9781422280225

T oday’s National Counterterrorism Center formed after September 11, 2001, to protect America’s security in times of crisis. Part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Pre- vention Act of 2004, the NCTC is staffed by personnel from multiple departments and agencies from across the intelligence community. NCTC is organizationally part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Prior to the formation of the NCTC, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was responsible for gathering all intelligence for the government, including counterterrorism intelligence. So NCTC’s history begins with the formation of the CIA. The U.S. government has always collected secret information for national security purposes. Before World War II, those files reached the White House from the Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and vari- ous special military units. These organizations, however, competed with one another instead of sharing their information. This departmental jealousy had to end when Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime waged war in Europe in the late 1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Office of Coordinator of Information (COI) on July 11, 1941, and this agency later became the model for the CIA. Its first head, Major General William J. Donovan, is still called “the godfather of the CIA.” Donovan was known as Wild Bill because he had a dynamic character and loved action. This energy was certainly needed to organize the COI and ensure that it survived. When America entered World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Joint Chiefs of Staff wanted to break up the COI. Donovan, however, kept his organization

Words to Understand Guerrilla campaigns: Battles fought by independent soldiers not part of a specific group. Counterintelligence: Activity meant to hide truth or protect a secret from an enemy. Covert operations: Secret plans and activities carried out by spies and their agencies.

T he N ational C ounterterrorism C enter

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