To do this job, the Agency is divided into four different teams. We call them directorates. In tackling any big job, it's easier if it's broken down into smaller pieces for each team to work on. When the work is complete, they come together to see the big picture.
The four teams are:
- Directorate of Operations
- Directorate of Science and Technology
- Directorate of Intelligence
- Directorate of Administration
The first two collect the information, the third processes or writes the finished paper about it, and the fourth makes sure the whole operation runs smoothly.
The Directorate of Operations is probably our best-known team. People call them the "spies." They go "undercover"abroad to collect foreign intelligence by recruiting "agents" for what we call human intelligence (HUMINT). These intelligence officers work to discover secrets. To do so, they operate pretty secretively themselves. It's not often like the movies, although there can be some dangerous moments.
Collection of intelligence from radio, TV, magazines, newspapers (what we call open source), and electronic and satellite photography is the responsibility of the Directorate of Science and Technology.
The first two directorates turn over all the information they have gathered to the Directorate of Intelligence, which interprets it and writes the finished product.
The team that helps everybody else do their job is the Directorate of Administration. They are responsible for keeping us safe, supplied with the tools and training we need, hiring people, ensuring our health, and running the complicated communications equipment we all use to keep in touch with each other.
Individually each of these directorates handles its section of each task very well; together they are the sum of excellence known as the Central Intelligence Agency.
What skills do people in each directorate have?