|
||
|
24 October 2013 Inside Defense Spying Agency Situation Center Three parts, earliest to latest.
Inside the Looking Glass: Watching the world with the Defense
Monday - 10/21/2013, 9:19am ET J.J. Green WTOP's J.J. Green recently was granted an exclusive look at the Defense Intelligence Agency's situation center. In this three-part series, he talks with DIA Director Michael T. Flynn about the agency's global monitoring capabilities, the threats facing the United States and the future of intelligence efforts. WASHINGTON - It's 9:51 a.m. on Aug. 23 at the Defense Intelligence Agency headquarters. Army Lt. Gen. and DIA Director Michael T. Flynn surprises everyone in the room when he stands up and tells his staff, "Twenty minutes and I'll be back." "Yes, sir -- got it," responds one of his aides. With several staffers trailing him, Flynn then sets out with this reporter for a secret place that no journalist has ever seen. "I want to show you a place, because it will give you an impression ... of our ability to watch the world," Flynn says. The fast-paced, unprecedented walk through one of the most secretive places in the intelligence community is punctuated by the fact that an audio recording device is allowed to capture it all. "You're moving from the new building, which is -- we're on Bolling Air Force Base -- and you're moving to the old building," says Flynn as the tour progresses. Layer by layer, he unveils the DIA's enormous global responsibility, which boils down to one thing: preventing the U.S. from being blindsided by strategic surprise. This mission breaks down into further areas of focus, Flynn says. "There's something called tactical surprise, something called strategic surprise and there's clairvoyance," he says, keeping a steady pace and walking briskly toward the agency's situation center. Negotiating a series of elevator rides, floors, twists and turns in the building, Flynn points out the difficulty of clairvoyance. "You just can't predict the classic black swan or aw-shucks moment that occurs when you wish you knew what was going to happen," he says. Flynn believes in order to avoid tactical and strategic surprises, the agency has to be able to operate within and understand what's happening in any given environment. He points out that when looking at the ever-changing intelligence enigma that is today's world, there often are missing pieces the DIA has to account for in its analytical efforts. Dealing with "strategic surprise for me, it's kind of like every day we're trying to put together this 5,000-piece (jigsaw) puzzle but we don't have the box top to look at," Flynn says. "As something begins to build up -- it may be the underpinnings of an insurgency or the thriving or lack of or the hopelessness within a society -- (those elements) start to tell us things about something that may happen or not happen in a particular environment." The DIA needs to know what's happening everywhere at all times, so the agency has thousands of personnel spread out across 142 countries, in multiple war zones and simmering hot spots. This means there is a constant blast of information and threats flowing back to Flynn, and just as many decisions that have to be made. Nearing the entrance of the situation center, he is asked how he keeps up with it all. "Really trusting the leaders that we have" and rising very early each day, he says. "It starts probably about 4:30 every morning," Flynn says. "It's like eating five meals a day instead of sitting down at dinner. It's constantly being fed to you. I have to discipline myself in what I call my own battle rhythm." As the door to the agency situation center begins to slowly open, the rhythm he speaks of is clearly present inside this top-secret world.
Tomorrow in Part 2: Inside the DIA's top-secret situation center.
http://wtop.com/215/3488081/Inside-the-DIAs-eye-on-the-world Inside the Looking Glass: A peek at the DIA's eye on the world Tuesday - 10/22/2013, 9:21am ET J.J. Green WASHINGTON - He takes his ID badge and swipes twice at the key card reader. He pulls the door and, with a heavy click, it separates from the locking device and opens. Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), steps in and ushers a WTOP reporter into a place that no journalist previously had been. "This is our global operations center ...," Flynn says. "This is our situational awareness room and the responsibility of the folks in here is to maintain as high a level of situational awareness of things going on around the globe as they possibly can." The center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in part because the DIA has personnel in 240 locations around the world, many of whom are involved in intelligence-gathering operations. Prior to Flynn's arrival in the center, word got out that he was coming with a guest. The scramble to secure the room is still in progress as Flynn enters, computer screens and video monitors fading to black as personnel try to sanitize the huge, high-tech room. Personnel hastily turn over documents and hush their conversations. Some even walk away from the area where Flynn is standing and talking. "We have all the screens off right now, so you're looking at a 36-panel flat-screen display," he says, describing the agency's intense effort to stay ahead of global threats to the U.S. Even though the screens are dark, the sheer number of video-feed panels, the abundance of double-monitored computer screens and the center's organization speak volumes about the DIA's commitment to not be taken by surprise. "They're viewing different pieces of information from different parts of the world," Flynn says. "They're looking at Pacific Command, Africa Command, they're looking at the Middle East." "We also do our cyberdefense activities from this location," he adds. The personnel in the room are both military and civilian, including federal intelligence agency partners. All of them, Flynn says, are "amazing." "The talent in here, the quality of the people we have in here is unbelievable," he says. "I could never compete, if I was a young person coming in with (the training) I had in the past." Flynn describes the center as a "big ol' aorta coming out of the heart of this organization." "It pumps information out all the time," he says. "And if I need something I can always call back here at any time." That call can be made in a highly secure manner, even when Flynn is at home. "I live on a military base and when you're in these jobs, it's a 24-hour-a-day job," he says. "There is a capability in my quarters to be able to access everything I need to access -- phones, communications, email, things like that." With that comment, Flynn turns and says, "We have to head back." A high-ranking foreign counterpart is waiting for him in his office. The three minutes and 45 seconds inside the DIA window on the world are an eye-opener.
http://www.wtop.com/807/3490243/Inside-the-Looking-Glass-The-staggering Inside the Looking Glass: The staggering pace of change Thursday - 10/24/2013, 8:08am ET By J.J. Green WASHINGTON - The Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) ability to survey the world from its top-secret operations center faces a huge challenge when confronting a new phenomenon that's not yet fully understood. It's the accelerating speed of global change. Aside from the impossible challenge of trying to be everywhere at once, U.S. intelligence agencies are concerned about the swift manner in which new threats can emerge. U.S. intelligence officials say geopolitical upheaval has become much more frequent than in past years and an escalating number of disputes between countries over land and water can bring nations to the brink of armed conflict almost overnight. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, director of the DIA, has taken note of the dangerous speed of global alterations. "There's something called Moore's Law," he says during an exclusive interview with WTOP in his office. "It was conceived back around the mid-90s to late-90s and it talked about the pace of technologic change taking place every 18 months." "I don't know what the new law is, but Moore's Law is outdated," he adds ardently. "Technologic change is occurring from what I see and from what we are experiencing at a much, much faster rate of speed." Weapons of mass destruction now pose threats to larger portions of the world because of technological improvements in weapons delivery systems. In fact, Flynn and other U.S intelligence leaders say the speed at which the world and technology move is among the greatest threats the U.S. has ever faced. Several intelligence officials who've spoken to WTOP in the last two years concur, agreeing that technology also makes militant groups equally as dangerous as some nation-states. "Non-state threats, these militia groups, and the convergence of militias and terrorist organizations like al-Qaida" represent a significant threat to the U.S. homeland and interests abroad, Flynn says. The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. government workers was an example of the speed at which an event with potential deadly consequences can develop. U.S. officials say within hours of what was perceived to be a protest outside the consulate, the ambassador and some of his staff were dead. What happened in Benghazi "was a tactical surprise," Flynn says. He will not elaborate. Terror organizations and militants like those involved in the Benghazi attacks are said to be finding new ways to more effectively launch attacks. Some now use social media technology to communicate with each other. They also appear to use it to further the goal of terrorism: instilling fear. Flynn's concern is that someday, they could use other developing technology to execute their threats. After the interview, Flynn granted WTOP a surprise and unprecedented tour of the DIA's secret global operations center. Among the places the agency keeps a close eye on is Africa. Two areas in particular -- North and East Africa -- consume much of the agency's time. Libya was the target of a U.S. government raid in early October to capture a wanted al-Qaida operative living openly in Tripoli. Another raid in Somalia the same weekend failed to capture a top al-Shabab leader but left a Navy SEALs calling card. It's believed DIA intelligence supported both of these operations. The scope of the challenge for U.S. national security officials in Africa, which is home to several al-Qaida franchise groups, is the continent's size. "The length of the East Coast of the USA is only the length of the coastline of Somalia," says Flynn. Other worrisome issues and areas include the growing number and intensity of cyberattacks against the U.S., nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea and the civil war in Syria. "I've been in the intelligence business for 32 years now and have worked at every single level and have been deployed multiple times," Flynn says. "I would say that this environment that we're in today is by far and historically among the most complex environments that we have ever been in." Complicating that environment is China. The U.S. government has publicly reported China's engagement in high-level economic espionage against U.S. companies and the government. To some experts, China's rapid military buildup and espionage efforts against the U.S., along with the fact that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was granted temporary refuge in Hong Kong, establish the country as a U.S. enemy. Others say that China's ownership of more than a trillion dollars in U.S. debt links the two economies very closely, making an adversarial relationship between the countries a non-starter for both. Considering China's rapid growth and position on the world stage -- and its close relationship with the U.S. -- Flynn says, "We should not view China as an adversary." As the pace of change drives competition, threats and potential conflicts, Flynn believes the DIA has the resources to keep the U.S. ahead of it all. "We have people in 142 countries around the world, 240 locations, speaking multiple languages, doing multiple things," he says. "They do it very quietly and they're not looking for any credit."
|