Index

Answers to Advance Questions

Dr. Stephen A. Cambone

Nominee for the Position of
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Defense Reforms

More than a decade has passed since the enactment of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 and the Special Operations reforms.

Duties

What is your understanding of the duties and functions of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence? My understanding is that, if confirmed, my primary responsibility will be to assist the Secretary of Defense in discharging his intelligence-related responsibilities under Title 10 and Title 50 U.S.C.:

Other responsibilities of the USD/I are to ensure, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense, that:

What background and experience do you possess that you believe qualifies you to perform these duties? If confirmed, I believe my past experience qualifies me to perform the duties of USD/I. I was a consumer of intelligence while serving on the staff of the Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory in the early 1980s and as the Director of Strategic Defense Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the early 1990s. I served as Staff Director for two Congressional commissions--The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (1998) and The Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization (2000). This collective experience has provided me a broad foundation of knowledge on the collection, analysis and production of intelligence, as well as the organization, technical capabilities and operations of the intelligence community.

The positions I have occupied in the Department since January of 2001 -- the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and to the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Principal Deputy to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; and now as Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation -- have given me day-to-day experience with Defense intelligence as well as the broader intelligence community both as a consumer and in preparation of policy and programmatic guidance. For example, in my current position, I have been actively engaged in the development of elements of the FY 2004 budgets for the National Foreign Intelligence Program, the Joint Military Intelligence Program and the Tactical Intelligence and Related Activities aggregate.

Do you believe that there are actions you need to take to enhance your ability to perform the duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence? If confirmed, the single most important action will be to rely on and appoint individuals from throughout the DoD and the intelligence community who are highly skilled and experienced in intelligence and in intelligence resource management and acquisition, operations and policy to positions of responsibility and authority within the OUSD/I. They will be critical to the tasks of identifying information resident in the intelligence community of interest to Defense users and finding ways to ensure the timely delivery of that information.

Assuming you are confirmed, what duties and functions do you expect that the Secretary of Defense would prescribe for you? If I am confirmed, I expect that I will:

Relationships

In carrying out your duties, how will you work with the following?

Major Challenges and Problems

In your view, what are the major challenges that will confront the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence? If confirmed, I believe I will have three major challenges:

Priorities

If confirmed, what broad priorities would you establish in terms of issues that must be addressed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence? If confirmed, I will establish the following priorities:

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence

The establishment of your position would appear to have a significant impact on the future organization of ASD/C3I. Clearly, there is a close association between the “C3” functions and intelligence.

Information Superiority

Many have described the major responsibility of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence as “information superiority.”

Terrorist Threat Integration Center

In his recent State of the Union speech, President Bush announced the establishment of a new Terrorist Threat Integration Center to facilitate the fusion of information about terrorist threats from various intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Homeland Defense

Over the past year, with the establishment of the positions of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense, the Department of Defense has been fundamentally reorganized to better address the critical homeland defense mission.

Transformation

Secretary Rumsfeld has established transformation of the Armed Forces to meet 21st century threats as one of his highest priorities.

Defense Intelligence Agencies

The defense intelligence structure has evolved over the years, most recently with the creation of the Defense Human Intelligence Service in 1996 and the establishment of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in 1997.

Human Intelligence

The Secretary of Defense has indicated that he would like to have enhanced human intelligence capabilities within the Department of Defense.

Need for Independent Intelligence Analysis

There is an absolute requirement that intelligence analysis be independent and free of political pressure to reach a certain conclusion including a conclusion that fits a particular policy preference.

Total Information Awareness (TIA) Program

The Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA) has developed a “Total Information Awareness” program, to develop and integrate information technologies that would enable the government to sift through multiple databases and sources to detect, classify and identify potential terrorist activities.

Control of Intelligence Agencies Within the Department of Defense

Some have suggested that the Director of Central Intelligence should be given sole control over all programming and budget execution of Federal Government intelligence programs, including those within the Department of Defense.

Acquisition Programs

Both the National Security Agency and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency have sizeable development and procurement programs underway intending to modernize their abilities to support their customers’ intelligence needs.

Department of Homeland Security

Administration officials have indicated that the Department of Homeland Security, while being a customer of the new Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), will also have an analysis group with an operational role aimed at obtaining a picture of threat situation in the United States and addressing vulnerabilities. Additionally, processing intelligence information collected from components of the Department of Homeland Security, such as the Coast Guard, INS, and Border Patrol, will be one of the tasks that must be accomplished.

Congressional Oversight

In order to exercise its legislative and oversight responsibilities, it is important that this Committee and other appropriate committees of the Congress are able to receive testimony, briefings, and other communications of information.


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