1882—Office of Naval Intelligence
In 1882, Lt. Theodore Bailey Myers Mason suggested that the U.S. Navy needed an intel office to gather technological and shipbuilding intelligence. At the time, the U.S. Navy was still primarily a wooden fleet. Mason hoped that an Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) would keep America apprised of naval innovations around the world. ONI provided insights into new ways to build ships, helping transform the American Navy into a modern, naval power.
The ONI played a critical role in WWII by gathering tactical and technological intelligence on German U-Boats, assisting with prisoner interrogations, developing ship and aircraft recognition manuals, and creating 3D terrain models for operational planning. These capabilities were critical to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Over time, ONI expanded and adapted its capabilities to meet emerging threats. They built a capability around acoustic intel during the Cold War to protect against the threat of Soviet submarines carrying nuclear weapons.
In 2009, the ONI transformed again, adapting the organization to focus on four key Centers of Excellence: Scientific and Technological Intelligence, Operational Intelligence, Information Services and Technology, and Expeditionary and Special Warfare Support. Today, more than 52,000 military and civilians support the naval intelligence community.
1908—Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has a long history of gathering, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence to support investigations that help prevent attacks and protect the nation from terrorists, spies, and criminals of all kinds.
The FBI played central roles in U.S. counterintelligence in both World Wars, even operating a full-blown foreign intelligence collection effort in the Western Hemisphere from 1940-1947. During the Cold War, FBI agents used intelligence and cooperation with U.S. and international intelligence services to track down spies. For example, exploitation of Army/NSA signals intelligence led to the identification and disbanding of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's spy ring that shared nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union in the 1940s. The FBI also has used extensive intelligence operations, including dangerous undercover work, to disrupt and dismantle major organized crime groups across the United States.
The rise of domestic and international terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s led to the creation and growth of FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which integrate federal, state, and local counterterrorism personnel and operations. The FBI created the first such task force in New York in 1980 and, since then, the Bureau has gathered and shared vital intelligence with federal agencies and state and local law enforcement partners.
Following the attacks of 9/11, the FBI evolved its intelligence mission by enhancing the role of analysis in the Bureau, adding new resources and organizational components, and working to integrate FBI intelligence activities into every aspect of its mission.