got geoint?

It’s official. As of yesterday, Mike McConnell is no longer the Director of National Intelligence. According the DNI’s press office, Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, Jr. is temporarily serving as acting DNI. Burgess is to become the next director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. It made sense that he would submit his resignation, since it was announced on the same day that he would be rejoining Booz Allen.

According to the Associated Press, McConnell, issued a farewell letter to intelligence employees that highlighted his key achievements as being the passage of updated government surveillance legislation known as FISA, and the revising the responsibilities of the 16 intelligence agencies in the U.S. government.

You all may recall that McConnell was a keynote speaker at GEOINT 2008. Just as a re-fresher, we wanted to actually re-post our coverage of his presentation from that event. He was an incredibly dynamic speaker who providing some incredible (and sobering) insights into the threats that our nation faces. Here’s that post:

Director of National Intelligence Shares Vision for 2025 at GEOINT 2008

October 30, 2008 — Certainly a highlight at GEOINT 2008 is being able to breath the same rarefied air as the Honorable Michael McConnell. The Director of National Intelligence took the stage at 11:45 a.m. today and enlightened the crowd on what the future holds for our nation, challenges that face the intel community, sprinkled in with some opening jokes about Secretary Powell, President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

For those who could not attend GEOINT 2008, here are some highlights:

New President Will Face Challenges: McConnell mentioned that the new President elect (whoever it may end up being) will immediately be briefed on all the global challenges and threats to our nation, and it could be a tough transition from the glory of winning an election to dealing with these complex threats.

Challenges Facing Intelligence Community: McConnell discussed how the community does the majority of its work in secret and cannot defend itself in public. The community is complex engine comprised of 16 different agencies with 100,000 people and lots of moving parts.

Successes: There has not been a repeat of 9/11. And McConnell mentioned that there have been many repeated attempts that have been thwarted by the community. He credits integration with the FBI helping tremendously. In Iraq, there has been a 60-80 percent reduction in Al Qaeda.

Here Are The Threats: Much like Maj. General John Custer mentioned yesterday, here’s is what will challenge our nation in the future (he used the 2025 date frequently in his speech): climate change; energy challenges; the rise of Russia, China and India (the rapid move of power from the west to the east); next generation terrorists who have grown, evolved and could potentially wage biological and radiological attacks; nuclear proliferation in Iran.

Intel Community is A-Political: McConnell compared the intel community to DoD in that it is a-political and that its agenda is about serving and protecting our country – no matter what administration is in office.

For any GEOINT 2008 attendees who saw his speech, any other thoughts, input and insights? Would welcome your comments. Thanks!

Tags: Booz Allen, Director of National Intelligence, DNI, GEOINT, Intelligence Community