What We Did
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense requested this review of the defense intelligence community's use of section 2358, title 10 United States Code, to issue recruitment and outreach grants for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Subsequent discussions with the subcommittee staff disclosed that their concerns were focused on the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program. Therefore, the audit's overall objective was to examine the defense intelligence community's use of grants for the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program.
What We Found
We determined that the defense intelligence community's use of grants for the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program did not violate applicable appropriations laws. The intelligence community received a significant number of research, development, test, and evaluation deliverables. The Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program also trained a diverse pool of qualified candidates. We did not conduct an audit of the deliverables or the number of students hired into the intelligence community as a result of the program.
In 2011, the Director of National Intelligence transferred the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program to the Defense Intelligence Agency to leverage the Defense Intelligence Agency's educational infrastructure. In 2012, the Director of National Intelligence authorized the Defense Intelligence Agency to manage the program, pursuant to the section 102(n)(4) of the National Security Act of 1947, section 3024(a), title 50 United States Code. The Director of National Intelligence authorized the Defense Intelligence Agency to exercise the acquisition authority in section 8(a) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, section 3510, title 50 United States Code, to provide grants to institutions of higher education to support establishing or the continued development of programs of study in education disciplines that were identified in section 1024 of the National Security Act of 1947, section 3224, title 50 United States Code. The Defense Intelligence Agency issued funds and properly awarded grants to Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program schools under 441p title 50 United States Code.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency issued a legal opinion in 2006 that determined that section 23S8, title 10 United States Code grant authority was appropriately used to administer the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program, and confirmed that judgment in a second legal opinion in 2012. In the 2012 legal opinion, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency determined that the research projects conducted under the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence program were of interest to DoD and the intelligence community.
Management Comments
No written response to this report was required, and none was received.