FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
13 October 2005

Fact Sheet

The Director of National Intelligence, John D. Negroponte, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Porter J. Goss, today announced the creation of the National Clandestine Service (NCS) at CIA.

The initiative will strengthen the direction and leadership of human intelligence throughout the Intelligence Community (IC). The plan reflects the thinking of some of the most seasoned veterans in human intelligence collection, men and women with decades of experience in the field.

In announcing this new approach, Director Goss said, "The decision to create the NCS at CIA underscores CIA’s proud position as the center of gravity for HUMINT in our Intelligence Community. No agency has greater skill and experience in this difficult, complex, and utterly vital discipline of intelligence." Goss added, "The announcement represents a grant of trust and an expression of confidence in CIA from the President, the DNI, and our partners throughout government."

The National Clandestine Service at CIA will incorporate the current Directorate of Operations and will be led by the Director of the National Clandestine Service (D/NCS) to whom the D/CIA will delegate his day-to-day National HUMINT Manager responsibilities. The D/NCS will coordinate, de-conflict, and assess HUMINT operations throughout the IC and will report directly to the D/CIA. The D/NCS will also work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to implement the DNI's statutory authorities.

The D/NCS will be assisted by two deputies -- one will lead the daily activities of the CIA's Clandestine Service while the other will focus on human intelligence activities across the IC.

"These changes hold the potential to make our HUMINT operations better than they were before—from training and tradecraft to technology and counterintelligence," Goss said. "They hold the potential to make our Intelligence Community even more of a Community. It is up to us to make that potential real, and in the process to make the United States safer and stronger. I have every confidence that we will meet that goal."