Defense Intelligence Agency.

Since its creation in 1961, the Defense Intelligence Agency has made vital contributions to U.S. national security efforts. The concept of a Defense Intelligence Agency developed between 1945 and 1961, when several independent boards recommended creating a unified military intelligence agency to address problems in intelligence production and management. Efforts languished until Robert McNamara — Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy — established DIA in the summer of 1961. Soon afterward, on 1 October, DIA became operational as the nation’s primary producer of foreign military intelligence.

In its first decade, DIA immediately faced two defining events of the Cold War: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. On one hand, decision makers lauded DIA’s assistance during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but on the other hand, the Vietnam War exposed managerial shortcomings in the Agency that led to a period of change. In the 1970s, DIA underwent several transformations to improve its intelligence products. Despite declining resources and staffing, a series of energetic Directors strengthened the Agency’s managerial role and improved DIA’s cooperation within the Department of Defense and in the Intelligence Community. As a result, DIA began having a more substantial impact in major national security issues such as nuclear arms control negotiations, war planning, and intelligence estimation.

As Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union increased dramatically in the early 1980s, DIA improved its technological, collection, and managerial capabilities to meet the intelligence needs of both military commanders and national-level decision makers. DIA intelligence played a major role in strategic decisions about the Soviet Union, but also contributed to tactical and operational planning in the Caribbean and Central America. The Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act also designated DIA as a Combat Support Agency, enhancing its ability to provide actionable intelligence support to the Combatant Commands.

The Agency’s maturation paid major dividends in the post-Cold War era. In the buildup to hostilities in Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, DIA surged to activate an intelligence task force and expand its Operational Intelligence Crisis Center. DIA intelligence teams also spread out in theater and to U.S. Central Command to tailor intelligence support to Coalition forces in Iraq. Th e Agency has deployed National Intelligence Support Teams (NISTs) to locations such as Northern Iraq, Kenya, Somalia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, and Haiti. In 1992, the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications Systems (JWICS) and the Joint Deployable Intelligence Support System (JDISS) came on line, providing secure, high-speed, multi-media transmission of intelligence information. Th at same year, the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (AFMIC) and the Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC) became elements of DIA. The newly formed Defense HUMINT (Human Intelligence) Service (DHS) achieved its initial operating capacity in 1995, consolidating the HUMINT activities of all the Services under the umbrella of DIA.

In the twenty-first century, DIA continues to improve its ability to provide intelligence support to military operations. Following the attacks of 11 September 2001, DIA responded with timely and focused intelligence to combat al-Qaida and related terrorist networks and their sponsors throughout the world. In addition, the Agency has increased its deployment of personnel overseas. DIA has also responded to humanitarian crises, supporting rescue operations in the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunami in the Indian Ocean (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), and devastating earthquakes in Pakistan (2005) and Haiti (2010). Today, with more than 16,500 civilian and military employees, the Agency continues to provide a broad spectrum of intelligence support to operations around the globe.

DIA’s fiftieth anniversary that is being celebrated this year marks an important milestone in the history of the agency. For five decades DIA has provided timely and objective military intelligence to warfi ghters, defense planners, and policymakers. From the Cold War to the Gulf War, from the conflict in Vietnam to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, from confronting communism to battling terrorism, the talented and dedicated professionals of DIA have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to excellence in defense of the nation.