INFORMATION SHARING AND COLLABORATION IN THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER Bridget Rose Nolan A DISSERTATION in Sociology Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Supervisor of Dissertation Co-Supervisor ____________________ ______________________ Randall Collins, Ph.D. Melissa Wilde, Ph.D. Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology Associate Professor of Sociology Graduate Group Chairperson _____________________ Emily Hannum, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology and Education Dissertation Committee David Gibson, Ph.D. Lecturer, Princeton University INFORMATION SHARING AND COLLABORATION IN THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER COPYRIGHT 2013 Bridget Rose Nolan For my parents “It won’t make a bit of difference where I go or how much I change outwardly; at heart I shall always be your little Anne, who will love you and Matthew and dear Green Gables more and better every day of her life.” —L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My deepest appreciation goes to Professors Randall Collins, Melissa Wilde, and David Gibson. As a committee, you have shown incredible faith in me with this project from the start, and I am deeply indebted to you for your constant patience, understanding, and support. I crave a more articulate way to say “thank you.” This accomplishment would literally have been impossible without the unwavering support of my parents. Of the many ridiculously difficult parts of this journey, one of the hardest has been trying to find a way to express fully my gratitude and love for them. I think this is the only part where I’ve failed! My brother Sean went far above and beyond the call of familial duty, especially during the fieldwork part of this project. He was my ally when the odds were heavily stacked against me, and I know that this project would have gone nowhere without his help. ECSI. My siblings Coll, Joe, Frank, and Elissa made things a lot less sucky. Thank you for WAG skillets, lattes, trips to honor the King, and many encouraging words. Most of all, thank you for my nieces and nephew—Carolina, Siobhan, Devan, and Aidan—who never fail to make me smile. Thanks also to Gilbert and Frasier for many hugs and laughs. I thank Michael Oristaglio and Rachel Kui for their loyal friendship and for always knowing how to make me laugh. I treasure the many late-night chats, virtual Wa runs, hot vanilla milks, and games of Mario that helped me get through stressful times. My fellow graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania taught me a lot and made my time in the program much more fun. Special thanks to Claire Barshied, Ben DiCicco- Bloom, Liz Raleigh, Keri Monahan, and Rachel Ellis. Many thanks to the American Association of University Women for the American Fellowship that funded the writing stage of this project. I am honored to have received this award, and I know that I would not be graduating this year without it. Mark Zaid provided valuable information and help especially during the writing phase. I greatly appreciate how quickly he always responded to my questions, and the knowledge that he was in my corner eased a lot of anxiety. I definitely needed Agent Mulder’s lawyer for this project! Rob Johnston was uniquely able to navigate the worlds of both academia and the Intelligence Community, and he took a lot of time to talk to my committee and me about the best ways to approach various challenging situations. Finally, I want to thank the people at CIA and NCTC whose experiences comprise this project. Kermit McCool and the Ace provided fake names to me for this purpose, but their roles in making my time in the IC remotely enjoyable were real. I cannot thank the rest of you by name, but I hope I have been able to do you some justice in the following pages. I greatly appreciate your support, and I deeply respect the work you are trying to do and the challenges you face in doing it. iv ABSTRACT INFORMATION SHARING AND COLLABORATION IN THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER Bridget Rose Nolan Randall Collins Melissa Wilde The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) was established to serve as the primary organization in the U.S. Government for the integration, sharing, and analysis of all terrorism and counterterrorism intelligence. To date, no study has sought to illustrate whether and how NCTC overcomes the barriers to information sharing among agencies and the people that comprise them. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the micro-level ways in which intelligence work is conducted in a post-9/11 world and to examine the circumstances that both facilitate and discourage collaboration. By presenting detailed ethnographic evidence and the in-depth interview perspectives of the people who actually do this work daily, this study provides a sociological analysis and discussion of best practices to help identify ways in which NCTC can move closer to fulfilling its mission. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………………..III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………........IV ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………..V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS………………………………………………………………….VII DISCLAIMER…………………………………………………………………………………..VIII CHAPTER 1……………………………………………………………………………………….… 1 CHAPTER 2…………………………………………………………………………………….… 19 CHAPTER 3…………………………………………………………………………………….… 57 CHAPTER 4……………………………………………………………………………………….88 CHAPTER 5……………………………………………………………………………………… 122 CHAPTER 6……………………………………………………………………………………… 153 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………… 167 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………… 202 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Entrance to NCTC……………………………………………………………………………… 55 Figure 2. NCTC’s Operations Center……………………………………………………………………56 vii DISCLAIMER All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. Government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or Agency endorsement of the author’s views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information. viii In any case you mustn’t confuse a single failure with a final defeat. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night ix CHAPTER 1: Through the Looking Glass May 14, 2007, was my first day as a counterterrorism analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. As I sat at the red light waiting to turn left into the Headquarters complex, my heart pounded with anticipation. I had some typical first-day jitters—I worried about getting lost in the building and meeting new people—but working at the CIA also creates some not-so-typical worries. Was I going to be okay driving past the barbed-wire fences and the large signs threatening prosecution and bodily harm to trespassers? Would I accidentally do something to irritate the intimidating guards who were sweeping my car for explosives, AK-47s dangling by their sides? Would I be good at this job, and if I made a mistake, would I possibly get someone hurt or even killed? At the same time, I was filled with a feeling of pride that I had made it through a harrowing background check and polygraph and was finally there, ready and eager to serve my country. I took my time and savored the moment as I went through the main entrance of the Old Headquarters Building and walked over the famous CIA seal. To my right, I saw the Wall of Honor, where 103 stars are now etched into the marble to represent CIA officers who have been killed in the line of duty. My stomach turned as I read the inscription: “IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY.” I knew their names were contained in the Book of Honor below the stars, except for those officers whose missions were so sensitive that their names must remain secret even in death; these officers are represented only by a gold star followed by a blank space. To my left, the wall bore another inscription in the marble: “AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.” Straight ahead were the 1 mechanical gates, and beyond them, my future. When I look back on it now, I realize that the idea for this project began to form in those first moments. I have been interested in studying terrorism and counterterrorism since 1998, when I was chosen to represent the United States in the Irish Dance division of the World Scholar-Athlete Games in Northern Ireland—an event intended to foster peace through an increased understanding of diversity in religion and politics. Ironically, my arrival at the Games coincided with the terrorist bombing in Omagh, County Tyrone, the deadliest incident in the history of the Irish/English conflict known as the Troubles. Rather than connecting with fellow scholar-athletes of diverse backgrounds through the exchange of Irish dance techniques, I bonded with my friends through the grieving process instead, as I consoled them when they learned of their loved ones’ deaths. I had this experience about one month before starting college, so when September 11th happened near the end of college, I realized that some of my most formative years had been bookended by terrorist attacks. I wanted to contribute to the fight against terrorism, so I applied to the Graduate Fellowship program at the CIA as soon as I started my Ph.D. program. When I arrived at the CIA, I realized right away that this was a very unusual place to work. I discuss many of the ways in which the IC is unusual in the coming chapters, but two things struck me from my first day that eventually led to the idea for this project.