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National Reconnaissance Journal

02.08.06 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The National Reconnaissance Office has published a new Journal in unclassified format.

“National Reconnaissance: Journal of the Discipline and Practice” is intended “for the education and information of the NRO community” and to promote “the study, dialogue, and understanding of the discipline, practice, and history of national reconnaissance.”

The centerpiece of the first issue is a critical article originally published in 2002 by Robert J. Kohler, a former CIA and NRO official on “The Decline of the National Reconnaissance Office.” It is followed by a rejoinder from NRO deputy director Dennis Fitzgerald, a newly updated reply from Mr. Kohler, and a further response from Mr. Fitzgerald.

In what may be a reflection of NRO ambivalence about publishing an unclassified journal, the new publication is not available on the agency web site. Nor would the NRO Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance agree to provide the journal in softcopy.

But a scanned copy of the full text of the journal is now available on the Federation of American Scientists web site (thanks to J).

See “National Reconnaissance: Journal of the Discipline and Practice,” first unclassified issue, 2005.

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