Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (DIA)
My internship sponsor was an Air Force Colonel who paired me with one of his direct subordinates, a Navy Lieutenant (USNA ’01) who was then serving as Operations Officer of the WFC. This Lieutenant went to truly amazing lengths in order to ensure a positive, worthwhile experience for me at DIA. Not only did he prove a valuable resource regarding intelligence, but he also imparted great advice about matters of officership and gladly related many of his experiences in the fleet.
Lodging was provided on base at the Bolling Inn. My room was clean, comfortable, and even contained a small kitchenette. One other midshipman and a West Point cadet also resided at Bolling while working at DIA; the three of us got along extremely well and enjoyed spending time together outside of work.
Moreover, I believe that simply having a Top Secret clearance and the ability to immerse myself daily in breaking terrorism intelligence of a sensitive nature has made make me a better, more informed student of politics and government—on domestic as well as international scales. During my time at DIA, for instance, an inflammatory new al-Qaeda videotape was released, bombers conducted a devastating attack upon Mumbai’s commuter trains, and a Hezbollah raid upon Israeli border troops prompted war in the Middle East; I was able to follow each of these events from the front lines of our nation’s intelligence community.
Additionally, I assisted senior analysts with the coordination of various intelligence community warning products created by the WFC and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).
Furthermore, I was able to help the Operations Officer with some of his administrative duties, including the development of emergency evacuation plans for the WFC. We even toured a highly classified government relocation facility and verified its suitability for JITF-CT use.
On one particularly neat occasion, the Hon. Gordon England, Deputy Secretary of Defense, toured our workspace with DIA Director Lt. Gen. Maples; I was fortunate enough to be the individual who clicked the PowerPoint slides to facilitate their presentation to our special guests.
Another memorable event involved a field trip to the Pentagon, during which the other two interns and I were able to visit a number of offices, including one specializing on Iraq, one on Saudi Arabia, and one on intelligence product dissemination. We enjoyed remarkably warm receptions and thorough briefs at each location.
I would also recommend that midshipmen interns be encouraged to bring a POV with them to this assignment. The neighborhood surrounding Bolling AFB is fairly high in crime, thus rendering the metro useless and making the ability to drive to Alexandria or to the downtown District almost essential. Nevertheless, Bolling is an attractive and well-equipped base, and staying at the Bolling Inn was ideal—especially because there was no painful morning commute to work.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
I spent three weeks interning at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. I worked as an analyst in Regional Assessments Office 2, Middle Eastern Branch, and spent a week in three separate intelligence divisions: Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran.
The experience gained as a result of this internship cannot be measured. I was granted top secret clearance throughout the entire internship and had access to daily message traffic about happenings in the region. I was lucky enough to serve in the Syrian intelligence division during the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers. I gained an appreciation for the hard work that the analysts put in on a daily basis and learned how hectic the job can be as a strategic or military analyst. The analysts kept me tasked throughout the entire internship, which I greatly appreciated, and I made contacts with numerous individuals who went out of their way to make sure I got the most from the experience.
I published two separate documents that became part of a larger document which is delivered to the Secretary of Defense on a daily basis. The first was an Executive Highlight on the relationship between the new Iraqi government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the other was a Note in Brief about the military alliances between Syria and its African allies.
Besides working in ROA-2, I witnessed a presentation given by the Joint Intelligence Task Force – Counter Terrorism (JTIF-CT) unit to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Honorable Gordon England. I also took a field trip to the Pentagon’s fallout shelter and visited the offices in the Pentagon which comprise the other branches of the DIA, including RAO-5, the Iraqi intelligence cell. I also met three of the senior military advisors to the Deputy Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.
Logistically, minus a few snafus (initial housing was in enlisted quarters and I had some clothing stolen from my barracks), the internship went extremely smoothly. The officer in charge, Major Hooper, went out of her way to ensure that DIA accommodated the needs of the midshipmen and cadets who interned. Staying on base was much better than staying in local housing because the transit to DIA each morning lasted roughly five minutes. I would recommend that any midshipman considering this internship in the future provide his or her own transportation to facilitate going to and from work.
I learned more with DIA then I ever thought possible. Having access to such high profile material as a midshipman is something that I will never forget. My desire is to attend graduate school immediately after receiving my commission from the Navy, and I want to study Middle Eastern anthropology. Having this opportunity to intern in the Middle Eastern Branch broadened my perspectives and further encouraged me to pursue this topic at the graduate level.