[House Hearing, 113 Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.A.S.C. No. 113-104] HEARING ON NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015 AND OVERSIGHT OF PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED PROGRAMS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION __________ SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES HEARING ON FISCAL YEAR 2015 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BUDGET REQUEST FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES __________ HEARING HELD APRIL 4, 2014 [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 87-867 WASHINGTON : 2014 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES MAC THORNBERRY, Texas, Chairman JEFF MILLER, Florida JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island JOHN KLINE, Minnesota SUSAN A. DAVIS, California BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., RICHARD B. NUGENT, Florida Georgia TRENT FRANKS, Arizona ANDRE CARSON, Indiana DUNCAN HUNTER, California DANIEL B. MAFFEI, New York CHRISTOPHER P. GIBSON, New York DEREK KILMER, Washington VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas JOSEPH J. HECK, Nevada SCOTT H. PETERS, California Steve Kitay, Professional Staff Member Catherine McElroy, Counsel Mark Lewis, Professional Staff Member Julie Herbert, Clerk C O N T E N T S ---------- CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS 2014 Page Hearing: Friday, April 4, 2014, Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Budget Request for Intelligence Activities....... 1 Appendix: Friday, April 4, 2014............................................ 11 ---------- FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014 FISCAL YEAR 2015 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BUDGET REQUEST FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Langevin, Hon. James R., a Representative from Rhode Island, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities............................................... 2 Thornberry, Hon. Mac, a Representative from Texas, Chairman, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities 1 WITNESSES Flynn, LTG Michael T., USA, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency 4 Ledgett, Richard H., Jr., Deputy Director, National Security Agency......................................................... 8 Long, Letitia A., Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency......................................................... 6 Vickers, Dr. Michael G., Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence................................................... 3 APPENDIX Prepared Statements: Flynn, LTG Michael T......................................... 22 Ledgett, Richard H., Jr...................................... 36 Long, Letitia A.............................................. 29 Vickers, Dr. Michael G....................................... 15 Documents Submitted for the Record: [There were no Documents submitted.] Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing: [There were no Questions submitted during the hearing.] Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing: [There were no Questions submitted post hearing.] FISCAL YEAR 2015 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BUDGET REQUEST FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES ---------- House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Washington, DC, Friday, April 4, 2014. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 11:00 a.m., in room 2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Mac Thornberry (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MAC THORNBERRY, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES Mr. Thornberry. Hearing will come to order. Today is the first of two events the subcommittee is hosting related to the fiscal year 2015 defense intelligence budget. Today we will hear from the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence as well as the heads of the DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency], NSA [National Security Agency], and NGA [National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]. Next week we will hold a second session with the senior intelligence officers of each of the military services as well as Special Operations Command. Armed Services Committee continues to be focused on making sure that our warfighters have the best possible intelligence support. DIA, NSA, and NGA are each combat support agencies, and we have asked them to describe today their efforts to support current military operations as well as to help the Department of Defense [DOD] anticipate and prepare for future conflicts. Each of these agencies is part of the Intelligence Community and has responsibilities to both the larger U.S. Government and to the Department of Defense. That is a delicate balance, and both missions are critical to our Nation. Over the past year, we have been presented with numerous additional challenges, whether it is the current crisis in Ukraine, ongoing military operations against terrorist groups, or mitigating the most serious compromise of classified information in U.S. history. Intelligence and the protection of that intelligence continues to be one of the most important parts of our national defense. Let me yield to the distinguished ranking member for any opening comments he would like to make. STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM RHODE ISLAND, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES Mr. Langevin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank our witnesses for being here today. I especially want to thank Chairman Thornberry for organizing and putting together this very important hearing. I hope that today's discussion will be both productive and constructive as we continue to exercise this subcommittee's new oversight responsibilities relating to the intelligence portfolio for which the Armed Services Committee has oversight responsibilities for. First and, unfortunately, foremost, of course, I continue to be concerned about the implications and ramifications to the Department from the leaks of the NSA contractor. I have read the information review task force report. It was an essential assessment and a very sobering one, indeed. However, I would like to get a better idea of what we know now and what we don't know and what we are going to do about it. After all, as DNI [Director of National Intelligence] Clapper testified before the Intelligence Committee, the vast majority of the information comprised has nothing to do with NSA surveillance and collection, but, instead, has dire impacts directly on DOD. I am very concerned about the damage assessment and the practical effects of these leaks on our men and women in uniform who are at risk each day, but just as important is the way forward on mitigation. We certainly don't need to scrap every operations plan, but we do need to look at shifting some Department priorities and policies. And I would appreciate you speaking to the magnitude of what we will have to face in the coming years. I am also interested in the progress of the Defense Clandestine Service [DCS] and its ability to meet strategic defense priorities. I know that the Defense Clandestine Service is not new to DIA, but certainly it is--under General Flynn's direction and that of Secretary Vickers, has enhanced its capabilities. I am looking forward to getting an update on that. There have been some growing pains, but I strongly believe the DOD must maintain a clandestine human capability, which I have to say is sometimes challenged in the Intelligence Committee. How is DCS progressing and improving its capabilities, refining its requirements, moving officers into places where they can be most effective, and integrating and coordinating with others in the Intelligence Community? From a budget perspective, money above the Budget Control Act [BCA] levels via the Bipartisan Budget Act was given back largely to the services. This puts a particular strain on agencies like yours. We are going to have to take some risk, but there is a breaking point. As your partners on the Hill, we would like to help you avoid that breaking point and manage your risk wherever possible. We would also appreciate the benefits of your perspective on particular cuts in other parts of the Department that could impair your activities such as the COCOMs [combatant commands]. And, finally and fittingly, given today's hearing on the QDR--given yesterday's hearing on the QDR [Quadrennial Defense Review], I would like to discuss the overall defense strategy implications to intelligence. When the Department looks out over the next decade, is the defense intelligence apparatus correctly postured to meet our operational priorities? And is it correctly aligned to cover the globe, operate where we need, and operate to sustain our counterterrorism operations? So, with that, Mr. Chairman, I would like to again thank you for holding this very important hearing. To our witnesses, thank you again for your appearance today and your service to the Nation. I certainly look forward to our continued and productive relationship as we work together to ensure the best intelligence posture for the Nation. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. Thornberry. Thank the gentleman. I want to welcome our witnesses: Dr. Michael Vickers, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; General Michael Flynn, Director of Defense Intelligence Agency; Ms. Letitia Long, Director of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and Mr. Richard Ledgett, the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency. We will start with unclassified opening statements from each of our witnesses and then reconvene in a classified setting next door, where each witness will then be able to make brief classified remarks, followed by Members' questions. Dr. Vickers, the floor is yours. STATEMENT OF DR. MICHAEL G. VICKERS, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR INTELLIGENCE Dr. Vickers. Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Langevin, distinguished members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to come before you today to discuss the fiscal year 2015 budget requests for defense intelligence. I am especially pleased to be here with Mike, Tish, and Rick. Betty Sapp, our director of the National Reconnaissance Office, testified yesterday before the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. While the unclassified nature of our opening remarks keeps us from discussing in detail many aspects of defense intelligence, we look forward to meeting in closed session to discuss these topics more fully. Intelligence is a major source of U.S. advantage. It informs wise policy and enables precision operations. It is our front line of defense. The challenges we face, however, are increasing and becoming more complex, and our resources are declining. It is imperative, therefore, that we make the best use of available resources, given the challenges we confront. As the USDI [Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence], I am the program executive for the Military Intelligence Program [MIP] and have oversight over the related programs that comprise what we call the Battlespace Awareness [BA] portfolio. The Department's fiscal year 2015 MIP budget request for base appropriations is $13.3 billion, which does not include overseas contingency operations funds. The BA portfolio includes significant additional resources. Defense intelligence collectively encompasses the defense portion of the National Intelligence Program, the MIP, and the BA portfolio. My close relationship with DNI Clapper enables DOD and the Intelligence Community to work seamlessly to manage, resource, and apply our intelligence capabilities in pursuit of our national security objectives while avoiding duplication of effort. We have five defense intelligence operational priorities: Countering terrorism, particularly countering the threat posed by Al Qaeda; countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and associated delivery systems; countering the actions of repressive governments against their people, such as in Syria; countering state-on-state aggression; and countering cyber threats. To address the intelligence gaps that exist within these operational priority areas, we are focused on enhancing defense intelligence capabilities in five areas: Enhancing global coverage; improving our ability to operate in anti-access/area denial, or A2/AD, environments; sustaining counterterrorism and counter-proliferation capabilities; continuing to develop our cyber operations capabilities; and strengthening our counterintelligence capabilities and reforming our security clearances processes to minimize insider threats. All four of us are committed to working with the Congress to find the best way to continue to deliver intelligence advantage to our Nation and our warfighters. I thank you for the opportunity to address this subcommittee today, and turn now to my colleagues to address what they are doing within their individual agencies to further our defense intelligence goals. [The prepared statement of Dr. Vickers can be found in the Appendix on page 15.] Mr. Thornberry. General Flynn. STATEMENT OF LTG MICHAEL T. FLYNN, USA, DIRECTOR, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY General Flynn. Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Langevin, and members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the men and women of the Defense Intelligence Agency, I want to say thank you for your invitation to present our fiscal year 2015 budget request. Let me begin by saying I fully support the priorities Under Secretary Vickers outlined in his remarks. As you have recently heard from Admirals McRaven and Locklear and Generals Rodriguez and Austin during their appearances before the full committee earlier this year, the need for more timely and accurate intelligence continues to exponentially grow. Persistent crisis in the Middle East and recent developments in Crimea, Central Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region underscore the constant drumbeat for more fighters, commanders, and policymakers for specialized understanding and insight into the countless threats and military capabilities around the world. Both you and I have a responsibility to our men and women to make smart decisions in these austere times to take risks where we must, but, also, maintain those investments which will ensure our security well into the future. DIA has made significant changes to manage risk to ensure that we will continue to meet the increasing operational needs and strategic challenges that threaten our military advantage. During my testimony this morning, I will highlight four critical priorities in our request: Number one, intelligence collection operations; number two, all-source analysis; number three, investments in our workforce for professional development and career-broadening experiences; and, number four, how we have reshaped much of our business practices and process. First, within intelligence collection operations, ensuring the success of the Defense Clandestine Service is a priority not only for DIA, but for the Defense Department and the Intelligence Community as a whole. Your oversight and support have helped DCS mature as a human intelligence capability and make measurable progress in support of all defense intelligence equities. On all measures--tradecraft, professionalization, and both the quantity and quality of recruitments--we have experienced a marked increase in performance this past year. In terms of counterintelligence, this is another critical investment for DIA. Recent events remind us that accepting too much risk in the CI--or in counterintelligence realm can come at an unacceptable cost. Our budget request focuses our CI investments on creating a holistic strategy that addresses traditional counterintelligence, increases network monitoring, improves insider threat identification, and fortifies a security- conscious culture within our workforce. Second, all-source analysis is a core mission of DIA and rightly comprises one of the largest portions of our budget. We are implementing new solutions to mitigate global coverage risks, particularly by forging closer ties to the combatant command Joint Intelligence Operations Centers, or JIOCs, through the Agency's five Intelligence Integration Centers. Our integrated centers fuse our analytic and collections workforce to maximize enterprise support to operational decisionmaking and strategic policy. While only in their first year of operation, our combined performance in response to the recent crisis in Ukraine, flash points in the South China Sea, instability in Sub-Sahara Africa, and the ongoing civil war in Syria, highlight the benefit of multifaceted integration and collaboration as well as a strong lash-up with the combatant command JIOCs. Third, over the past year, we have increased our investments in our workforce professional development programs as well as career-broadening experiences. In terms of professional development, we consolidated 21 separate offices into one Academy of Defense Intelligence, realizing an immediate cost savings of $3 million. Additionally, through our Office of Defense Intelligence, we have reemphasized enhanced training for our analytic workforce through our new Professional Analyst Career Education program. In terms of career-broadening experiences, this past year we rotated 225 DIA and combatant command personnel overseas and plan on an additional 320 personnel for fiscal year 2015, further integrating the Defense Intelligence Enterprise. Lastly, to further prepare our workforce for an uncertain future, we have also consolidated three of our military Reserves offices and over 1,200 reservist billets under one two-star component. The impact of all of these changes has already seen an improvement in analytic production, a decrease in contract instructors, and an increase in the number of man-days we get out of our Reserve intelligence component. Fourth, we are taking steps to significantly improve our contracting business processes with a ``Start Small, Scale Fast, Fail Cheap'' strategy that reduces risks, shortens delivery time by 6 to 9 months, and mitigates the ``too big to fail'' trap that we typically get ourselves into. We are particularly proud of our work with small businesses, which are generating the original ideas we need for the future. The Federal Government average of small business contracting is less than 25 percent, but at DIA, over the past year, we have nearly doubled our investments in small businesses, reaching a new high of 31 percent. And now nearly 1 out of every $3 that we invest is invested in small business. As you review our overall budget request, you will find that we have made the hard choices and the right investments to ensure that our fully integrated defense intelligence team of highly skilled professionals is equipped with the right training and technology, strengthened by partnerships across the whole of government and around the world. And we will continue to provide all-source defense intelligence whenever and wherever required in support of our warfighters. I thank you for your continued support and look forward to your questions. [The prepared statement of General Flynn can be found in the Appendix on page 22.] Mr. Thornberry. Thank you. Ms. Long. STATEMENT OF LETITIA A. LONG, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL- INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Ms. Long. Good morning, Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Langevin, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the National Geospatial-Intelligence Program and the NGA MIP budget request for fiscal year 2015. Thank you also for your continued support to enhance defense intelligence. Pleased to appear before you today with Dr. Vickers and my fellow directors. In my more than 30 years of working in defense intelligence, the cooperation and collaboration between our agencies has never been stronger. Geospatial Intelligence, or GEOINT, is the analysis of information from a number of unique and highly technical sources that describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on earth, GEOINT has always been integral to military operations around the world, and today it is one of the drivers for intelligence integration because everything in the world is someplace at some time. As the lead Federal agency for GEOINT, NGA provides this critical information to the defense community, military commanders, decisionmakers, troops deployed in harm's way, and first responders. Our content, analysis, and services enable mission planning, combat operations, strategic warning, precision targeting, counterterrorism operations, counter-proliferation, GPS [global positioning system] navigation, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response. As an example, NGA produces and sustains global aeronautical and maritime safety of navigation information for military flight crews and sailors as well as civil mariners. This effort includes updating electronic records on more than 45,000 airfields, charting more than 116 million square miles of ocean, and managing data on over 3 billion topographic features worldwide. The bottom line is, without this information, our ships would stay in port, our pilots would not fly, and our ground forces would not leave garrisons. A second example of the contribution of GEOINT is the integrated temporal and spatial view of the battlespace that NGA provides to combatant commanders and policymakers. By identifying threat force capabilities, locations, patterns of activities, relationships, and infrastructure around the globe, NGA helps the commanders and policymakers hold adversaries at risk. To support these types of missions, NGA personnel deploy all over the world, embedded alongside our military and intelligence personnel, and participate in mission planning, executions, and follow-up. In sum, the intelligence that NGA provides every day is critical to the planning and operations of intelligence agencies and military units fighting to protect all Americans. In the broadest terms, the vision that drives NGA's workforce is putting the best GEOINT in the hands of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coastguardsmen. We continuously seek to produce new value for warfighters, whether through a map, imagery and technical analysis, or a specialized interactive product. Looking ahead, NGA's budget request includes funding for expanding our analytic capabilities and next-generation collection strategies to anticipate evolving national security threats, shaping and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce, and enhancing protections against cyber and insider threats to keep our information and our people safe. These investments are aligned with a number of long-term strategic initiatives that NGA is pursuing to improve our contributions to the warfighter and the Intelligence Community as a whole, including better intelligence integration, providing better access to our data, especially for the warfighter, and enhancing analytic tradecraft to discover key unknowns hidden in the masses of data. In addition to these strategic initiatives, which focus on the long-term success of the Agency, we have kept a close eye on the more immediate risks, from Russia and Ukraine, to Iran, North Korea, and China, to Syria, Afghanistan, and counterterrorism operations as well. Finally, I want to mention NGA's progress toward financial auditability. The Agency is undergoing our first full-scope audit of our 2014 financial statements, and the results from this audit will help us identify areas requiring additional remediation as we move toward our goal of achieving an unqualified opinion on our 2016 financial statements. On behalf of the women and men of NGA, thank you for your support. [The prepared statement of Ms. Long can be found in the Appendix on page 29.] Mr. Thornberry. Thank you. Mr. Ledgett. STATEMENT OF RICHARD H. LEDGETT, JR., DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY Mr. Ledgett. Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Langevin, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. And on behalf of the outstanding men and women of the National Security Agency and Central Security Service [NSA/ CSS], thank you for your support that the Congress and this committee in particular give to NSA/CSS. Your support makes it possible for us to provide actionable intelligence and information assurance expertise to our diverse customer set, especially the combatant commanders and our military personnel in harm's way. With your continued support in fiscal year 2015, we will continue to do all we can to protect the Nation and its allies. Our 2015 NSA/CSS budget reflects hard choices to ensure critical national security requirements are addressed in an era of declining budgets. The strategic environment we face will continue to become more complex and present a dramatically new set of challenges. Cyber attacks will allow potential adversaries to overcome U.S. advantages in conventional military power. The Nation will continue to depend upon NSA's cryptanalysis to sustain our access and understanding of foreign communications, even as encryption becomes more automatic and more prolific. We must support our warfighters, policymakers, and allies today while preparing for the future through the development of next-generation capabilities all while scrupulously protecting privacy and civil liberties. Our fiscal year 2015 budget, while accepting risks mandated by the current fiscal climate, keeps us on the path to accomplish these goals. We have recruited and trained an extraordinarily talented workforce, and the fiscal year 2015 budget allows us to preserve it. We are leveraging our human capital by providing our people with the most technologically sophisticated and innovative intelligence capabilities. Investments in cybersecurity will expand across the enterprise to meet the demand and speed of action required in today's world. As you know, NSA executes three distinct funding streams: The Consolidated Cryptologic Program, or CCP; the Information Systems Security Program, or ISSP; and the Military Intelligence Program, or MIP. Let me briefly describe our emphasis areas in each of these. The CCP enables NSA/CSS to bring the capability of a global cryptologic system to bear in support of our national policymakers and our warfighting commands. NSA's global intelligence capabilities, cryptanalytic and analytic tradecraft, operational infrastructure, and reporting mechanisms have been developed over time and have resulted in the successful delivery of mission requirements. And I look forward to providing some specific and recent examples in the classified session that will follow. NSA/CSS's information assurance investment plan responds to the challenges of providing security solutions that keep pace with a fast-moving technology sector and agile adversaries. We must know the cyberspace environment and its risks, protecting information and hardening systems in the national security cyber domain. This will ensure that systems have the required security characteristics commensurate with known and anticipated risks and the ability to withstand and recover from cyber attacks and intrusions. We are continuously refining our strategies to provide know-how and technology to suppliers and clients and to measurably improve the security of critical operations and information. NSA/CSS's Military Intelligence Program investment plan focuses on delivering responsive, reliable, and effective SIGINT, or signals intelligence, to ensure our deployed forces can succeed in today's operations and are prepared to respond to future threats and technologies. The NSA/CSS MIP continues previous investments to improve DOD intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, providing timely and accurate support to our deployed forces, achieving interoperability, commonality, and modernization of service and U.S. Special Operations Command signals intelligence ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] capabilities. NSA/CSS will also continue to support an effective joint tactical system that provides SIGINT access to targets that use the global converged communications infrastructure. The MIP investments strengthen the Department's ability to address current cyber challenges. Specifically, fiscal year 2015 investment will focus on the development of a strong cyber workforce and intelligence gathering in cyberspace. These initiatives will focus on providing U.S. Cyber Command Cyber Mission Force support, personnel training, and threat operations support and infrastructure. We will also continue investing in the research and development of solutions that produce actionable signals intelligence for deployed forces. We will be responsive to the needs for intelligence support to combatant commands, including support to the development of operations plans and theater campaign plans, as directed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I will conclude by saying that the NSA/CSS budget request reflects the necessary balance between today's fiscal realities and our unwavering commitment to support of the joint warfighter. Thank you for your continued support in helping NSA/CSS maintain world-class capabilities and serve as a key contributor to the protection of our Nation. [The prepared statement of Mr. Ledgett can be found in the Appendix on page 36.] Mr. Thornberry. Thank you all. We will immediately reconvene next door. And, with that, the open hearing stands adjourned. [Whereupon, at 11:29 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] ======================================================================= A P P E N D I X April 4, 2014 ======================================================================= ======================================================================= PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD April 4, 2014 ======================================================================= [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]