Defense Clandestine Service The Defense Clandestine Service ( DCS ) is the clandestine arm of the Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) , which conducts espionage activities around the world to answer national - level defense objectives for the President , the Secretary of Defense , and senior U . S . policymakers . Staffed by civilian and military personnel , the DCS is a consolidation of the former Defense Human Intelligence Service of the DIA . The DCS works in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency ' s National Clandestine Service and the United States military ' s Joint Special Operations Command . History . In 2012 the Pentagon announced its intention to ramp up spying operations against high - priority targets such as Iran and China under an intelligence reorganization aimed at expanding on the military ’ s espionage efforts beyond war zones . To this end , the DIA consolidated its existing human intelligence capabilities into the Defense Clandestine Service , which will work closely with the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command . Similar to how the National Clandestine Service subsumed the former Director of Operations at the CIA in 2005 , DCS absorbed the former Defense HUMINT Service , the former Defense Human Intelligence and Counterterrorism Center , the Counterintelligence Field Activity , and the Strategic Support Branch to create an integrated Department of Defense espionage service . Further , DCS ' more clearly delineated career paths will give the DIA case officers better opportunities to continue their espionage assignments abroad . The plan was developed in response to a classified study completed in 2011 by the Director of National Intelligence that concluded that the military ’ s espionage efforts needed to be more focused on major targets beyond the tactical considerations of Iraq and Afghanistan . While in the past DIA was effectively conducting its traditional , and much larger , mission of providing intelligence to troops and commanders in war zones , it needed to focus more attention outside the battlefields on what is called “ national intelligence ” - gathering and distributing information on global issues and sharing that intelligence with other agencies . The realignment is expected to affect several hundred operatives who already work in spying assignments abroad , mostly as case officers for the DIA , which serves as the Pentagon ’ s main source of human intelligence and analysis . The new service is expected to grow from several hundred to an estimated 1 , 600 operatives and is intended to rival the espionage network of the CIA . The original Defense Clandestine Service , an outgrowth of the Monarch Eagle concept , was created and implemented in 1984 . It was backed by Senators Barry Goldwater and Jesse Helms , with the support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General John Vessey , Assistant Secretary of the Army - M & RA William Clark , and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Frank Aurilio . It consolidated the clandestine intelligence programs of each of the Military Services into a single DOD program , thus eliminating duplication of effort , and importantly , to provide a promotion path for case officers to achieve flag rank . The Goldwater - Nichols Act was specifically designed to support this objective as service at the DOD level would count towards the Joint - Service requirement to achieve flag rank . The objective of the DOD Clandestine Service was to target intelligence gaps in countries regarded as potential adversaries or sites of activities requiring a military response ; these gaps had gone unaddressed under CIA priorities . DOD case officers were carefully selected and trained ; most had advanced degrees , spoke multiple languages , and were area experts . The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence praised the program for its exceptional productivity . By the mid - 1990s , the program had been undercut by President Clinton ' s Directors of Central Intelligence who preferred to be in full control of all espionage operations .