Defense Clandestine Service
,_Defense_Intelligence_Agency_(DIA).png) |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceding Agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters |
| Employees | 500 |
| Agency executive | |
| Website | www.dia.mil |
The Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) is an arm of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which conducts clandestine espionage activities around the world to answer national-level defense objectives for senior U.S. policymakers and military leaders. Staffed by civilian and military personnel, DCS is part of DIA's Directorate of Operations and works in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations and the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command. DCS consists of about 500 clandestine operatives, which is roughly how many case officers the CIA maintained in the early 2000s prior to its expansion.
Contrary to some public and media misunderstanding, DCS is not a "new" intelligence agency but rather a consolidation, expansion and realignment of existing Defense HUMINT activities, which have been carried out by DIA for decades under various names, most recently as the Defense Human Intelligence Service.
In 2012, the Pentagon announced its intention to ramp up spying operations against high-priority targets, such as Iran and China, under an intelligence reorganization aimed at expanding the military’s espionage efforts beyond war zones. To this end, the DIA consolidated its existing human intelligence capabilities into the Defense Clandestine Service, with plans to work closely with the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command.
DCS absorbed the former Defense HUMINT Service, the former Defense Human Intelligence and Counterterrorism Center, the Counterintelligence Field Activity, and the Strategic Support Branch to create an integrated Department of Defense (DOD) espionage service. DCS' more clearly delineated career paths would give DIA case officers better opportunities to continue their espionage assignments abroad.
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