On September 18, 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was established in the United States, the main body of US foreign intelligence and counterintelligence.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent agency responsible for providing intelligence information to representatives of U.S. government agencies in order to ensure national security. The CIA is the main foreign intelligence and counterintelligence agency of the United States. The Central Intelligence Agency was established in 1947 after the passage of the National Security Act, signed by President Harry Truman on July 26, 1947 and effective September 18, 1947. The United States has been engaged in intelligence activities since the time of the first President of the United States, George Washington, but it was only during the Second World War that general coordination of intelligence activities at the state level began. President Franklin Roosevelt appointed New York lawyer and World War I hero William Donovan first to the post of Information Coordinator, and after the United States entered World War II in 1942, to the post of head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The Office of Strategic Services was the predecessor of the CIA and had the authority to collect and analyze strategic information. After the end of World War II, the OSS, like many other military departments, was demobilized and the management functions were transferred to the State Department and the Ministry of War. Shortly thereafter, President Truman recognized the need to create a centralized intelligence service in the United States, adapted to the post-war period. In order to create a fully functional intelligence directorate, on July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act, on the basis of which the CIA was formed. Under the National Security Act, the CIA was given the authority to coordinate government intelligence activities and compare, evaluate, and provide intelligence information affecting national security. In 1949, the CIA Law was passed on the official activities of intelligence and the regulation of its financial activities; it also had sections on the protection of CIA information and sections providing for a simplified procedure for the adoption of American citizenship by persons who assisted the CIA.
After the adoption of the Law on Reforms in Intelligence and the Prevention of Terrorism in 2004, amendments were made to the Law on National Security, which established the post of Director of National Intelligence, who assumed some of the functions previously performed by the Director of Central Intelligence, and separately the post of Director of the CIA. In October 2005, the US National Intelligence Strategy was adopted, according to which the CIA was assigned additional tasks, including supporting democratic change in other countries. At the same time, an important division of the CIA was reformed ‑ the Operational Directorate responsible for intelligence. The National Secret Service was formed on its basis. Currently, the CIA consists of four main structural units: the National Secret Service, the Intelligence Directorate, the Scientific and Technical Directorate, and the Directorate of Logistical Support. They carry out the "intelligence cycle," the process of collecting, analyzing, and communicating intelligence findings to senior U.S. government officials. The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is appointed by the President of the United States on the recommendation and with the consent of the Senate. The Director manages the operations, personnel, and budget of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Director of the CIA also has several departments under his command that deal with public relations, personnel management, tracking new directions, compliance with current rules and regulations, congressional relations, legal issues, information management and internal oversight. Since September 6, 2011, David Howell Petraeus has been Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. A significant part of the CIA's activities is accompanied by research, analysis and writing reports for representatives of government agencies of the state. By order of the President, in accordance with current legislation, the CIA can also participate in covert operations. The CIA has two training centers for the education and training of its agents. The CIA's Camp Peary training base is located in Virginia, USA. The CIA officially recognized the existence of this base in the 1980s. Unofficially, this object appears under the code name "The Farm". The second center, The Point, is located in Harvey‑Point, North Carolina (USA). Information about the number of employees and the CIA's budget is classified. In 1997, the combined budget figure for all U.S. government intelligence agencies and activities was first made public. The total exploration budget was $26.6 billion in fiscal year 1997 and $26.7 billion in fiscal year 1998. The budgets of the special services for all other years remain classified. The activities of the CIA are overseen by Congress and the executive branch. In Congress, the oversight function is performed by the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence, as well as some other committees. In the executive branch, the oversight function is performed by the National Security Council, which includes the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and Minister of Defense. The National Security Council provides leadership and directs national foreign intelligence and counterintelligence activities. The CIA headquarters is located in Langley, Virginia (USA), located near Washington.
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