Managing the Private Spies

This study assesses the value of current commercial activities used within DoD elements of the Intelligence Community, particularly dealing with operational functions such as analysis, collection management, document exploitation, interrogation, production, and linguistic support.The author conducted data collection and interviewed personnel assigned within DoD agencies, Combined Command, and Joint Task Force intelligence staffs. A holistic evaluation of current contract management practices was conducted using findings from several recent government studies and critiques of ongoing commercialization initiatives. The evaluation focused primarily on the efficacy of the contract development process, management procedures, and how commercial services were integrated into the operational intelligence cycle.