Intelligence Agencies In The United States

The key intelligence agencies in the United States of America come under the Intelligence Community (IC). The total number of those agencies is 16, which plays a role in homeland security. The role they serve is to provide services in foreign policy and security on the national level. Following are the 16 agencies and their roles:

1. Twenty-fifth Air Force: This intelligence agency is also referred to as Air Force Intelligence, which serves the role of providing intelligence reports on geospatial forces and cyber expertise.
2. United States Army Intelligence and Security Command: This agency is commonly known as INSCOM and provides services to both national security agencies and the army. Their role is to look after combats and provide information to the army that is fighting wars on the ground. The situation development information during the war is the key role of this agency.
3. Central Intelligence Agency: The CIA reports to Homeland Security and provides information regarding national security by serving all around the world.
4. Coast Guard Intelligence: The key role of this intelligence agency is to provide information to the homeland and protect the economic well-being of the country through providing services on international waters.
5. Defense Intelligence Agency: This intelligence agency provides services by analyzing foreign politics in terms of the military and provides a role in the foreign military and armed assistance.
6. Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence: The key role of this IA is to provide information regarding foreign intelligence agencies.
7. Office of Intelligence and Analysis: This intelligence agency protects the nuclear and other weapons of America and informs about the possible threat to armed assets.
8. Bureau of Intelligence and Research: This intelligence agency serves the diplomats regarding the possible security threats to them.
9. Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence: It analyzes the use of financial funds which are spent on terrorist activities and tracks down the records of those funds.
10. Office of National Security Intelligence: It deals with all the drug-related issues in the country and provides assistance in tracking down drug dealers.
11. Intelligence Branch: They provide surveillance services by analyzing information sharing to track down possible threats to national security.
12. Marine Corps Intelligence Activity: Their key role is to provide training to the army and to develop the doctrine, structure, and education that help the army in wartime.
13. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: This agency provides information on the geospatial of the world by operating satellites. Additionally, they serve the security of all major events in America.
14. National Reconnaissance Office: This agency designs and creates the satellite system, which serves the purpose of giving security to the national level.
15. National Security Agency/Central Security Service: It provides security and protection to national-level data, which serves the purpose of providing security to America.
16. Office of Naval Intelligence: This agency was established to provide security and intelligence services to the naval army.

After the Revolutionary War, the government of the United States of America realized that there should be intelligence agencies which could provide services to national security. During the establishment of these agencies, intelligence services were acquired by private agencies, and the job was related to freelance work. George Washington was the first president to take the initiative and establish it. The first agency was the CIA, which grew over a period of time and served all the purposes that are now being served by almost 16 agencies. After the Second World War and the civil rights movement, the intelligence community started to become strong and was serving the United States. It purely depends upon the serving president and the policies built by that president. After 9/11, the United States decided to have a separate institute which would serve the purpose of providing security at national and international levels.

The National Director of Intelligence first served the purpose of providing services to national security, which was part of the National Security Act in 1947, but later on, after 9/11, which was the major failure in providing security. It lost its place of serving the top position of 16 agencies, and it still faces the controversy of not being able to provide a sufficient amount of services to prevent terrorist attacks. Still, the ongoing debate is suggesting to shut it down because of its failure. The work of ODNI is still remarkable, and working for the security of the nation, change is needed in policy-making so that these agencies can work independently.

While conducting the specific process, the intelligence agency goes through several steps of intelligence to complete the project. The following are some of the steps and their description:

• Planning and Direction: It requires extensive planning, and after that, they decide the direction of each step which has been decided in the planning.
• Collection: The collection of data is being done in both ways, openly and then secretly. Both types of data serve an equal amount of help in doing the project.
• Processing: The processing step in the cycle is according to the nature of the data. The translation and description of the collected data are provided through the processing phase.
• Analysis and Production: The analysis and production step in the cycle is done by the distribution of the data to relevant tasks, which will be undertaken by the concerned department.
• Dissemination: The final step is the dissemination of the final report to policymakers so that they can implement those reports.

There are 4 significant and important types of categories of intelligence through which homeland security agencies work. The following are those categories:

• Cyber Intelligence: This type of intelligence serves the purpose of providing security to all cyber threats.
• Counterterrorism: All terrorist activities are being taken care of under this category.
• Counterprofliferatiion: This category deals with the threats related to mass destruction by using proliferation weapons.
• Counterintelligence: The threat to national security from the national intelligence agencies is being dealt with under this category.

The security agency, which helps in providing security to the border, helps in both economic and security because it helps in stopping the illegal transportation of weapons and also serves to stop the illegal trade through borders. The illegal flow of immigrants into the country affects baldy on the socioeconomic condition of the country.

DHS services regarding the following:

• Immigrants: They provide services to scrutinize all visa-related issues by looking into all the applications. They provide the assurance to which person by issuing the visa, keeping in view the national security.
• Border Security: They provide security and look after all the movement which goes through the border. They prevent the entrance of people who will be a possible threat to the law and order situation in the country.
• Custom enforcement: They conduct interviews with all the people who are migrating and travelling to the country.

They had built the rapid build-up of security-focused immigration policies, which ensure the border movement and immigration of legitimate travellers by scrutinizing and designing the questions which are assessed.

There are various modes of travel to the United States of America, and different set policies help the government to protect those routes, which eventually leads to strong national security. Some of the routes are as follows:

• Road: After the incident of 9/11, all the security agencies take extra precautionary measures to facilitate free movement by undertaking security checks on the movement through roads. The Federal Highway Administration is responsible for providing security.
• Air: Air transportation security is being provided by the Transportation Security Administration in the United States of America. It was established after the 9/11 incident. There are screening officers at the airport who provide assessment in the customs.
• Railroad: The Federal Railway Administration is responsible for providing security to all travel by railroad in the United States of America.

A wide range of transportation modes is being used for the movement of people and goods from one place to another. The key role of the transportation system in a country like the United States of America is that it is a global partner, and the movement consists of people and goods from all over the world. It is the basis and most crucial requirement for the government to set the standard by prioritizing the allocation of budgets to provide security and protection. Considering all means of travel to the United States of America, the risk assessment will play a key role in setting the standards and help in prioritizing. Following are some of the transportation systems which require the efficiency and allocation of the budget should be done accordingly:

• Creating road space.
• Space-efficient modes.
• Freight rail investigation helps assess the commodities that are being transported.
• Shipping security.
• Traffic management.
• Institutional reforms.
• Safety and security needs.

The vulnerability of transportation modes can be violated and exploited by terrorists, which increases the chances of hazards. Along with security, transportation needs extra care because of climate change, which can also be a possible threat.