Subordinating Intelligence: The DoD/CIA Post-Cold War Relationship

About the Book: Since September 11, 2001, the CIA and DoD have operated together in Afghanistan, Iraq, and during counterterrorism operations. Although the global war on terrorism gave the CIA and DoD a common purpose, it was actions taken in the late eighties and early nineties that set the foundation for their current relationship. Driven by the post–Cold War environment and lessons learned during military operations, policy makers made intelligence support to the military the Intelligence Community’s top priority. In response to this demand, the CIA/DoD instituted policy and organizational changes that altered the CIA/DoD relationship. While debates over the future of the Intelligence Community were occurring on Capitol Hill, the CIA and DoD were expanding their relationship in peacekeeping and nation-building operations in Somalia and the Balkans. By the late 1990s, some policy makers and national security professionals became concerned that intelligence support to military operations had gone too far, weakening the long-term analysis required for strategy and policy development. In Subordinating Intelligence: The DoD/CIA Post–Cold War Relationship, David P. Oakley reveals that, despite these concerns, no major changes to either national intelligence organization or its priorities were implemented. These concerns were forgotten after 9/11, as the United States fought two wars and policy makers increasingly focused on tactical and operational actions. As policy makers became fixated with terrorism and the United States fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA directed a significant amount of its resources toward global counterterrorism efforts and in support of military operations.

About the Author: LTC David Oakley is a FA59 (Strategist) with over twenty years as a national security professional within the US Army and the Intelligence Community. He currently serves as an assistant professor at National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs (CISA) in Washington, D.C. Dave was commissioned a Field Artillery officer in December 1998 through Pittsburg State University’s Reserve Officer Training Corp. After completing the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, he served in South Korea as a platoon leader with 6-37 Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division. Dave was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma from 1999-2005 where he served in the Field Artillery Training Center as a battery executive officer, detachment commander, assistant brigade S-3, battery commander, and company commander. Dave temporarily left active duty for the Army Reserve after completing company command. While off active duty, Dave was selected for the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Clandestine Service Trainee (CST) Program as a Staff Operations Officer (SOO). After graduating from the CIA’s SOO Certification Course, Dave served within the CIA’s Near East Division. Following his CIA service, Dave served as a contractor with the National Counterterrorism Center’s Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning. Dave returned to active duty as a FA59 in late 2007. Following completion of the Basic Strategic Arts Program (BSAP), he served as a planner with the 1st Infantry Division (1ID) at Fort Riley, Kansas. In 2010, he deployed with 1ID to Iraq where he served as a liaison officer to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. In 2011, Dave moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where he attended the Command and General Staff School followed by the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). In 2013, Dave departed Fort Leavenworth for Fort Sam Houston, Texas where he served as a planner with 5th Army/Army North until 2015. Dave and his wife Kristen have four children; Taylor, Tanner, Tatum, and Tyler.

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