got geoint?

Before we dive into the ever-popular Friday’s Food for Thought post, we wanted to share some very important news about the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). As many of our readers know, we have been covering the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for a while now, and have always made it a priority to cover anything breaking about intelligence agency. Well, you all may recall that Dennis Blair, Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, recently pulled together a panel of high-level intelligence experts to pretty much examine examine every facet of the NRO, including its mission, charter, staffing, requirements, organization, funding and relationship to other organizations. And guess what the next step may be? More power for the NRO.

According to a recent story by DoD Buzz, a meeting was set this week to discuss what could be an enormous expansion of the NRO’s power — from its current focus on building and operating highly classified imaging and radar satellites to building and operating all US military and intelligence space and ISR assets. The panel received the recommendations of what we’ve been calling the Obering panel, created by the Director of National Intelligence to examine every facet of the NRO — its mission, charter, staffing, requirements, organization, funding and relationship to other organizations. One of the key jobs the Obering panel had was drafting a new charter for the NRO. The current charter was drafted 44 years ago and refers to jobs that no longer exist.

So, it seems like a positive turnout for the NRO. Well, one thing is for sure: we cannot wait to heat what the new NRO Director, Bruce Carlson, has to say about this is GEOINT 2009. Yep, that is correct…he is one of the keynote speakers.

Tags: Bruce Carlson, Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, DoD Buzz, GEOINT 2009, National Reconnaissance Office, NRO, Oberling panel, USGIF