A Message from the

Under Secretary of

Defense for Intelligence 

We are entering an era marked by pace, scope and 

complexity of change that will challenge the minds and 

resources of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise. The 

challenge to provide the information, insight, and warning that allow our national military 

and civilian leaders to make better decisions both in Washington and on the fields of battle 

has never been greater or more urgent. It will require a concerted, collective effort by the 

Department of Defense intelligence, counterintelligence and security communities (Defense 

Intelligence Enterprise) to protect our military and intelligence assets against all forms and 

domains of attack and transform the Defense Intelligence Enterprise into one that is agile, 

global, and diverse.

We have embarked on a fundamental change to the concept of defense intelligence—

one that balances the unique role of support to the war fighter with the recognition 

that today’s security environment crosses traditional organizational domains. The deep 

integration of defense intelligence into the larger Intelligence Community, the evolution 

of our collaboration with homeland defense counterparts, and the fostering of committed 

international partnerships are all outcomes of this fundamental change. The Intelligence 

Community understands that further transformation of the larger national security 

infrastructure is required to build effectively for the future. 

Also undergoing a fundamental change is our concept of “engagement” around the world. 

As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted, “The real challenges we have seen emerge 

since the end of the Cold War—from Somalia to the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and 

elsewhere—make clear we in Defense need to change our priorities to be better able to deal 

with ‘asymmetric warfare.’ ” For defense intelligence professionals, this means our missions 

will be diverse and multidimensional, punctuated by persistent regional engagements 

requiring a range of military, humanitarian, and diplomatic capabilities and assets to be 

used simultaneously. Cultural awareness, social modeling, and language proficiency will 

be as important as new intelligence systems and technologies. We will need to develop a 

sizeable cadre of immediately deployable experts with disparate skills. And as the Director 

of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, has stated, diversity must be treated as a 

strategic mission imperative if we are to operate well in this environment. 
As we begin to understand that the threats we will face in the coming decades cannot be 

addressed by any single government agency, we must not only leverage the capabilities of 

our partners but also improve our ability to ingest and archive large amounts of data, and 

extract and disseminate to our customers and partners all relevant information. This data 

will come from people and sensors deployed worldwide, with the capacity to penetrate areas 

that have proven difficult to date. Because data management and information extraction 

will be done increasingly in a networked environment, more research on availability, 

confidentiality, and the integrity of data is vital. 

Our Total Force, comprising of government, active and reserve military and contract 

defense intelligence professionals, displays a dedication to duty every day as it meets 

the needs both of our national policymakers and the war fighter on the front lines. The 

fundamental changes we detail in the following pages, and the intelligence challenges 

they portend, compel us to prepare carefully for the future to ensure current and future 

generations of intelligence professionals have the knowledge, tools, and perspective 

required to succeed. This urgent need to prepare—and do so in a logical, thoughtful, and 

considered manner—is the impetus for development of a Defense Intelligence Strategy. 

Its purpose is to ensure that the coalition of those involved in protecting the nation’s 

security understand the direction and priorities of defense intelligence as part of a larger 

universe of military and intelligence communities. 

As Secretary Gates recently observed, “Governments of all stripes seem to have great 

difficulty summoning the will and the resources to deal even with threats that are obvious 

and likely inevitable, much less threats that are more complex or over the horizon.” This 

Defense Intelligence Strategy provides the guidance and tools necessary to address the 

complex threats that are only beginning to come into focus. I am pleased to provide this 

strategy to you and look forward to our common efforts in achieving its strategic goals 

and objectives. 

James R. Clapper

Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence)
MISSION of the

Defense Intelligence Enterprise

Support our national, defense and 

international partners with “knowledge 

rich” all-source defense intelligence, 

counterintelligence, and security.

★
VISION of the

Defense Intelligence Enterprise

A professional and fully integrated 

and seamless Enterprise, providing the 

best intelligence, counterintelligence, 

and security under any condition or 

circumstance, whenever and wherever,

in support of the war fighter and

the Nation.

★
Strategic Environment

21st Century Geopolitical Environment

Defense intelligence today operates in a world markedly different from the one in which it 

developed. The emergence of a highly interconnected global economy is reshaping international alliances, speeding the adoption of technologies, and giving rise to the development of 

new economic centers. This interconnected world, while offering opportunities to many, also 

presents significant national security risks. Regional instability resulting from the spread of 

religious fundamentalism, massive population shifts, and competition for natural resources 

and other factors will foster new requirements for defense intelligence. The complex and 

interrelated forces at work will transform societies and recast the intelligence priorities, strategies, and methods necessary to meet the unique demands of a dynamic 21st century. 

❖ Transition to Modernity: The global economy, marked by the growing influence of a 

middle class supported by the rapid adoption of new technology, will redefine economic 

and security parameters between the developing and developed worlds. Many societies 

will embrace the benefits of such progress, although a backlash may occur from those 

whose expectations are not met or do not have access to resources and technology. This 

unprecedented acceleration of change and widening of the gap between leaders and 

laggards may threaten fragile governance institutions. Faced with this highly asymmetric 

and dynamic framework, intelligence professionals will be called on to consider a security 

environment marked by regional, economic, resource, and ideological competition. 

❖ Shifting Geopolitical Landscape: The international community is in a state of considerable flux. The economic and military development of China and the reenergizing 

of the Russian military are predominant factors among large state actors over the next 

decades. China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growing at an estimated 8% annually, 

is slated to become second only to the United States’ GDP. In Russia, defense spending 

during 2001–2007 has quadrupled and the military has stated plans to replace 45% of 

the army’s hardware by 

2015. The strengthening 

of the European Union’s 

alliance of 27 countries 

will also give rise to an 

important new regional 

strategic identity. These 

developments, and others 

around the world, will 

change the geopolitical 

landscape intelligence 

professionals analyze 

on a daily basis. 

★
❖ Urban Population Migration: By 2020, it is anticipated that two-thirds of the world’s 

population will have migrated to urban environments. High population growth and 

urban migration will create new demands for housing, infrastructure, health care, 

education and employment, raising the specter of instability in some regions that 

could be further exacerbated by a “youth bulge” emerging in the developing world. 

These patterns, combined with ease of travel and anonymity of communications, could 

facilitate the spread of terrorism based on violent extremism. This requires defense 

intelligence professionals to understand cultural dynamics, weapons, operations, 

finances, recruiting, training and propaganda particularly as terrorist organizations seek 

the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 

❖ Competition for Natural Resources: Demand for oil in Asia is expected to double by 

2020, with OPEC accounting for production of nearly 50% of the world’s oil supply 

by 2025. Demand for African crude will also rise, significantly changing the economy 

in some areas. Industrial activity in the developing world will create important global 

climate and security considerations. In the Artic region, sea ice has receded by 40% 

since 1979, causing new territorial disputes. Scarcity of clean, non-toxic water will also 

be a major concern. By 2025, in approximately 54 countries, housing nearly half the 

world’s population, supply will fall short of water demands. These significant resource 

issues will underlie regional actions and jeopardize stability, creating an important focus 

of work for defense intelligence as it expands to contextualize the breadth of world 

events. Coordinated attacks on economies and oil and natural gas could mitigate U.S. 

military strengths and agility.

❖ Spread and Miniaturization of Technology: Globalization is accelerating the pace of 

technology advancement, which will increasingly penetrate the developing world. While 

providing new opportunities to many, the interconnection of systems via the Internet 

also raises the risk of cyber-attack against the national security apparatus. Security and 

counterintelligence professionals will need to partner with scientific, educational and 

commercial interests to continuously deny an adversary’s ability to acquire and use cyber 

attack capabilities. The development of new micro-electromechanical machines will 

offer defense applications, as will the advance of nanotechnology with self-replicating 

systems, bio-weapons, 

super-automation 

capabilities, and 

artificial intelligence. 

These developments, 

while likely to enhance 

operational support to 

U.S. war fighters and 

advance information 

analysis, may also pose 

new threats in the hands 

of adversaries.

★
❖ Changing Workforce Demographics: Technologically based mobility will change 

the workforce demographics giving rise to outsourcing and contingent or transient 

workforces. Managers may be increasingly called upon to supervise a “blended” 

workforce comprising of traditional employees working alongside contractors, 

temporary workers or virtual employees. For defense intelligence, this blended workforce 

will offer increased reach in meeting the extended demand for a culturally diverse and 

language-enabled workforce, while challenging traditional security and organizational 

models. In addition, in developed countries including the United States, trends towards 

an aging population will result in a shortage of workers. For the defense intelligence 

community, this will require a planned approach to knowledge transfer, ensuring formal 

and informal data sets are not lost with departing workers.

❖ Irregular Warfare Challenge: The threat of national and transnational insurgencies 

presents a challenge to many nations and international organizations. In many regions, 

the irregular challenge shapes the way nations configure their military and security 

forces, lead their people, and deal with other states in the region. Some irregular 

movements align themselves with global terror networks, calling upon these groups for 

guidance, support and legitimacy as they seek to supplant legitimate governments and 

replace them with dictatorships and theocratic states. Many will seek to align themselves 

with radicalized states who sponsor irregular warfare and asymmetrical attacks against 

the United States and like-minded states and interests.

The effects of globalization and the transition towards modernity will reshape the locus 

of development away from a traditional western viewpoint. They will require us to take 

significant action to transform the intelligence enterprise in four critical directions: to 

extend the full advantage of the U.S. intelligence enterprise to all defense users to ensure 

timely and accurate decisions, as well as ensure defense intelligence is available to the 

broader U.S. intelligence enterprise under any condition or circumstance; to enhance all 

services and capabilities provided by the U.S. intelligence enterprise to satisfy changing 

defense intelligence user needs; to explore concepts, technologies, and strategies to address 

customer requirements and emerging threats; and, to enable us to counter and deny 

adversary capabilities 

to acquire and exploit 

our technologies or 

knowledge of the 

battle space. These 

actions are required to 

prepare not only for 

the strategic shifts we 

can envision, but—

equally important—

the “strategic shocks”

we cannot. 

★
The Strategy

Defense intelligence is a critical component of the U.S. intelligence enterprise. 

It has two missions: first, to respond to the unique policy, operational and acquisition 

requirements of the Department of Defense, and second, to respond to national intelligence 

missions assigned to the Department of Defense. It comprises the Under Secretary of Defense 

(Intelligence); national and defense intelligence agencies represented by the NGA, NSA, 

NRO and DIA; defense organizations such as DSS and CIFA; Service and agency intelligence, 

counterintelligence and security elements; and joint intelligence components, including those 

of the Joint Staff and the Combatant Commands. Its customer demands are diverse; from the 

Commander in Chief and Secretary of Defense to the operational commander and engaged 

warriors. 

NSS

National

Security Strategy

NMS

National Military

Strategy

NMS

National Intelligence

Strategy

NDS

National Defense

Strategy

Guidance for

Development

of the Force

(GDF)

ISR Roadmap

Defense National

Def & Natl

ICA-Intelligence

Collection Architecture

DIS

Defense Intelligence

Strategy

Defense

Intelligence

Guidance (DIG)

IC

Planning Guidance

Guidance for

Employment

of the Force

(GEF)

Figure 1. Strategy Hierarchy

★
As depicted in Figure 1, this first Defense Intelligence Strategy seeks to integrate the two 

missions by demonstrating how, where and why defense intelligence, counterintelligence, and 

security activities support the National Intelligence Strategy and respond to requirements of 

the U.S. military and the Department of Defense. The Defense Intelligence Enterprise must 

fit seamlessly into a larger network of activities that serves the entire U.S. Government and 

develops people and systems that also can integrate easily and quickly into the larger network. 

This new strategy highlights the following four strategic goals (four E’s):

❖ Extend the full advantage of the U.S. 

intelligence enterprise to all defense users to 

ensure timely and accurate decisions, as well 

as ensure defense intelligence is available to 

the broader U.S. intelligence enterprise.

❖ Enhance all services and capabilities 

provided by the U.S. intelligence enterprise 

to satisfy the changing needs of defense 

intelligence users.

❖ Explore concepts, technologies, and 

strategies to address customer requirements 

and emerging threats.

❖ Enable us to counter and deny adversary 

capabilities to acquire and exploit our 

technologies or knowledge of the battle space.

Ultimately, this strategy will allow all members of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise to see 

their role in the larger network and every Department of Defense intelligence customer to see 

how the enterprise will improve its service to them. 

★
Strategic Goals,

Strategic Objectives,

and Priorities

★
Strategic Goal I. Extend the full advantage of the U.S. intelligence 

enterprise to all defense users to ensure timely and accurate 

decisions, as well as ensure defense intelligence is available to the 

broader U.S. intelligence enterprise.

Strategic Objective I.1.

Extend intelligence to all who need it in order to win the war on terrorism, 

support military operations, enhance or promote regional security, and 

encourage stability.

A proactive approach to collaboration is critical to retaining advantage in the war on 

terrorism, supporting operational requirements, and ensuring the security of critical 

and dynamic regions around the world. The Defense Intelligence Enterprise will support this methodology through integration of operations and intelligence coordination 

centers, development of new and enhanced forms of all-source intelligence collection 

and analysis, and broadening the collaborative scope of sensitive defense operational 

programs while concurrently ensuring the integrity of policy and security requirements.

Priorities:

I.1.A. Develop, promote, and support an “all-source” collection and analysis 

strategy with national and international partners that is focused on 

transnational threats, such as terrorism, arms trafficking, other illicit 

activities and high-threat countries.

I.1.B. Strengthen interaction between the Defense Intelligence Operations 

Coordination Center (DIOCC) and the Joint Intelligence Operations 

Centers (JIOCs) and collaborate with the National Intelligence 

Coordination Center (NIC-C) and other national mission centers to 

ensure the broadest possible application of all aspects of U.S. intelligence 

capability to satisfy national and defense requirements.

I.1.C. Accomplish operational integration and collaboration of Special Access 

Programs and other sensitive activities to effectively support policy 

formulation, strategic decision making, planning, and operational 

execution while concurrently promoting respect, security, and trust.

I.1.D. Focus “all-source” collection and analysis efforts on penetrating 

hard targets in denied areas to identify, tag, track, and locate targets 

(personnel, facilities, financial, and weapons/technology).

I.1.E. Establish close collaboration between Defense Human Intelligence and 

Counterintelligence in key areas of common concern, to include source 

registration and asset validation.

I.1.F. Leverage Open Source intelligence to the greatest extent possible as a 

means to provide the needed information to the widest audience at the 

lowest level of classification.

★10
Strategic Objective I.2.

Create, promote, and reinforce an information-sharing culture that exemplifies 

“the responsibility to provide” and “writes for release” while protecting sources 

and methods in the dissemination of intelligence across the Department of 

Defense and the Intelligence Community and with international partners.

The Director of National Intelligence has affirmed that the “creation of a culture of 

collaboration” is a top priority for transformation of the Intelligence Community. 

This posture recognizes the need to balance access to critical information with the 

requirement to protect sources and methods. It also creates a culture that embraces 

and practices operations security and risk management. An interdepartmental 

and interagency cooperative approach is essential to reduce information voids, 

confirm sources, and provide enhanced intelligence clarity. This requires a holistic 

assessment of Defense Intelligence Enterprise information technology requirements 

in order to achieve the strategic goal of sharing information. Furthermore, this 

integrated approach is essential to effective policy formulation and successful mission 

execution. The Defense Intelligence Enterprise will focus efforts to improve and 

increase cooperation and interoperability with all defense, domestic, national and 

international homeland defense partners—as well as seek new means to work with 

international entities. Information developed by operational forces and tactical 

collectors must be rapidly processed for use at every applicable level, from tactical to 

strategic, among the Intelligence Community and its partners. 

Priorities:

I.2.A. Encourage development of systems, tools, capabilities, training and 

supporting policies that allow the war fighter and allies at the lowest 

echelon possible to access all relevant national intelligence data and 

analysis while simultaneously providing intelligence from fielded forces 

to higher-level organizations and regional intelligence centers.

I.2.B. Optimize the Defense Intelligence Enterprise’s interoperability, 

cooperation and collaboration by offering access to all intelligence 

information, tools and processes across multiple agency and operational 

databases through validated Communities of Interest.

I.2.C. Exchange pertinent defense intelligence with allies and warfighting 

partners, promote common understanding at every level of the tactical 

to strategic environment, and build long-term international partnerships 

that encourage cultural and regional awareness.

I.2.D. Provide users with a tailored common intelligence operational picture 

(CIOP) and situational awareness concerning the status and availability 

of intelligence support.

★11
Strategic Objective I.3.

Facilitate Homeland Defense through all-domain (maritime, air, space, land, 

and cyber) awareness, integration and collaboration with national, homeland 

defense, law enforcement and international partners.

The National Security Strategy establishes homeland security as the first priority of 

the nation and its defenses. New policy and doctrinal concepts must fully leverage 

defense and national intelligence resources. Innovative tools and methodologies 

must be created that exploit technological advances and prevent U.S. and allied 

capabilities from being exploited. These concepts must be incorporated and applied 

uniformly across organizations and embedded in readiness planning as well as 

defensive practices. 

Priorities:

I.3.A. Promote cooperation with national state, local, tribal and international 

entities to provide timely intelligence products and services in support of 

homeland defense.

I.3.B. Encourage and promote robust cyber countermeasures and awareness 

across the defense infrastructure.

I.3.C. Improve counterintelligence support to computer network operations 

to facilitate efforts 

to anticipate, detect, 

trace, attribute, and 

counter efforts to 

exploit and attack 

U.S. government 

information systems.

★12
Strategic Goal II. Enhance all services and capabilities provided 

by the U.S. intelligence enterprise to satisfy the changing needs of 

defense intelligence users.

Strategic Objective II.1.

Implement collection and analytical transformations to meet in-depth and 

time-sensitive requirements against all threats, while forecasting and enabling 

rapid response to emerging events. Innovative approaches—fresh thinking that 

adds value to our investment decisions—will be essential in an environment 

characterized by emerging threats, expanding requirements, and finite resources.

The National Intelligence Strategy, authored by the Director of National Intelligence, 

identifies two of its top objectives as the needs to “strengthen analytic expertise, 

methods and practices” and “optimize collection capabilities.” These are the very core 

of the ability to provide indications, insight, warning, and context in an increasingly 

complex global environment. We require more advanced automated tools for 

collection management and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) 

operations management to plan, manage, integrate and synchronize national and 

theater ISR assets. The Defense Intelligence Enterprise, in concert with the overall 

Intelligence Community, will seek to implement transformations that enhance 

these core missions to improve our analytic community’s agility, effectiveness, 

and responsiveness, improve persistent surveillance and situational agility, exploit 

automation technology, and assess emerging requirements.

Priorities:

II.1.A. Balance investment and divestment between collection and analytic 

functions against the full range of intelligence challenges.

II.1.B. Optimize automation of defense intelligence processes to cue analysts 

to concentrate on critical information, monitor collection trends, and 

minimize the time required to disseminate value-added information.

II.1.C. Optimize the registration and tracking of requirements and the utility of 

requirements management systems to enhance efficiencies and prevent 

unintentional duplication.

II.1.D. Capitalize on scientific and technological advances made in academia 

and industry that enable rapid processing, screening, and analysis of 

large volumes of data, information tagging, archival, and retrieval.

★13
Strategic Objective II.2.

Transform security to streamline processes and protect information.

Personnel recruiting requirements place strenuous demands on the speed and quality 

of the security clearance process. Current “best practices” must be examined and 

studied to identify, then introduce, appropriate, relevant methodologies, tactics 

and techniques to rapidly fill critical and essential intelligence billets without 

compromising or jeopardizing security. Information and operations security best 

practices must be identified and developed to protect critical intelligence information 

and techniques that will deny adversaries the opportunity to exploit information 

against U.S. and allied operations.

Priorities:

II.2.A. Standardize physical security access control systems and procedures 

for each level of security in order to ensure interoperability within the 

Department of Defense and ensure compliance with federal mandates 

while concurrently recognizing the need for flexibility in developing 

solutions tailored to meet unique requirements.

II.2.B. Improve the security clearance cycle time by automating the end-to-end 

processing of investigations.

II.2.C. Adopt common national standards for certification and accreditation of 

information technology systems processing classified data.

II.2.D. Ensure security classification guidance is up-todate and users are sufficiently trained to use it so 

as to protect the Department of Defense mission 

and national security.

★14
Strategic Goal III. Explore concepts, technologies, and strategies to 

address customer requirements and emerging threats.

Strategic Objective III.1.

Explore the formation of new, and improve utilization of existing, Defense 

Intelligence Enterprise professional and sustainment programs to acquire, 

retain, develop, train, educate, equip, and employ the total workforce effectively 

and efficiently in support of defense and national intelligence requirements.

There is a direct relationship between the skills of the defense and national intelligence 

workforce and the quality of intelligence production. Emerging demographic 

projections and occupational competition will increase competition for employees 

when building or retaining a quality workforce. Defense intelligence must recognize 

and understand the motivating factors that draw potential employees to the mission, 

inspire them to stay and persuade them to leave. Applying human resource tools, 

incentives, and opportunities is essential if the Intelligence Community is to remain 

competitive in attracting and retaining persons with critical skills. These efforts should 

be coupled with the necessary technology in order to enhance the effectiveness of our 

personnel and expand our services and capabilities. 

Priorities:

III.1.A. Transform the Defense Intelligence Enterprise workforce through 

continuous comparative analysis of workforce capabilities against 

mission requirements and utilize Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel 

System (DCIPS) and industry “best practices.”

III.1.B. Establish analytic and collection tradecraft standards and “best practices” 

and apply them across all levels of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise.

III.1.C. Create a defense intelligence workforce training program that provides 

the skills and flexibility to leverage all intelligence and security 

capabilities against the full range of mission requirements.

III.1.D. Maximize the application of technology to identify and reduce 

redundancy in collection, analysis, and production activities.

III.1.E. Optimize the integration 

of all components of the 

total defense intelligence 

workforce—active 

and reserve military, 

federal civilians and 

contractors—to 

optimally leverage 

the unique strengths 

each offers.

★15
Strategic Goal IV. Enable us to counter and deny adversary 

capabilities to acquire and exploit our technologies or knowledge of 

the battle space.

Strategic Objective IV.1.

Overcome the challenges posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass 

destruction (WMD) across the entire cycle from development through transport 

and, when unable to prevent their use, the aftermath.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, writing in the National Military Strategy to Combat the 

Weapons of Mass Destruction, identified intelligence as the primary enabler in the 

execution of a military strategy intended to “defeat and deter” WMD. The challenge 

to the Defense Intelligence Enterprise is to understand the capabilities and intentions 

of state and non-state actors who seek development knowledge, production materials, 

and delivery systems. The Defense Intelligence Enterprise must combat this threat 

through focused intelligence that identifies potential threat sources, methodologies, 

and threat-based protective measures. It must also develop accurate and timely risk 

assessments for military and civilian planning, decision making and operational use.

Priorities:

IV.1.A. Develop and integrate comprehensive intelligence on illicit research, 

development, transport, threat, potential targets, and post-use 

consequences.

IV.1.B. Encourage and promote Defense Intelligence Enterprise situational 

awareness of regional WMD activities through expanded bilateral and 

multilateral foreign relationships that are focused specifically on WMD 

issues.

IV.1.C. Identify and leverage national technical means to assist in implementing 

the Department of Defense’s National Military Strategy to Combat 

Weapons of Mass 

Destruction, 

Consequence 

Management, 

and Foreign 

Consequence 

Management.

★16
Strategic Objective IV.2.

Develop and employ countermeasures to identify, exploit, and eliminate threats 

to the Department of Defense and intelligence personnel, technology and assets.

Enhanced global communications offers unrestricted movement of information 

across international domains and raises the likelihood of threats in and/or from 

these spheres of influence. Likewise, the exploitation of readily accessible dual-use 

technology enables our adversaries to develop tools and tactics that can defeat or 

undermine the strategies of U.S. and allied forces. Intelligence and counterintelligence 

must respond to current threats and anticipate future events by working with national 

security and commercial counterparts to stay abreast of and communicate potentially 

harmful technology developments and increase threat awareness across Department 

of Defense domains. 

Priorities:

IV.2.A. Neutralize illicit “wide nets” cast to collect specific information through 

an improved cross-flow of information across the counterintelligence 

community; quickly assess emerging threat trends. Structure 

counterintelligence to interface seamlessly across defense, industry, other 

federal departments, and state and municipal entities.

IV.2.B. Anticipate advances in improvised explosive device (IED) technology 

(triggering devices, warheads, and placement techniques) and 

anticipate new enemy and adversary tactics, techniques, procedures 

and technology that 

could be expected 

following success in 

countering IEDs.

★17
Strategic Objective IV.3.

Identify, deny, disrupt and exploit Foreign Intelligence and Security Service 

(FISS) activities targeting those interests and share information with nationallevel partners. Support the protection of U.S. and Department of Defense 

personnel, facilities, technologies, sources and methods. 

The Department of Defense Counterintelligence Strategy 

Fiscal Years 2008–2013 signed by the Under Secretary 

of Defense for Intelligence on January 2, 2008 charts the 

course for counterintelligence in the Department. Using 

the best available methods and technology, the Department 

of Defense will make every effort to effectively protect 

its people and interests. As international relationships 

and cyber activities become more prolific and complex, 

the sophistication of protection efforts must keep pace 

and neutralize the threats posed by our adversaries. 

The Department of Defense will develop and share best 

practices with its national and international counterparts 

to ensure all those involved in the intelligence mission are 

protected.

Priorities:

IV.3.A. Develop counterintelligence training 

and certification standards and 

competencies for counterintelligence 

professionals and foster a cooperative and 

collaborative environment with HUMINT, 

Special Operations, Law Enforcement, and 

national and international partners.

IV.3.B. Identify, deny, disrupt and exploit FISS, international terrorists and 

their intelligence elements, and insider threats targeting Department of 

Defense interests.

IV.3.C. In partnership with the ONCIX and FBI, establish security and 

counterintelligence outreach to the private sector and academia to share 

information on foreign intelligence threats to emerging U.S. technology.

IV.3.D. The counterintelligence components should develop and sustain 

integrated and synchronized counterintelligence support to protect 

Critical Program Information (CPI) with the Department of Defense. 

★18
Strategic Objective IV.4.

Eliminate any advantage held by our adversaries to operate from and within the 

space and cyber domains.

The anticipated increase in global 

military and commercial space and 

cyber activities ensures that the focus 

of defense intelligence professionals 

employed in these domains will grow 

exponentially. The potential for the 

deployment of weapons by near-peer 

competitors and increasing dependence 

on space-based assets for military 

and civilian technologies makes these 

domains increasingly important. As 

stated in the U.S. National Space Policy, the focus of defense intelligence in space 

will be to ensure full situational awareness for military and civilian decision-makers, 

support military planning initiatives, and satisfy operational requirements. As 

addressed within the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, cyberspace 

has become a vital national interest economically, militarily and culturally, and 

the current patchwork of passive defense is likely to fail in the face of greater 

vulnerabilities and more sophisticated threats. Defense intelligence must do its 

part to defeat this critical threat.

Priorities:

IV.4.A. Pursue and support enhanced space situational awareness to include the 

protection of U.S. and partners’ space assets and interests in all domains.

IV.4.B. Expand our ability to operate from and within the space domain by 

designing and operating a seamless, fully integrated next generation 

space enterprise.

IV.4.C. Focus on developing capabilities to attain cyberspace superiority and 

to protect cyberspace 

systems with both 

defensive and offensive 

countermeasures.

★19
The Way Ahead These strategic goals, objectives and priorities, in 

conjunction with the objectives of the National Intelligence Strategy, will guide 

Defense Intelligence Enterprise choices as reflected in policy, planning, analysis, 

collection, operations, programming, acquisition, budgeting and execution actions. 

They will be monitored in accordance with Office of Management and Budget 

and Congressional mandates by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Intelligence and will be implemented through Defense Intelligence Guidance and 

related counterintelligence and security guidance. The Office of the Under Secretary 

of Defense for Intelligence will aggressively work to improve existing Department of 

Defense performance feedback systems including the Defense Readiness Reporting 

System, the Biennial Review and the Combat Support Agency Review process. Finally, 

the Defense Intelligence Enterprise will continue to monitor its effectiveness through 

participation in Director of National Intelligence performance management programs.

External Considerations The effectiveness of this strategy, like any 

long-range document, will ultimately be determined not only by how it is implemented 

but by those future factors that we can theorize about, but whose impact we cannot fully 

predict. These include such things as changing leadership, the possibility of legislative 

action requiring unexpected realignment of budget priorities, expanded conflict, or 

large-scale disasters, either natural or man-made, that would alter the priorities of the 

Department and the nation, as well as technological and force structure changes.

The community and its leadership must continually reevaluate the strategy in light of 

this changing environment in order to ensure not only the satisfactory accomplishment 

of its Strategic goals and objectives, but also to ensure its continued relevance.

Organizational Strategy As mandated in the GPRA and stressed as a 

Department of Defense priority, performance appraisals for Senior Executive Service 

personnel must be based upon both individual and organizational performance. To 

meet those requirements, the Defense Intelligence Strategy will serve as the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Intelligence’s Organizational Strategy. Consequently, our 

senior leaders’ performance review will be based upon their success in achieving 

specific, measurable strategic goals and objectives under their purview. 

Conclusion As stated by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, “As we consider the 

security challenges of today, we must be ever cognizant that the choices we make will for 

many years weigh heavily on the fate of our peoples. To meet great expectations, we must 

all be willing to take risks—for peace, for security, and for the future of our children.”

The Defense Intelligence Enterprise must be poised at all times to provide our national, 

military and civilian leaders information sufficient to fully enable their anticipation, 

knowledge, understanding, management and when possible, mitigation of the risks 

associated with their choices. This Defense Intelligence Strategy provides us with the 

framework to meet these challenges.

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For Information Contact

POLICY, STRATEGY AND DOCTRINE DIRECTORATE

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence