Brief Histories of U.S. Government Agencies Volume Five by Michael Erbschloe - HTML preview

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is the nation's primary source of geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Intelligence Community. As a DOD combat support agency and a member of the IC, NGA provides GEOINT, in support of U.S. national security and defense, as well as disaster relief. GEOINT is the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information that describes, assesses and visually depicts physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) delivers world-class geospatial intelligence that provides a decisive advantage to policymakers, warfighters, intelligence professionals and first responders. 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 even 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 geospatial intelligence (GEOINT).

NGA is a unique combination of intelligence agency and combat support agency. It is the world leader in timely, relevant, accurate and actionable GEOINT. NGA enables the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense (DOD) to fulfill the president’s national security priorities to protect the nation. NGA also anticipates its partners’ future needs and advances the GEOINT discipline to meet them.

NGA is the lead federal agency for GEOINT and manages a global consortium of more than 400 commercial and government relationships. The director of NGA serves as the functional manager for GEOINT, the head of the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) and the coordinator of the global Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence (ASG). In its multiple roles, NGA receives guidance and oversight from DOD, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Congress.

NGA is headquartered in Springfield, Va. and has two major locations in St. Louis and Arnold, Mo. Hundreds of NGA employees serve on support teams at U.S. military, diplomatic and allied locations around the world.

1. NGA delivers the strategic intelligence that allows the president and national policymakers to make crucial decisions on counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, global political crises and more.
2. NGA enables the warfighter to plan missions, gain battlefield superiority, precisely target the adversary and protect our military forces.
3. NGA provides timely warnings to the warfighter and national decision makers by monitoring, analyzing and reporting imminent threats. Often, NGA has the only “eyes” focused on global hot spots and can give unique insight into these critical areas.
4. NGA protects the homeland by supporting counterterrorism, counternarcotics, and border and transportation security. NGA supports security planning for special events, such as presidential inaugurations, state visits by foreign leaders, international conferences and major public events (Olympics, Super Bowls, satellite launchings, etc.).
5. NGA ensures safety of navigation in the air and on the seas by maintaining the most current information and highest quality services for U.S. military forces and global transport networks.
6. NGA defends the nation against cyber threats by supporting other intelligence agencies with in-depth analysis of cyber networks.
7. NGA creates and maintains the geospatial foundation data, knowledge and analysis that enable all other missions.
8. NGA assists humanitarian and disaster relief efforts by working directly with the lead federal agencies responding to fires, floods, earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes or other natural or manmade disasters.

NGA employs approximately 14,500 government civilians, military members and contractors, with approximately two-thirds of the workforce located at the NGA Headquarters at NGA Campus East, on Fort Belvoir North Area in Springfield, Va., and approximately one-third of the workforce located at NGA's two St. Louis facilities.

NGA releases items of general public interest on its public website, which includes information about NGA, unclassified current publications, speeches and congressional testimony, press releases and statements, career information, and basic references. Also available are GEOINT products and services, a data catalogue, and mobile and web applications.

By statutory and presidential direction, NGA is limited in the collection of foreign intelligence concerning the domestic activities of US citizens. NGA's mission is to provide timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security. Under Executive Order 12333, and in accordance with procedures approved by the Attorney General of the United States, however, NGA is restricted in the collection of intelligence information directed against US citizens. Collection is allowed only for an authorized intelligence purpose; for example, if there is a reason to believe that an individual is involved in international terrorist or international narcotics activities. NGA also provides intelligence support to domestic disaster relief and special security events in the United States. All of NGA's activities are to be conducted in a manner that protects fully the legal rights of all United States persons, including the freedoms, civil liberties, and privacy rights guaranteed by the Constitution and Federal law.

History

Content Intelligence based upon the Earth’s physical and man-made attributes—and the art and science of interpreting that information—began to change well before the tragedy of September 11, 2001. By combining America’s most advanced imagery and geospatial assets within the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in 1996, the U.S. created a much-needed critical mass of skills and technologies under a single mission umbrella. As a result, the intelligence community was able to take its geospatial products to a new level. With the creation of NGA in 2003, this area of intelligence took another leap forward, allowing us to integrate multiple sources of information, intelligence and tradecrafts to produce an innovative and sophisticated new discipline that then NGA director James Clapper formally christened as geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT.

The change of name from NIMA to NGA had little to do with semantics and much to do with achieving greater insight into GEOINT. Using this new paradigm, intelligence professionals were better able to exploit and analyze imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess and visually depict physical features and human activity on the Earth. Today, NGA continues to deliver these vital intelligence products in responding to, and anticipating, our nation’s most critical national security challenges. GEOINT enables our nation’s leaders to make the best policy decisions possible. It also supports military partners’ tactical and operational missions abroad. More than ever, this agency works hard to put GEOINT in the hands of our customers— when, where and how they need it.

From the discovery of atrocities in Kosovo, to support for the cities hosting the Olympics, through the response to Hurricane Katrina, and work in Haiti and Japan, NGA has provided critical GEOINT support when our nation needed it most. In the White House report reviewing the response to Hurricane Katrina, NGA was specifically commended for its timely response during the crisis. NGA helped track down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin and shared insights with the special operations team that successfully stormed his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 1, 2011.

(Link: http://www.dia.mil/About/History/)