The person who is Director of Central Intelligence is simultaneously Director of the CIA and the leader of the Intelligence Community, of which CIA is but one component. The Intelligence Community refers in the aggregate to those Executive Branch agencies and organizations that conduct the variety of intelligence activities which make up the total US national intelligence effort. The Community includes the Central Intelligence Agency; the National Security Agency; the Defense Intelligence Agency; offices within the Department of Defense for collection of specialized national foreign intelligence through reconnaissance programs; the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department of State; Army, Navy, and Air Force intelligence; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Department of the Treasury; and the Department of Energy. Members of the Intelligence Community advise the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) through their representation on a number of specialized committees that deal with intelligence matters of common concern. Chief among these groups are the National Foreign Intelligence Board and the Intelligence Community Principals' Committee, which the DCI chairs. |