Fundamental Elements of the Counterintelligence Discipline

Despite increased investment in counterintelligence (CI) training programs since 11 September 2001, there has been uneven emphasis across organisations and training programs with individual agencies focusing on their needs and culture. Inconsistency in content, quantity, and quality of training across the CI community persists through varied processes for developing training requirements and standards. The result is costly duplication of effort, uneven performance in the workplace, and significant unmet training requirements, particularly with regard to CI analysis and technology integration. In sum, there is a gap - with strategic implications for national security - between counterintelligence performance requirements generated by the contemporary national security environment and our current ability to train and develop a professional CI cadre that is capable of effectively meeting these requirements.