Fixing a Failure to Identify Intelligence in the Domestic Setting: Aligning Collection and Analysis to Address an All-Hazards Mission
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Darren E. Tromblay
Darren E. Tromblay has served as an Intelligence Analyst, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for nearly a decade. He holds an MA from the Elliott School of International Affairs, at the George Washington University, and an MS from the National Defense Intelligence College. He earned a BA from the University of California. The views expressed in this article are solely his own and do not represent the views of any agency of the US government.
Abstract
The US’ domestically-oriented, homeland security enterprise lacks a structure that facilitates an all-hazards intelligence mission. An all-hazards mission must account for both positive and negative intelligence information. The primary hubs for interagency collaboration and collection, within the US, are the Department of Homeland Security-funded state and local fusion centers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s joint terrorism task forces (JTTFs). Both of these entities focus on negative intelligence. The FBI JTTFs focus on one element of negative intelligence, the DHS fusion centers have unfocused, but still negative, missions, due to bureaucratic realities. Meanwhile, other government agencies, notably the CIA’s National Resources Division and even other elements of the FBI are engaged in uncoordinated collection, an activity that threatens to bring even more disorganization to the homeland-security enterprise. Rather than creating yet another agency, the strengths of both the JTTFs and the fusion centers should be leveraged, in conjunction with other domestically operating collectors, to establish new platforms, using fusion centers as a backbone, staffed with a service of joint duty personnel.
About the author
Darren E. Tromblay has served as an Intelligence Analyst, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for nearly a decade. He holds an MA from the Elliott School of International Affairs, at the George Washington University, and an MS from the National Defense Intelligence College. He earned a BA from the University of California. The views expressed in this article are solely his own and do not represent the views of any agency of the US government.
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©2015 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Opinion
- Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews: What Value for Whom?
- Fixing a Failure to Identify Intelligence in the Domestic Setting: Aligning Collection and Analysis to Address an All-Hazards Mission
- State Intervention During Public Health Emergencies: Is the United States Prepared for an Ebola Outbreak?
- Research Articles
- Coerced Confusion? Local Emergency Policy Implementation After September 11
- A Medical System for Supporting Civilian Crisis Response
- The Response Phase of the Disaster Management Life Cycle Revisited Within the Context of “Disasters Out of the Box”
- Understanding Risk Communication Gaps through E-Government Website and Twitter Hashtag Content Analyses: The Case of Indonesia’s Mt. Sinabung Eruption
- A Spatial and Longitudinal Analysis of Unmet Transportation Needs During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
- A Two-level Agent-Based Model for Hurricane Evacuation in New Orleans
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Opinion
- Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews: What Value for Whom?
- Fixing a Failure to Identify Intelligence in the Domestic Setting: Aligning Collection and Analysis to Address an All-Hazards Mission
- State Intervention During Public Health Emergencies: Is the United States Prepared for an Ebola Outbreak?
- Research Articles
- Coerced Confusion? Local Emergency Policy Implementation After September 11
- A Medical System for Supporting Civilian Crisis Response
- The Response Phase of the Disaster Management Life Cycle Revisited Within the Context of “Disasters Out of the Box”
- Understanding Risk Communication Gaps through E-Government Website and Twitter Hashtag Content Analyses: The Case of Indonesia’s Mt. Sinabung Eruption
- A Spatial and Longitudinal Analysis of Unmet Transportation Needs During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
- A Two-level Agent-Based Model for Hurricane Evacuation in New Orleans
