Intelligence Community

Reading about the National reconnaissance office today was interesting. Starting at the conceptualization and need for the office during the threat of the Soviet Union to today’s need for intelligence for military operations is fascinating to research. In short, the NRO collects data, analyzes, and then passes that data along to partners that request it. It was interesting to learn that until 1992, the existence of the NRO was classified and even its name was not officially acknowledged by the government in comparison to today, where the existence of the NRO is openly acknowledged and several aspects of its activities have been declassified. The NRO develops, acquires, and operates the most sensitive space reconnaissance satellite systems that collect imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) which is of great value to the government and is now available to a wide variety of users in many government agencies. I think that the progression of new and emerging technologies will constantly put a strain on NRO personnel due to the ever-evolving world of technology. It seems that in a matter of a year technology is already out of date and a newer version is available. It is for that reason I completely agree that with the newly created Space Force the NRO has an important mission to stay on top of the “leap ahead” and “revolutionary” technologies, especially in the space reconnaissance effort so operations have the most current data to help things go smoother in missions. That leads me to my last thought. The transference of some NRO activities and operations to the Department of Defense makes sense to me. The NRO can focus on developing unique space-based collection systems to solve difficult intelligence problems while DoD can be responsible for developing and operating those space systems because they know how t use technology so that military commander needs are better satisfied. It would also make sense to transfer the experts in those systems and satellites under the DoD umbrella because NRO satellites are substantially more complex than DoD satellites.