Reconnaissance Office Role to Be Reviewed

Posted on: Sep. 2nd, 2005 || Source: washingtonpost.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Reconnaissance Office Role to Be Reviewed

The new director of the National Reconnaissance Office said yesterday that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had ordered a review of the role of the organization, which designs, builds and operates U.S. intelligence satellites, in the aftermath of other changes taking place throughout the intelligence bureaucracy.

Donald M. Kerr, who left his position as CIA deputy director for science and technology in July to become director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said it was still uncertain whether he would have a Pentagon title, as had his predecessors who served as undersecretaries of the Air Force with responsibilities beyond NRO. "NRO can't be run by remote control; it is a full-time responsibility," Kerr told reporters yesterday.

Though part of the Pentagon, NRO, whose budget of more than $5 billion has grown into one of the largest in the intelligence community, began as a joint venture with the CIA. Kerr now works for both Rumsfeld and Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, who had to concur in Kerr's nomination. The satellites it builds and operates provide imagery, communications and technical intelligence for the CIA, Pentagon agencies and warfighters as well as the White House and senior policymakers.

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