CONTENTS

2

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION
3

| CONTENTS

4 INTRODUCTION

6 DIRECTOR’S INTENT

 MOONSHOT 

8 NGA STRATEGY

10 PEOPLE

 NGA LEADERSHIP

 NGA RESOURCES

 TEAM NGA

 NGA FACILITIES

 NEXT NGA WEST

16 PARTNERSHIPS

 NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE (NSG)

18 MISSION TODAY

 NGA MISSIONS

 INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS AND WARNING 

 SAFETY OF NAVIGATION

 FOUNDATION DATA

 PRECISION ENGAGEMENT AND TARGETING

 GEOINT SOURCES

28 MISSION TOMORROW

 PROVIDING THE GEOINT ADVANTAGE 

 RESEARCH

 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION

 GEOINT ASSURANCE

32 OUR HERITAGE

34 CORE VALUES

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

4

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION 
5

|INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION 

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) provides timely, 

relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of 

policymakers, warfighters, first responders and intelligence community 

(IC) partners. GEOINT is the use of imagery, imagery intelligence 

and geospatial information to describe and depict features, activities 

and locations on Earth, helping users visualize what is happening at 

a particular time and place. GEOINT allows military commanders to 

know the exact location of U.S. forces, coalition partners, adversaries 

and noncombatant persons. It predicts adversary movement based on 

natural and man-made obstacles. GEOINT goes beyond describing 

“what, where and when” to exposing “how and why.”

NGA is a Department of Defense (DOD) combat support agency and 

a principal member of the IC. NGA gives warfighters, the IC and 

first responders a worldwide, firsthand intelligence baseline for their 

own analytical and operational needs. This includes everything from 

contributing to the state of readiness of our military forces to ensuring 

safety of navigation in the air, on land and over/under the seas. 

NGA also helps protect the homeland by providing critical insight for 

humanitarian efforts, disaster relief and recovery operations. Anyone 

who sails a U.S. ship, flies a U.S. aircraft, makes national policy 

decisions, fights wars, locates targets, responds to natural disasters, or 

navigates with a cellphone relies on NGA. NGA enables all of these 

critical actions and shapes decisions that impact our world through 

the indispensable discipline of GEOINT.

The director of NGA serves as the IC functional manager for 

GEOINT, the DOD GEOINT manager, the head of the National 

System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG), and the chair of the Allied 

System for Geospatial Intelligence (ASG). As such, the director 

synchronizes operations to realize a professional, interoperable, 

agile and integrated GEOINT enterprise. As the lead federal agency 

for GEOINT, NGA manages a global consortium of more than 400 

commercial and government relationships.
6

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION DIRECTOR’S INTENT • MOONSHOT

NGA MOONSHOT
7

| DIRECTOR’S INTENT • MOONSHOT
8

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION NGA STRATEGY

NGA will invest in our ability to recruit, 

engage, develop, train and retain a 

workforce that advances our tradecraft 

and innovates solutions to meet emerging 

mission needs. Our world-class workforce 

must master technology to combine the 

science of intelligence with relentless 

curiosity; leverage diversity to continuously 

raise our GEOINT expertise; and learn 

to use machines as digital assistants to 

provoke expert analysis. NGA will evolve 

its workforce culture to emphasize 

transparency, respect, excellence and 

teamwork — creating a workplace built by 

our people which is inherently inclusive and 

attractive to our aspiring teammates. NGA 

will insert accountability into performance 

metrics for the agency and individuals. 

We will accept and expeditiously act upon 

feedback from our workforce, customers 

and overseers. We will adapt and grow to 

exceed the expectations of our customers.

NGA will collaborate and expand alliances 

with domestic and international partners 

to fulfill our common vision for a missionintegrated, professional and resilient 

GEOINT community. We will implement 

governance, standards and enterprise 

services with our partners that enable 

interoperability and build resilience 

and operational strength in the GEOINT 

community. NGA will transform its 

acquisition tradecraft and contracting 

services to enable efficient and 

mutually beneficial partner and supplier 

engagement. NGA will share capability 

and resource planning, training, education 

and certification with our partners for 

unified GEOINT mission execution and 

transparent resource decisions.

GOAL 1

People

Inspire and Grow 

Our World-Class 

Workforce

GOAL 2

Partnerships

Fuel and Drive the 

Entire Global GEOINT 

Community

STRATEGIC GOALS

MISSION IMPERATIVES

• Uphold core values

• Develop the workforce and grow leaders

• Optimize the workplace

• Safeguard the GEOINT enterprise

• Establish and maintain excellence in 

corporate business practices

MISSION IMPERATIVES

• Increase mission resilience

• Enhance collaboration and interoperability

• Enable delivery of capabilities, data and 

expertise at mission pace

• Expand and strengthen partnerships with 

industry, academia, research labs and 

defense acquisition organizations

We exist to show the way ... and do so uniquely by knowing the Earth and understanding 

the world. We maintain detailed, foundational physical characterizations of the Earth from 

seabed to space and provide products our forces require to navigate and operate safely 

every day, everywhere around the globe. We build a wide array of GEOINT products 

providing unique context and insights to answer questions from a broad range of customers 

We provide GEOINT to secure our nation.
9

| NGA STRATEGY

NGA will translate actionable intelligence 

into opportunities to ensure our national 

security. We will reduce strategic surprise by 

elevating our understanding of the world and 

anticipating future events. We will increase 

decision advantage with agile operations 

that adapt faster and integrate opportunities 

for innovation before our adversaries. 

NGA will transform GEOINT by investing in 

breakthrough capabilities that strengthen 

strategic warning, mission forecasting and 

foundational military intelligence for our 

customers. NGA will automate routine GEOINT 

tasks and corporate business processes 

and take advantage of technology from 

academic, corporate and government-military 

partners to create strategic capabilities with 

mission advantage. We will evolve strategic 

research and development to harness new 

phenomenologies, data-centric technologies, 

advanced analytics, deep learning, computer 

vision, high-performance computing, 

automation and artificial intelligence.

NGA will support U.S. national security by 

delivering persistent, accurate, secure and 

timely GEOINT data, products and services 

our customers rely upon to perform critical 

missions. Our objective remains the same 

— deliver trusted GEOINT for decision 

advantage to those we serve — and we 

must stay ahead of the rapidly improving 

decision cycles of our adversaries. As 

we accelerate timelines and expand our 

enterprise, we must not inadvertently dilute 

the power of the GEOINT we provide. We will 

decrease decision timelines by expediting 

reporting to enable timely military, political 

and humanitarian action; broker geospatial 

solutions that leverage global suppliers to 

deliver the best possible GEOINT to any 

mission at any time for any location; and 

maintain the confidence and trust of our 

customers by consistently ensuring the 

availability, security and quality of all GEOINT.

GOAL 3

Mission Today

Secure and Deliver 

the Nation’s Most 

Trusted GEOINT

GOAL 4

Mission Tomorrow

Anticipate Opportunity

and Foresee Threats

MISSION IMPERATIVES

• Reduce strategic surprise through proactive 

GEOINT foundational military intelligence

• Expand deep understanding of ‘2+3’ challenges 

• Expand intelligence support to include 

cyberspace and space operations

• Protect GEOINT accuracy and reliability — 

defend the digital enterprise

• Enable freedom to maneuver and assure 

precision targeting

MISSION IMPERATIVES

• Transform and evolve GEOINT enterprise 

capabilities

• Deploy artificial intelligence, automation 

and augmentation applications on a datacentric architecture

• Enhance interoperable GEOINT for DOD 

operations

• Grow competitive advantage by providing 

state-of-the art capabilities

• Reduce strategic surprise and counter 

operational threats from global competition

— from White House policymakers, to Pentagon decision-makers, to deployed warfighters, 

to first responders, to non-government organizations. Our customers rely on us to “show 

the way”... to literally get them from point A to point B, help illuminate options and inform 

decisions, and carry out actions with precision. We must, and will, meet our nation’s needs.
PEOPLE • NGA LEADERSHIP

10| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

VICE ADMIRAL 

ROBERT D. 

SHARP

DIRECTOR, NGA 

Vice Admiral Robert Sharp is the seventh 

Director of the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA). VADM Sharp 

leads and directs NGA under the authorities 

of the Secretary of Defense and Director of 

National Intelligence. He became NGA’s 

director on February 7, 2019.

From April 2016 to February 2019, VADM 

Sharp served as Commander, Office of Naval 

Intelligence, and Director, National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office. During 

his initial flag assignment, he served as the Director for Intelligence (J2), U.S. Special 

Operations Command.

His previous operational tours include deployments with USS Ranger (CV61), Carrier 

Air Wing 2 embarked on USS Constellation (CV 64), and Carrier Group 2 embarked 

on USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Additionally, he conducted multiple deployments 

to Afghanistan as J2 of a Special Operations Task Force, leading joint, inter-agency 

intelligence professionals supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

VADM Sharp’s shore tours include Assistant Intelligence Officer for Commander, 

Naval Air Forces, Pacific; instructor duty at the Fleet Intelligence Center, Pacific; 

Targeting Officer on the Joint Staff; Intelligence Operations Officer with U.S. Fleet 

Forces Command; Director of Intelligence for Naval Special Warfare Development 

Group; Director of Intelligence and Deputy Director for the Maritime Operations 

Center for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet; 

and Senior Fellow on the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group. He 

commanded the Joint Intelligence Center, U.S. Central Command, from August 2010 

to August 2012.

A native of San Jose, California, VADM Sharp graduated from the University of the 

Pacific with a Bachelor of Arts in English and was commissioned through Officer 

Candidate School in 1988. He holds a Naval War College diploma and earned a 

Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the 

Armed Forces in 2008.

In addition to multiple personal, unit, and campaign awards, he has been the 

recipient of the Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award for Excellence in Instruction, 

the U.S. Army’s Knowlton Award for Military Intelligence, the Rear Admiral Edwin 

T. Layton Leadership Award, and the Naval Intelligence Foundation Award for 

Excellence in operational intelligence support to the Fleet.
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|PEOPLE • NGA LEADERSHIP

DR. STACEY A. 

DIXON

DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NGA 

Dr. Stacey A. Dixon became the eighth 

Deputy Director of the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA) on July 1, 2019. 

In this role, she assists the director in both 

leading the agency and managing the 

National System for Geospatial Intelligence. 

From 2018 to 2019, she served as the fourth 

director of the Intelligence Advanced Research 

Projects Activity (IARPA), after serving as its 

deputy director from 2016 to 2018. Before 

joining IARPA, Dr. Dixon served as the deputy 

director of NGA’s Research directorate, where she oversaw geospatial intelligence 

research and development. Prior to that, she served as NGA’s chief of congressional 

and intergovernmental affairs and then deputy director of NGA’s Office of Corporate 

Communications. 

From 2007 to 2010, she was a staff member for the House Permanent Select 

Committee on Intelligence, and from 2003 to 2007, she worked for the Central 

Intelligence Agency, where she was assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office’s 

Advanced Systems and Technology directorate.

Dr. Dixon holds both a doctorate and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from 

the Georgia Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering 

from Stanford University. She was also a chemical engineer postdoctoral fellow at the 

University of Minnesota. She additionally serves as a presidentially nominated member 

of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Dr. Dixon is a native of the 

District of Columbia, where she currently resides.
PEOPLE • NGA RESOURCES

12

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

NGA RESOURCES

TEAM NGA

NGA has a total workforce of about 14,500 highly trained intelligence personnel 

working at more than 200 sites in more than 20 countries around the world, including 

Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. NGA’s intelligence professionals are embedded 

within each combatant command headquarters and military service operational 

headquarters and many other government agencies. NGA personnel are also forward 

deployed worldwide to provide Joint Task Force warfighter support. By providing 

GEOINT experts at customer sites to help discover, interpret, and create GEOINT products 

and services, NGA gives warfighters, the IC and first responders a worldwide firsthand 

intelligence baseline to meet their analytical and operational needs.

NGA continues to invest in its ability to recruit, engage, develop, train and retain a 

world-class workforce that advances tradecraft and innovates new solutions to meet 

emerging mission needs. To fuel and drive the entire global GEOINT enterprise, NGA 

continues to enhance collaboration and interoperability and expand and strengthen 

partnerships across the spectrum to keep pace with intelligence and foundation GEOINT 

needs in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world. Currently, NGA has more 

than 90 imagery and mapping agreements with foreign partners. NGA offers training, 

education and certification initiatives to all partners for unified GEOINT mission execution. 

This interoperability across the GEOINT enterprise allows NGA to concentrate resources, 

tradecraft development and operations to extend NGA services.
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|PEOPLE • NGA RESOURCES

NGA FACILITIES 

NGA East

NGA Campus East (NCE) is the third-largest federal facility in the Washington, D.C., area at 2.77 million square 

feet. NCE has its origins in the 2005 base realignment and closure, which identified the Fort Belvoir North area in 

Springfield, Virginia, as the future home of NGA in the east. By constructing a purpose-built facility at that location, 

NGA modernized key elements of its infrastructure to provide a secure and modern working environment. The 

building and facilities enable improved collaborative interaction and communication within and outside of the agency. 

The consolidation of the entire NGA workforce in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to NCE was completed in 

September 2011.

NGA West

For more than 70 years, NGA has maintained a presence in the St. Louis, Missouri, area, where nearly onethird of the NGA workforce operates. NGA’s two west facilities are the 2nd Street riverfront campus, just south of 

the Gateway Arch, and a secondary campus located in nearby Arnold, Missouri. Much of NGA’s aeronautical 

analysis, geodetic science work and a variety of other critical missions — including targeting, counterterrorism, 

counterproliferation, global navigation support and several geographically focused missions — are performed at its 

2nd Street campus facility.

Progress continues on construction of the Next NGA West facility located just north of downtown St. Louis. When 

complete, this state-of-the-art facility will significantly improve NGA’s current and future mission productivity, flexibility, 

operational efficiency and security. It is an opportunity to provide a safe, secure, adaptable and efficient environment 

for the workforce in the St. Louis metro area that will sustain the evolving GEOINT mission.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Next NGA West facility was held November 26, 2019. The new facility, 

scheduled to open in 2025, will include approximately 712,000 square feet of office space, parking garages, a 

visitor’s center, an inspection facility and access control points. Plans also include wireless technologies — which, 

while standard in private industry, have been a challenge for the IC to adopt for a secure, classified work 

environment. The facility will be purpose-built for wireless capability, which will enhance operational efficiencies 

while also improving collaboration with academic, industry, and government partners through the inclusion of public 

and unclassified workspaces, a first for the IC. Additionally, the new facility will be constructed to Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design Silver standards for environmental sustainability.

NGA’s three principal facilities in Springfield, Virginia, and the St. Louis, Missouri, area provide the infrastructure, tools and environment 

for the agency’s GEOINT workforce to execute its mission. 

NGA CAMPUS EAST, SPRINGFIELD, VA

2ND STREET CAMPUS, ST. LOUIS, MO

ARNOLD FACILITY, ARNOLD, MO
PEOPLE • NEXT NGA WEST

14

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

Illustrations provided by McCarthy HITT

NEXT NGA WEST
15

|PEOPLE • NEXT NGA WEST
PARTNERSHIPS • NSG

16

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

STRENGTH THROUGH 

COMMUNITY

The democratization of GEOINT — coupled with a dynamic, complex, 

interconnected and increasingly competitive environment — is driving the 

community toward a more professional, agile and integrated GEOINT 

enterprise. GEOINT is unquestionably bigger than a singular government 

agency. NGA is adapting beyond its walls as the realities of the world dictate, 

succeeding with and in the global GEOINT enterprise to embrace a more 

transparent and connected world. The community is looking to NGA to be the 

leader and provide cohesion in this vast landscape.

The director of NGA is also the GEOINT functional manager (GFM). Executive 

Order 12333, “United States Intelligence Activities,” designates the director 

of NGA as the GFM for the IC, while DOD Directive 5105.60, “National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,” designates the director of NGA as the DOD 

GEOINT manager. The title GFM refers to both roles, encompassing the IC and 

DOD. The GFM is the authoritative GEOINT advisor to the director of national 

intelligence (DNI) and the secretary of defense.

The GFM role has distinct responsibilities separate from those of the agency 

director. The GFM guides and oversees GEOINT for the U.S. government and 

Commonwealth partners through the NSG and ASG. NSG members include 

the IC, Joint Chiefs of Staff, military services and combatant commands. NSG 

partners include the Civil Applications Committee, which represents other U.S. 

government organizations, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of 

Interior and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The ASG 

comprises Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the 

United States. 

The GFM advocates for the needs of the NSG by developing and publishing 

well-defined doctrine, policies, and standards and is also accountable for 

continuously improving the performance of the GEOINT function and for 

enhancing cross-function integration.
17

|PARTNERSHIPS • NSG

PROFESSIONAL

AN INSPIRED, MODERN, ADVANCED 

WORKFORCE

• Focus workforce skills through common tradecraft standards, training 

priorities, world-class professional development, and modern analytic 

tools, techniques and capabilities

• Expand the GEOINT learning environment through releasable, online 

and interactive learning solutions 

• Accelerate GEOINT contributions to civil, international and military 

exercises, and apply lessons learned from the experiences

• Sustain the implementation of GEOINT professional certification 

programs and associated certification management systems

INTEROPERABLE

SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATED PARTNERSHIPS

• Give analysts discoverable and shareable content, with interoperable exploitation and 

analytic tools, on all domains, from a wide array of sources

• Establish and enforce institutional data standards to deliver protected, interoperable, and 

releasable GEOINT on shared interest topics through modern IT, collection, and data 

management systems

• Implement policies and procedures necessary to produce GEOINT at the lowest 

classification level and share at the broadest level of releasability.

• Automate integrated analytic modeling and collection strategies across the GEOINT 

community

• Deliver relevant, secure and discoverable foundation geospatial content

UNIFIED

INTEGRATED, SYNCHRONIZED PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 

MISSION TODAY AND TOMORROW

• Leverage the unique capabilities of each partner through synchronized planning, operations and 

resourcing to strengthen collective national and global security

• Increase NSG partnerships for coproduction to multiply the production and dissemination of GEOINT 

data and services 

• Harness collaborative partnerships to provide consistent, resilient and authoritative GEOINT across the 

community while assessing new potential data streams from commercial and other sources

• Align research and development efforts to our most challenging problems to drive real solutions for 

tomorrow’s challenges

• Implement the Performance Management System to continuously assess the performance of the GEOINT 

enterprise
18

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION MISSION TODAY • NGA MISSIONS

FEB. 15, 2014 DEC. 6, 2014 APRIL 1, 2016

NGA MISSIONS

NGA has a broad mission set and a reputation for delivering high-quality products 

from uniquely qualified intelligence professionals. The services and functions of NGA 

support national security and foreign policy objectives of customers and military partners 

worldwide every day.

NGA’s day-to-day operational missions — whether ensuring safety of navigation by 

air, land or sea, enabling combat support at the tactical level, or providing imagery 

intelligence to national decision-makers — do not stop. NGA’s work ensures trillions 

of dollars of military equipment and personnel safely navigate the globe by air, land 

and sea; the proper targets are prosecuted to maximum effect, with minimum collateral 

damage; and decision-makers fully understand the capabilities of our enemies.

NGA utilizes its resources, manpower and IT infrastructure in order to meet current 

mission requirements — while also transforming tradecraft, skill sets, the workforce, 

workflows and IT architecture simultaneously with current mission requirements.

South China Sea

Construction of man-made reefs with pumped sand is documented by DigitalGlobe’s satellites over a 25-month period.

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS AND WARNING

NGA provides a wide range of GEOINT analyses, data and services for customers, 

spanning from analysts to policymakers to warfighters. NGA advances national security 

objectives through GEOINT support to military operations, planning, decision-making, 

diplomacy, intelligence analysis, strategic and tactical warning, search and discovery, 

and targeting. 

Monitor and Assess 

Enduring Threats and Challenges 

NGA analysts use GEOINT to continuously monitor and assess threats and challenges 

to the national security environment, including nuclear weapons-related developments, 

counterproliferation, counterterrorism, treaty verification, foreign military capability 

assessments, and economic and environmental issues. By continuously monitoring threats, 

NGA enables policymakers and operators to pursue responses serving U.S. interests.

Warning and Situational Awareness

NGA runs integrated operations centers 24 hours per day, 

365 days per year, to provide near-real-time exploitation 

and analysis of GEOINT sources for military, defense 

policymakers and the first responder community. NGA 

analysts use GEOINT to monitor troop movements, missilerelated activities, emerging world events and other critical, 

time-sensitive issues.

© 2014, 2016, DigitalGlobe USGS
19| MISSION TODAY • NGA MISSIONS

Discover Unknowns, and 

Attack Hard Problems

NGA conducts rigorous broad-area searches of terrain 

and research into foreign state and non-state programs to 

improve and increase DOD and IC understanding of topics 

such as underground facility development and cyber-related 

infrastructure. NGA creates visual products, such as 3-D 

animations, time sliders, custom graphics and fly-throughs, 

which uniquely convey intelligence findings.

Security, Humanitarian, 

and Disaster Response

In support of lead federal agencies and mission partners, 

NGA provides GEOINT products and services to inform and 

improve both domestic and international disaster response, 

humanitarian support, and security. 

In the homeland security realm, NGA provides GEOINT in 

support of counterterrorism, counternarcotics, border and 

transportation security, and domestic special event support, 

such as the presidential inauguration. Recent humanitarian/

disaster response efforts include California wildfires and historic 

flooding in South Carolina, Texas and along the Mississippi 

River. In 2014, NGA began providing unprecedented online 

access to its GEOINT information through a public-facing 

website devoted to such crises.

In the international realm, NGA provides GEOINT in support of 

the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International 

Development in support of humanitarian and disaster response 

efforts; international security special event support, such as 

the Olympics and political summits; and security of diplomatic 

facilities and personnel overseas. In 2019, NGA supported 

humanitarian and disaster response efforts following Hurricane 

Dorian in the Bahamas, again leveraging a public-facing website 

devoted to supporting the response effort.

Support to Military Operations

NGA is committed to providing GEOINT support down to 

the last tactical mile. In addition to dedicated subject matter 

experts within many of our customers’ organizations, NGA 

also conducts a voluntary deployment program, embedding 

GEOINT professionals to support DOD operations 

worldwide. NGA provides direct military support to the 

DOD by developing, maintaining and providing the World 

Geodetic System 1984 (WGS-84) and geodetic data to U.S. 

weapons systems.

Adobe Stock NGA JSTARS image (DOD)
MISSION TODAY • NGA MISSIONS

20

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

SAFETY OF NAVIGATION

NGA prepares, compiles, publishes, distributes, and maintains worldwide maritime 

and aeronautical safety of navigation databases, product and services in support of 

DOD and partner warfighters, U.S. government agencies, foreign and commercial 

partners, international treaties, and other agreements. NGA’s safety of navigation 

products and data include digital nautical charts, sailing publications, notices to 

mariners, airfield foundation data (AFD), vertical obstructions (VOs), Flight Information 

Publications (FLIPs) and the Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF). The 

agency enhances maritime safety through the Maritime Safety Office watch desk and 

internationally coordinated worldwide Navigational Warning Service. In addition, 

NGA is the responsible producer for the population and maintenance of data on 

48,000 airfields worldwide for the IC and the DOD. NGA leads the transformation 

of maritime and air navigation systems, standards, products and services, converting 

legacy products into digital content for dissemination through government-owned 

web-based and mobile applications. These apps put 

the power of safe navigation into the hands of the user. 

Additionally, the agency has developed an industryleading electronic library of 48,000 instrument flight 

procedures and is developing digital Flight Management 

System (FMS) data. The library satisfies U.S. and 

international mandates to transition to GPS-based air 

navigation, ensuring continued access to worldwide 

airspace and airports in support of national objectives.

FOUNDATION DATA

NGA provides the basis for intelligence integration by building the foundation of a global geospatial operational 

framework. Foundation data helps us describe the world. Whether through a geographic information systemenabled application or hard-copy map product, foundation data enables military and civil operations, is a critical 

component of major weapons systems, and frames understanding of the natural and man-made environments. 

NGA continues to lead the DOD and IC for the production, procurement, assessment and cataloging of this data 

from U.S., foreign and open sources.

Topographic Data

Topographic data is information captured, generated, enhanced 

and depicted in a graphical manner. It delineates natural and 

man-made features of any place on Earth, showing relative 

positions and elevations. This data is stored and service enabled 

for the discovery, retrieval, and generation of mapping and 

geodetic information and products.

NGA Streets Basemap

The NGA Streets Basemap is an online cartographic visualization 

used for situational awareness and as a backdrop to display other 

geospatially referenced data. It is built from curated foundation data 

and allows the user to zoom in at different scales, from a worldwide 

view to neighborhood level, for the entire globe. It is made available 

to the IC and DOD communities as a web-mapping service on 

classified and unclassified networks. The NGA Streets Basemap 

averages more than 10,000 visits per day.

NGA NGA

NGA
21| MISSION TODAY • NGA MISSIONS

Elevation and Terrain

High-resolution digital elevation terrain models provide 

an unclassified seamless terrain data set that represents 

a “bare earth” lay of the land. Elevation data provides the 

essential quantitative data for military systems that require 

terrain elevation, slope and gross surface roughness 

information. Elevation data also supports the imageorthorectification process and is used in mission planning, 

terrain modeling and visualization.

Land Cover 

Land cover representations, as either raster or aerial 

vector data, depict natural conditions, such as landforms, 

water and vegetation, and broad patterns of human 

land use, including population centers, agricultural 

areas, resource harvesting or extraction. Land cover is a 

thematic human geography content category that reflects 

the physical environment and the spatial distribution of 

human activities within it.

Bathymetry

The ocean floor changes in elevation as much as the 

elevation of the ground. NGA collects worldwide 

bathymetric measurements to map the ocean floor using 

direct measurement, sound navigation and ranging — or 

sonar — and specialized radar sensors. This data can be 

used to assess the depth of water and potential hazards to 

navigation, such as reefs and islands. This is particularly 

helpful to submarine navigation.

Geodesy, Geophysics and the World Geodetic 

System 1984

Built from satellite, gravity, elevation, and other geodetic 

and geophysical foundation data, the WGS-84 provides 

the single reference frame to geolocate all GEOINT data 

to support safety of navigation, targeting accuracy and 

intelligence activities. Through constant monitoring of the 

dynamic Earth, WGS-84 precisely defines latitude and 

longitude and provides a magnetic model to aid navigation 

and an Earth Gravitational Model that helps define global 

mean sea level. 

NGA NGA NGA NGA
MISSION TODAY • NGA MISSIONS

22| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

The World Magnetic Model 2020

In December 2019, NGA, in partnership with the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the British 

Geological Survey, released the World Magnetic Model (WMM) 

2020 update. The updated model provides more precise 

navigational data for all military and civilian aircraft, ships, 

submarines and GPS units. As Earth’s magnetic field is constantly 

changing, the difference between geographic and magnetic north 

also changes, requiring the WMM to be updated every five years 

or as necessary. 

Gravimetry

Around the world, the strength and direction of gravity varies 

slightly due to various geophysical phenomenon. Although 

humans cannot sense these small variations, the effects on 

military guidance systems can be tremendous. Gravimetry is the 

measurement of the strength of the Earth’s gravity field in three 

dimensions. NGA’s worldwide gravity model supports military 

customers by supplying gravimetric products essential to inertial 

navigation systems, ballistic missiles and targeting accuracy. The 

model is necessary for minimizing downrange and cross-range 

errors for weapons systems.

Transportation and Infrastructure

Transportation and infrastructure reflect the physical environment 

and the spatial distribution of human activities within it. Spatial 

representations of infrastructure, typically captured and maintained 

as vector feature data, constitute the constructed human environment 

in aggregate and include elements related to energy, water, waste, 

habitation, communication, economic activity and governance. 

Vector data related to transportation, a subset of the infrastructure 

content holdings, represents the linear network segments and nodes 

that allow for the physical movement of people, materials and 

products through a given environment.

Boundaries and Names 

NGA maintains the authoritative U.S. government databases 

for foreign geographic names and political boundaries, and it 

provides support for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names’ foreign 

geographic names standardization program. The official foreign 

geographic names data is made available via NGA’s GEOnet 

Names Server. The U.S. Department of State bears authority for 

the U.S. government depiction of international boundaries as well 

as maritime boundaries and claims. In partnership with the State 

Department, NGA produces data for international land boundaries 

and maritime boundaries and claimed limits, internal administrative 

land boundaries, and neighborhood delineations for incorporation 

into U.S. government products and reporting.

NGA NGA NGA NGA
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| MISSION TODAY • NGA MISSIONS

Mono Mission Planning and Stereo Point 

Positioning Products 

Photogrammetric techniques, resulting in validated 

triangulation solutions with unprecedented accuracy, are 

the foundation for NGA’s mono image mission planning 

controlled image base and stereo targeting digital point 

positioning database. The controlled image base is a 

seamless database of digital ortho-mosaic commercial 

and National Technical Means imagery used for mission 

planning and military aircraft and vehicle navigation.

PRECISION ENGAGEMENT AND TARGETING

Targeting

NGA enables the U.S. and Allied partners to meet military 

and intelligence targeting objectives by providing data, 

software validation, program accreditation, training 

certification, targeting expertise and operational support. 

This support includes target identification, vetting and 

precise coordinate GEOINT target development.

Precision Engagement

NGA leads the way for the DOD by helping to ensure 

the precision and accuracy of GPS and maintaining the 

WGS-84 reference frame, which is the backbone for all 

geolocation. This effort also improves GPS geolocation 

accuracy for government civil agencies, commercial industry 

and individual consumers.

Human Geography

Human geography examines the geographic features 

of a place and the people who live and operate there. 

Understanding the attributes, actions, reactions, and 

interactions of groups and individuals in the context of their 

environment allows analysts to describe and predict patterns 

of human behavior.

© 2015 DigitalGlobe NGA NGA NGA
MISSION TODAY • GEOINT SOURCES

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| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

GEOINT SOURCES 

NGA is the nation’s leader in developing and managing comprehensive and innovative 

GEOINT collection strategies and content applications. This mission includes the discovery, 

procurement, production, accessibility, delivery and management of GEOINT sources.

These sources include U.S.-operated classified satellite systems; airborne intelligence, 

surveillance and reconnaissance imagery; commercially operated satellite imagery; 

geospatial analytic services; commodity and open-source data; and spatially enabled data 

from other intelligence sources. A major component of this mission is maintaining maximum 

utility and effectiveness of GEOINT data sources to ensure needed intelligence collection any 

time, any way and anywhere. A growing aspect of this mission is working with GEOINT 

analysts to make better use of automation, create more complex content strategies that 

increase efficiency and effectiveness of collection, and allow analysts to better leverage all 

the GEOINT data sources available.

National assets provide exquisite and peerless capabilities to meet the hardest challenges. 

However, to provide the best value for customers, NGA must leverage all types of 

geospatially enabled content. To that end, NGA continues to expand its application of 

traditional and new GEOINT sources. Over the past decade, NGA partnered with the 

commercial imagery industry to dramatically improve delivery of commercial GEOINT and 

is now expanding into commercial GEOINT analytics. Succeeding in and with the open 

environment means looking at new sources and new forms of data. NGA is also combining 

publicly available open-source data and geospatially enabled commodity data with 

geospatial information to provide a fully integrated intelligence picture.

Using these diverse sources, NGA employs advanced analytics to discover and provide 

tip-off and alerts to systems, collectors and analysts. These efforts involve the development of 

advanced analytic tools and techniques that enable analysts to interact effectively with data 

and models, discover new objects, and ask intelligence questions differently based upon the 

power of data analytics.

Sources include geophysical and geomagnetic information used to improve and ensure 

navigation and positioning in denied environments and improve navigation as well as 

positioning for current and future U.S. systems.

Panchromatic

Panchromatic produces an 

image similar to black-and-white 

photography. The images can 

provide a very detailed and 

accurate likeness of an area or 

object.

© 2016, DigitalGlobe
25| MISSION TODAY • GEOINT SOURCES

Multispectral

Where panchromatic imagery looks only at the total 

amount of light coming in, without any consideration of its 

color or frequency, multispectral sensors capture the light 

in frequency bands spanning across the electromagnetic 

spectrum. At its simplest, multispectral collection can create 

a color image of a target.

Hyperspectral Imagery

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced form of multispectral 

imagery that collects data in hundreds of bands within the 

electromagnetic spectrum, offering better spectral resolution 

than multispectral capabilities. Certain materials reflect light 

at very specific frequencies. If electromagnetic signals are 

collected in those frequencies, it can form images useful in 

precise terrain or target analysis.

Infrared

Infrared imagery is produced as a result of sensing 

electromagnetic radiations emitted or reflected from a given 

target surface in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic 

spectrum. The information is displayed in a gray-scale image.

Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR)

OPIR is a GEOINT source that provides space-based, ondemand, persistent, global and/or localized coverage. OPIR is a 

capability that detects energy radiation from various tactical and 

strategic targets.

USGS DVIDS Adobe Stock Image NASA
MISSION TODAY • GEOINT SOURCES

26

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

Radar

Radar imagery is collected by bouncing radio waves off 

a target, collecting the reflected signal, and reconstructing 

the data in the form of an image. These sensors use 

reflected radar energy to illuminate objects in day or night 

timeframes in almost any weather conditions.

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) 

LIDAR is an electro-optical phenomenology using 

laser pulses in the visible and infrared portions of the 

electromagnetic spectrum. The sensor emits a pulse of 

laser light toward an object, which reflects some of the 

energy to the sensor. The time it takes for the energy to 

return provides elevation values — shorter roundtrips 

indicate higher elevations; longer roundtrips indicate 

lower elevations. This process helps measure distances, 

heights and other characteristics of an object. The 

process can be used to develop 3-D models of an object, 

such as a building.

Persistent Wide-Area Surveillance

Persistent wide-area surveillance provides observation over a broad region to increase the chance of detecting a 

specific activity. When coupled with software-based analytical tools that sort through large amounts of data, analysts 

can track that activity forward in real time or backwards forensically.

DLR, CC-BY 3.0 NGA © Sanborn Map Co.
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| MISSION TODAY • GEOINT SOURCES

AIRBORNE

Airborne GEOINT comprises still imagery, full-motion video 

(FMV), moving target indicator (MTI), wide-area motion imagery 

(WAMI) and LIDAR sources of collection at the forefront for 

tactical missions around the globe. Manned and unmanned 

airborne sensors provide the best means of full-spectrum 

persistent surveillance. The sensors combine the ability to conduct 

multiple visits and dwell on targets for extended periods to help 

with change detection, characterizations of activities, observation 

of behavior and discovery of unknowns. NGA is integrating 

airborne capabilities with a variety of sensor packages into 

traditional GEOINT architectures to support imagery requirements throughout the IC. With persistent surveillance capability 

and unique collection capacity, airborne sources can maximize full-spectrum collection capacity through contributions to 

overall imaging plans and strategies.

OpenStreetMaps contributors

2008 U.S. Navy 

© 2017, DigitalGlobe

OPEN SOURCE

Geospatially referenced open-source intelligence (OSINT) 

includes traditional avenues, such as commercial, industrial 

and academic databases; traditional media sources; and 

increasing access to social media sites and content. Social 

media, which now includes greater amounts of georeferenced 

information, provides a unique, on-the-ground perspective 

of conflict regions, humanitarian disasters and other areas 

of interest. By combining geospatially referenced OSINT 

with other GEOINT sources, analysts may identify or confirm 

activities and events with greater confidence. 

COMMERCIAL GEOINT

NGA procures a full range of commercial products from 

commercial satellite operators and GEOINT service providers 

on behalf of the DOD and IC, including imagery data and 

commercial production and analytic services. Commercial 

capabilities include space-based panchromatic, multispectral, 

and radar imagery and a variety of airborne-based sensors. 

Commercial imagery is key to NGA’s foundation data mission. 

Since the imagery is unclassified, it is more easily shareable 

to support humanitarian and natural disaster missions and 

military operations with foreign partners. For example, infrared technology 

may be overlaid with foundational data, such as road networks and population 

centers, to develop a clear image of an emerging environmental disaster, such 

as the 2018 Washington State wildfires. Absent of this technology, any aerial 

imagery gathered would be rendered useless due to smoke coverage. The 

images can then be provided to the lead agency, such as FEMA, to inform 

decision-making efforts.

Commercial imagery supports more than 90% of foundation mapping efforts. In response 

to the wave of emerging commercial imagery providers, NGA is working with the National 

Reconnaissance Office to engage with the most mature providers to assess mission utility and possible 

access to operational data and services.
MISSION TOMORROW • PROVIDING THE GEOINT ADVANTAGE

28

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

PROVIDING THE 

GEOINT ADVANTAGE

RESEARCH

The NGA Research directorate mission is to deliver future GEOINT capabilities with 

operational impact. Research conducts initiatives across a broad spectrum of science 

and engineering disciplines and transforms them into disruptive GEOINT capabilities 

for U.S. national security. Research supports the NGA Strategy 2025 with Mission 

Today capabilities that deliver persistent, secure, timely, and relevant GEOINT data and 

services to IC, DOD and allied users. By creating and transitioning Mission Tomorrow 

capabilities, Research enables decision advantage with higher accuracy, more precison 

and faster access to quality information. Research applies emerging technologies to 

achieve NGA’s mission imperatives, which are the capabilities and functions NGA must 

do well to achieve asymmetric strategic advantage: 

• Assured positioning, navigation, timing and targeting

• Accelerated tasking orchestration

• Data access/integrity

• Analytic workflow modernization

Successful GEOINT comprises many science and technology disciplines, including 

remote sensing, photogrammetry, cartography, geodesy, earth sciences and imagery 

analysis. Other closely aligned disciplines include computer or data sciences, artificial 

intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, space systems, unmanned systems, 

environmental or agricultural studies, infrastructure, and logistics. 

Research leverages all these disciplines to create new concepts, technologies and 

capabilities from the best technical sources, regardless of whether they reside in NGA, 

mission partner organizations, academia, industry or small businesses. 

Research maintains a multidisciplinary program with academia that supports basic 

and applied research in GEOINT topics, including NGA Academic Research Program 

(NARP) grants to leading U.S. investigators, research universities and colleges. 

Research sponsors research projects with the U.S. military service academies, which 

engage many cadets and midshipmen. Research works with the U.S. Air Force and 

the undersecretary for intelligence and security to support the University of Maryland’s 

Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security, the only IC-focused 

University Affiliated Research Center. NGA Research regularly establishes agreements 

with numerous visiting scientists who hold master’s or doctorate degrees to support 

challenging research efforts. 

Research conducts NGA’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business 

Technology Transfer programs to improve NGA’s access to small innovative companies 

developing new GEOINT capabilities and tradecraft through advanced research or 

research and development. 

The NGA Research team of agile, diverse, inclusive, award-winning scientists and IC/

DOD leaders works within three focus areas to provide new capabilities for mission 

impact: foundational GEOINT, advanced phenomenologies and analytic technologies.
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| MISSION TOMORROW • PROVIDING THE GEOINT ADVANTAGE

Foundational GEOINT develops and delivers accurate, high-resolution, continually updated representations of the 

Earth’s properties, available on demand. Topics of interest include innovations advancing the GEOINT physical 

sciences in the areas of terrestrial/celestial reference frames; Earth gravitational models; world magnetic models; 

assured positioning, navigation and timing; resilience; and geo-positioning. 

Advanced phenomenologies employ novel methods and efficient strategies to acquire and improve spatially, 

spectrally and temporally resolved data from a rapidly expanding set of traditional and nontraditional sources. 

Critical topics of interest include the design and development of algorithms, components, and enabling technologies 

for detection, tracking, and identification of the most challenging targets in complex environments; sensing and 

real-time processing of both static and dynamic targets; novel source exploitation and optimization; collection 

technologies to optimize use of phenomenology sources; space situational awareness; information assurance; data 

integrity; and quality validation. 

Analytic technologies address emerging threats and expanded mission domains by developing novel analytic 

techniques that leverage new sources of data and deliver a geospatial dimension to multiple-intelligence analytics. 

These technologies provide accurate, timely, reliable and scalable methods for data exploitation, integration 

and analysis. Innovative, advanced processing techniques and enabling technologies of interest include analysis 

and tracking; derivation of GEOINT from nontraditional data in cyberspace; water security; image and video 

understanding; temporal and activity modeling and contextualization; event forecasting and prediction; knowledge 

and ontology modeling; artificial intelligence, to include novel learning techniques; social media analytics; locationbased insights; workflow effectiveness and analyst workflow modernization; human-machine interaction; tools that 

provide better human understanding of automated solutions; tools to guide algorithm and automation governance; 

and immersive GEOINT visualization tools.

NGA Research Labs support advanced GEOINT research with facilities, equipment, high-performance 

computing and expertise. Research labs are located close to operations, with five locations across the country. 

The labs improve collaboration and speed through physical and virtual environments designed to advance the 

implementation of emerging geospatial science and technology. Specific capabilities include high-performance 

computing, mission partner support, information technology support for artificial intelligence algorithm 

development and cloud integration expertise. 
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| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION MISSION TOMORROW • PROVIDING THE GEOINT ADVANTAGE

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION

The proliferation of data and imagery enabled by technological innovation in the commercial market is driving the 

need for faster and more agile IT systems and services to deliver GEOINT to NGA customers wherever and whenever 

they need it. This is especially true in conflict zones, when time is of the essence and connectivity is unreliable or 

nonexistent. NGA, as part of the larger IC, is committed to accelerating the speed, availability, value, usability, and 

security of intelligence through increased integration and information sharing and modernization of infrastructure, 

tools and services.

The mission capabilities described within this primer are possible only with a modern architecture to deliver and 

support them. NGA is engaging in digital transformation that will provide the connectivity, interoperability, bandwidth, 

storage capacity and cybersecurity protections necessary to incorporate data from traditional and new sources.

Transitioning from an “as-is” to an envisioned “to-be” architecture will evolve NGA’s IT systems from human-initiated 

processes to modeling and automation and will enable NGA to broker future transactions.

The desire for interoperability, information sharing and on-demand access to applications sparked NGA to partner 

with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to develop and deploy a common desktop environment (DTE). DTE 

efficiencies include standardized hardware, infrastructure, and software and the use of enterprise license agreements. 

DTE complies with the Collaborative Reference Architecture, issued by the IC Chief Information Office in 2018, which 

each IC organization must integrate into its existing infrastructure to ensure interoperability throughout the IC.

NGA is also enabling greater information integration by transitioning to a cloud environment on all security domains. 

The agency created a hybrid cloud strategy and migration plan at the end of 2015. NGA is implementing a strategic 

combination of commercially provided private clouds and NGA data centers to deploy mission applications and data. 

Benefits of cloud migration include cost effectiveness, flexibility, increased automation, high-performance scalability, 

agility and heightened security.

Cloud-based capabilities have enabled the introduction of several key services directly to support warfighters, 

humanitarian service providers, and other IC and DOD personnel working in theater.

NGA continues to modernize its systems, tools and services through its integrated program offices (IPOs), comprising 

a new business model for developing and acquiring IT capabilities. IPOs integrate people, budgets and mission 

throughout program lifecycles. Each IPO comprises a team of mission users — analysts, content providers and data 

scientists — and IT product and service providers, including software developers, systems and data engineers, and 

acquisition and cybersecurity personnel.

Protecting NGA’s IT infrastructure and data through cutting-edge cybersecurity and data assurance programs will 

continue to be at the forefront of all modernization and acquisition efforts. The agency continues to build an agile 

cybersecurity infrastructure that promotes a robust and resilient enterprise, maintaining full mission capability and 

ensuring trusted and accurate GEOINT under any circumstance.

GEOINT ASSURANCE

The global proliferation of geospatial data, capabilities and tradecraft has had a powerful and positive economic 

effect. Artificial intelligence-enhanced systems offer the potential to amplify the benefits of geospatial data even 

further. However, these same technologies could be used by adversaries to undermine shared understanding of the 

environment. The U.S. and its allies must strengthen protection of geospatial information to assure trust and confidence 

necessary for common awareness and decision advantage.
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| MISSION TOMORROW • PROVIDING THE GEOINT ADVANTAGE
OUR HERITAGE

32

| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION

OUR HERITAGE

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency

In the 1990s, amid the upheaval of an emerging postCold War world order and space-based technological 

advances, a radical new concept took shape. The idea 

— to merge imagery and mapping elements from across 

the DOD and IC — challenged conventional wisdom and 

threatened decades-long ways of doing business. The 

impetus for such a radical idea came from lessons learned 

after Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, which 

highlighted imagery and mapping shortfalls. 

To a handful of visionaries, the challenges exposed by the 

Gulf War provided an opportunity to reimagine imagery 

and mapping assets into a single entity — what eventually 

became the National Imagery and Mapping Agency 

(NIMA). Though initially resisted by many in the IC and 

DOD, NIMA garnered strong support from key individuals, 

such as Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch, who 

championed the concept. Thanks to their persistence, the 

NIMA concept became reality on Oct. 1, 1996. 

The success of the new agency would depend on the agility 

and determination of the thousands of men and women called 

on to redefine their work. With its formation, NIMA inherited 

the legacies of several imagery and mapping entities, 

including the complete absorption of the Defense Mapping 

Agency (DMA), the National Photographic Interpretation 

Center (NPIC), the Central Imagery Office, and the Defense 

Dissemination Program Office, as well as imagery elements 

from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence 

Agency (DIA), the National Reconnaissance Office, and the 

Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office.

Each of these predecessor organizations had a proud 

heritage of service to the nation, which had forged strong 

cultural identities among their respective workforces. 

Highlights of this service included the crucial role played by 

NPIC imagery analysts in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) 

and the significant contribution of DMA cartographers to 

negotiations in the Dayton Peace Accords (1995). In its 

early years, NIMA had to overcome a residual external 

resistance to the single-agency concept, as well as internal 

rivalries fostered by the competing inherited claims on 

workforce heritage and identity.

Despite these challenges, NIMA achieved several notable 

successes in its first years, including the Shuttle Radar 

Topography Mission. This groundbreaking collaboration 

with NASA and its research and development center, 

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, allowed NIMA to produce 

seamless, near-global Digital Terrain Elevation Data that 

remains a cornerstone of modern geospatial mapping 

and measurement. 

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Beginning in response to the terror attacks of September 

11, 2001, and continuing throughout their long aftermath, 

NIMA began cementing a greater unity of purpose among 

its various imagery and mapping elements. In the wake of 

such world-altering events, old agency rivalries were set 

aside as new synergies were recognized and exploited 

to meet the challenges of an emerging global landscape 

shaped by the War on Terrorism. Key innovations driven by 

this new battlespace included greater reliance on emerging 

technologies, such as Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which 

provided real-time airborne imagery, as well as the formal 

merger of imagery and mapping analysts in cells such as 

the Targeting Fusion Center.

In 2003, Congress recognized the transformative work 

happening across the agency by officially renaming 

NIMA the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 

More than just a name change, NGA cemented a new 

intelligence discipline — GEOINT — and gave rise to such 

developments as the establishment of the NSG, all of which 

ratified the innovative discipline and doctrine fueling the 

work of the agency. During these years, NGA provided 

distinguished support to military campaigns, including 

Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and 

played a pivotal role in the 2011 raid on the Osama bin 

Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Alongside its vital warfighter support role, NGA has 

accumulated a storied legacy in support of diverse 

domestic and international humanitarian and disaster relief 

efforts, working in conjunction with such organizations 

as FEMA. These partnerships have helped bring stability 

to hard-hit communities facing every kind of natural 

disaster, spanning the likes of hurricanes, earthquakes 

and tornadoes, as well as humanitarian crises, such as 

the Ebola epidemic of 2014. NGA’s GEOINT expertise 

has also been used to combat criminal activities across 

the globe, including work to hinder the production and 

distribution of narcotics and wildlife trafficking. 

Since the inception of NGA, the global landscape 

— and the threats emerging from that landscape — 

have continued to evolve. GEOINT has been a critical 

pioneer and partner in the fight against both long-term 

problems, such as climate change, and unforeseen 

vulnerabilities, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. From 

its position as both a combat support agency and 

intelligence agency, NGA remains at the forefront of 

meeting the challenges of the 21st century, so we can 

help show the way to a better tomorrow.

Know the Earth ... Show the Way ... Understand the World
33

| OUR HERITAGE
34| NGA: AN INTRODUCTION
35| CORE VALUES • SHOW THE WAY
For public queries, please contact NGA’s 

Office of Corporate Communications 

at 571.557.5400 or publicaffairs@nga.mil.

For congressional office and staff requests 

for additional information, maps, charts 

or other GEOINT products, please contact 

NGA’s Congressional Affairs Division at 

571.557.5300 or OCCL@nga.mil.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

7500 GEOINT Drive

OCC 200916-001

Approved for public release, 21-270