Pentagon mulls military command for intelligence

By John Diamond, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is considering establishing a new four-star military command for intelligence, reflecting concern that the powerful civilian intelligence post created by Congress last year could weaken the Pentagon's grip on its vast intelligence assets.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., a close ally of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, says he is reviving the idea that was first floated last fall, after senior military intelligence officers in recent weeks privately signaled support. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the idea is under consideration as part of an effort to improve military intelligence.

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Addressing the Heritage Foundation last week, Chambliss said his aim was to prevent the new director of national intelligence — the powerful civilian post created by the intelligence-restructuring bill that Congress approved last month — from gaining "an unrealistically large span of control" over military intelligence.
Whitman said the idea is under consideration as part of the military intelligence overhauls being crafted by Steve Cambone, Rumsfeld's top adviser on intelligence. Officially, the Pentagon wants to see Chambliss' proposal in writing before endorsing it.

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One reason the proposal is winning support among military intelligence officers is that it offers the opportunity for upgrading the Pentagon's top uniformed military intelligence official to four stars, the highest rank held by military officers. The number of four-star officers is limited, and includes such posts as the top two officers in each of the four military branches, the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others. Currently, the highest uniformed intelligence post, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is held by a three-star officer.

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Chambliss, a member of both the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, says he will co-sponsor legislation with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., to create a new organization, INTCOM, or Intelligence Command, headed by a four-star general or admiral.
INTCOM would encompass the intelligence branches of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the three agencies under Pentagon control that run spy satellites and intercept enemy communications: the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

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"How someone outside of the military, like the (director of national intelligence) could adequately and efficiently manage these vast intelligence capabilities by dealing with eight separate Department of Defense members is beyond me," Chambliss told the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

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