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HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT PROGRAM

 

The DoW Intelligence Oversight (IO) program came about as a result of actual or perceived misuse of DoW’s intelligence and counterintelligence capabilities directed against U.S. persons involved in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements.

As a result of these abuses, both the President and Congress initiated efforts to regulate, focus, and oversee the intelligence community.  These efforts included numerous Congressional hearings, issuance of Executive Orders, updated legislation, the creation of two Congressional oversight committees, and the establishment of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and President’s Intelligence Oversight Board.

The overarching goal of this entire oversight structure was to enable the appropriate collection of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence, and to do so in a way that fully protected the rights and civil liberties of U.S. Persons.

The seminal document underpinning the intelligence oversight mission is Executive Order 12333, United States Intelligence Activities.  This document, signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was the third in a series of Executive Orders.

As a result of these executive orders, the Secretary of War directed establishment of an Inspector General for Intelligence in the Office of the Secretary of War.  This office was assigned the mission of conducting independent oversight of all DoW intelligence activities. In November 1982, following the establishment of the DoW Inspector General, the Deputy Secretary of War directed that the Inspector General for Intelligence be redesignated as the Assistant to the Secretary of War (Intelligence Oversight) (ATSW(IO)).

In August 2014, as part of an ongoing reorganization to meet Secretary of War Guidance, the DoW realigned intelligence oversight functions under the Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer (subsequently renamed the Chief Management Officer (CMO)) within the Office of the Secretary of War (OSW).  The ATSW(IO) was renamed the Defense Senior Intelligence Oversight Official (SIOO) and was dual-hatted as the Deputy Director of Oversight and Compliance within the CMO.

In January 2020, Congress eliminated the position of the CMO and realigned all of the responsibilities assigned to the CMO to other OSW offices.  During that realignment, the office of the ATSW(IO) was reconstituted and the SIOO was designated as the ATSW(IO).

In September, 2021, in an effort to improve DoW’s overall efforts to protect privacy and civil liberties and to enhance DoW’s ability to provide effective independent oversight, the Deputy Secretary of War directed the merger of all privacy, civil liberties, and transparency functions with the intelligence oversight functions and redesignated the ATSW(PCLT) as the ATSW for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency (ATSW(PCLT)).  The position of the SIOO was regenerated and the SIOO was dual-hatted as the Principal Deputy ATSW(PCLT).  In the process, the oversight functions the ATSW(IO) performed were aligned in a directorate within ATSW(PCLT) formally designated as the Intelligence Oversight Directorate.

On December 23, 2024, with the approval of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025 NDAA), Congress directed formal establishment of the SIOO position as a matter of law.  In accordance with the FY2025 NDAA, the SIOO is responsible for independent oversight of all intelligence, counterintelligence, and intelligence-related activities of the Department of War and shall have such other related responsibilities as may be determined by the Secretary.

The DoW SIOO is located within the ATSW(PCLT) and now, by law, has direct access to the Secretary of War and the Deputy Secretary of War as well as access to any information necessary to perform the duties of the SIOO. 

The SIOO reports on Intelligence Oversight activities at least quarterly, along with reporting directly to the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB), a standing committee of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB).