M o re l l

“

”
Directorate of Support

Both the focus and the role of the Directorate

of Support (DS) fundamentally changed 

following September 11th. The immediate 

post-9/11 operational environment required 

a more mobile, tactical DS workforce, 

focused more aggressively on robust field 

communications, an agile global supply chain, 

and dramatically increased security protection 

for our people, facilities, and data. We had 

to meet the immediate support demands 

of CIA’s increased worldwide operational 

tempo, while concurrently building a more 

effective overall program to sustain CIA’s 

new pace of activities.

In January 2005, the DS stood up as the CIA’s 

single, integrated team for the full array of 

services that make possible the collection, 

production, and dissemination of intelligence. 

Today, the DS runs the “businesses” of CIA—

personnel, security, communications, finance, 

health, safety, logistics, facilities, information 

technology, and more. We are focused on

speed, agility, and efficiency in providing support

to CIA and across the Intelligence Community.

In a post-9/11 world, the demands on 

intelligence are greater than ever. They 

require an unprecedented level of flexible, 

sophisticated support. That is what the DS

provides. From recruiting initiatives and 

a larger global presence to expanded 

technologies and heightened emergency 

preparedness, the Directorate constantly 

adapts and refines its products and processes 

to meet the critical requirements of CIA’s 

unique mission.

Directorate of Intelligence 

Like the rest of CIA, the Directorate 

of Intelligence (DI) was no stranger on 

September 11th to the demands of the fight 

against al-Qa’ida and its allies. In facing an 

enemy that is both deadly and difficult to 

find, it is essential to pull together disparate 

pieces of information to identify specific 

terrorists, networks and plots, which can 

then be disrupted. That patient, painstaking, 

high-stakes work is the definition of allsource analysis, the mission of the DI.

The true impact of 9/11 on the Directorate 

is not found in numbers—though more 

analysts were dedicated to countering 

terrorism—but in even better relations 

with operators, intelligence collectors and 

customers of all kinds, in our own country 

and overseas. That has led to new flows 

of vital information and, most important, 

new insights into how and where terrorists 

operate. The integration of analysis and 

operations, each feeding the other, is at the 

heart of our greatest victories, including the 

raid that ended Usama Bin Ladin’s career of 

mass murder.

Complementing its Headquarters presence, 

the DI has more of its officers deployed 

abroad than ever before. In fast-moving 

situations, a hallmark of the fight against 

terrorism, you have to be close to those 

you serve.

Directorate of Science 

& Technology

From the earliest days of operations in 

Afghanistan to today’s complex intelligence 

requirements, Technical Intelligence Officers 

from the Directorate of Science & 

Technology (DS&T) have been on the 

front lines of the Agency’s global efforts 

to safeguard our nation. Wherever the 

CIA goes, the DS&T is part of the team.

Today, more Technical Intelligence Officers 

are engaged in operations overseas. They 

come from diverse backgrounds and have 

brought fresh ideas and a passion for 

innovation. They thrive on teamwork and 

have reinvented how the DS&T operates, 

both in the field and at home.

Technology has always been an invaluable 

force in America’s intelligence efforts. 

Technical Intelligence Officers are harnessing

technologies in ways that continue to 

transform the practice of intelligence, 

and not just at CIA, but across the 

Intelligence Community.

As we all learned from 9/11, knowledge is 

more powerful when it is shared. Today’s 

DS&T is a leader in scientific and technical 

innovations, not in isolation, but as part of 

critical partnerships within the Intelligence 

Community and across government.

The capabilities of the DS&T have saved 

American lives. The Directorate continues 

to push the envelope of what science and 

technology can accomplish.

National Clandestine Service 

The tragic events of September 11th were 

a seminal moment for our nation and the 

National Clandestine Service (NCS). In one 

morning, the threat from al-Qa’ida took 

on an even more terrible clarity. While 

our values and core missions of strategic 

espionage, counterintelligence and covert 

action remain unchanged, how we execute 

these missions has significantly changed.

The demands of fighting a transnational 

terrorist threat have led us to become 

even more collaborative with Agency and 

Intelligence Community colleagues. Our 

officers have served side-by-side with our 

military partners in the most austere and 

dangerous environments. The challenges 

of the post-9/11 world brought an end 

to an era of stagnant resources. We once 

again have a robust global capability. The 

new generation of Clandestine Service 

officers has brought energy, creativity, and 

extraordinary commitment to our mission and

the NCS will continue to evolve as it confronts

new challenges in the decades to come.
The daring raid that ensured Usama Bin Ladin will never kill again was a team 

effort, the product of increased integration within the Intelligence Community 

and of close collaboration with our military partners. CIA was at the center 

of it all, driving the collection of vital information, assessing each piece of data, 

and assembling them into the compelling intelligence case that led US forces to 

Abbottabad. The Agency’s contributions were the product of a decade of positive 

changes—improved collection, analysis, technology, and support.

 May the fact that 

 Usama Bin Ladin no

longer inhabits the earth

 be a source of comfort for the thousands 

 of families, here in America and 

around the globe, who mourn the 

 victims of al-Qa’ida’s barbarity.

 —Former D/CIA Leon E. Panetta 

“

”

The compound in 

Abbottabad, Pakistan, 

where Usama Bin Ladin 

met his end.
The men and women of CIA, with our partners in the military and law enforcement, 

work without pause to keep America safe. The death of Usama Bin Ladin was 

a devastating blow to the terrorists he led and to his ideology of violence and hate. 

But al-Qa’ida and its sympathizers, though weakened, continue to plot against the 

United States.

 Though Bin Ladin is dead, 

al-Qa’ida is not...we must—and will—

 remain vigilant 

 and resolute.

 —Former D/CIA Leon E. Panetta 

“

”
Rebuilding the 

World Trade Center

 I think we owe it to those 

 lost to have monuments of memorial to 

remind us and our successors 

that freedom is not free

 and we need to counter terrorism and 

uncivilized threats constantly through time.

 —Former Counterterrorism Center Director Cofer Black 

“

”

 It’s obviously important to 

 honor those people who 

were killed,but I also think it’s 

 important because it’s an inspiration 

to those of us who are still in this fight.

 —DD/CIA Michael J. Morell 

“

”
Courage

Strength

Resilience

A publication of the Central Intelligence Agency

Office of Public Affairs

www.cia.gov

September 2011