Wednesday, July 22, 2015

UPDATES ON SPY AGENCY HAPPENINGS- 7/22/2015

Central Intelligence Agency: The Central Inclusiveness Agency CIA Director John Brennan says America’s top spies are not diverse enough, and he’s doing something about it.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Before his arrest, agents observed Ciccolo purchase a pressure cooker similar to the one used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, according to prosecutors. Under the photo of a man holding a machete, was written “another day in the forest strengthening myself” and next to the image of a dead American soldier, was written “Thank you Islamic State!”

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA): The agency still relies heavily on its classified operations, but in recent months, NGA Director Robert Cardillo announced a “seismic shift” underfoot that elevated the importance of unclassified sources of intelligence. To drive that effort, the agency has launched the “GEOINT Pathfinder” team to answer intelligence questions with unclassified data, agile acquisition tools and commercial technology.

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA): More than a dozen senior DEA officers have filed lawsuits alleging retaliation, reprisals and career derailments because of their military service.

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA): The ribbon was cut on the Missile and Space Intelligence Center's Explosive Ordinance Exploitation Complex on Redstone Arsenal. The center will help in the assessment of foreign weapons systems. The Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. General Vincent Stewart applauded the center. "This business is about how we understand our adversary, how we defeat our adversary, even before we go to combat," said Lt. Gen. Stewart. "The means we've got to understand their technology, we've got to fully exploit their technology, we've got to be ready."

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO): Flying with an upgraded first stage, United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV rocket will be targetting the deployment the seventh Wideband Global Satcom communications satellite on Thursday. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station has been moved to a 39-minute window opening at 20:07 local time on Thursday, following the weather-related postponement of Wednesday’s opportunity. The launch is the thirty-seventh orbital launch attempt of 2015 and the Delta IV’s second of two launches planned this year following March’s successful deployment of the GPS IIF-9 satellite. The Delta IV will next be in action in February 2016 with a Medium+(5,2) vehicle deploying the NROL-45 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association Of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). He is author of the spy series "Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster in the Caribbean."

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