Friday, August 24, 2007

The Aug. 19 news story "Defense Agency Proposes Outsourcing More Spying; Contracts Worth $1 Billion Would Set Record" was inaccurate and misleading.

The proposal is a consolidation of more than 30 existing contracts into a single contract vehicle that can be more effectively managed. Hence, this posting is not a "record" in outsourcing intelligence activities; rather, it is a better way of aggregating existing requirements.

The proposal supports the consolidated warfighting needs of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the military services, the combatant commands and deployed forces. With one competitively awarded contract vehicle composed of multiple contractor teams, we will have greater flexibility to realign government resources, improve oversight and be more responsive, with potential savings in cost and manpower.

Contrary to assertions in the article, the Defense Intelligence Agency does not outsource analysis. DIA senior analysts and leaders rigorously review all analytic products. Government managers are fully in charge of this process.

DIA contractors currently represent about 35 percent of our workforce. Although we continuously review our mix of government and contractor personnel to ensure we have the right resources to accomplish our missions, contractors are an integral part of our DIA team. I am proud of their contributions.

LT. GEN. MICHAEL D. MAPLES

Director

Defense Intelligence Agency

Washington