Intel Veteran Offers Dual Perspective
GIF 2009 Volume: 7 Issue: 6 (November/December)
intelligence career in the public and private sectors.
After 40 years in the intelligence business, Vice Admiral Mike McConnell (Ret.) probably could have settled into the comfortable semi-retirement of an elder statesman after stepping down as director of national intelligence (DNI) earlier this year. Instead, he returned to Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), where he had worked during an earlier stint in the private sector, as senior vice president and leader of the national security business.
Judging from a recent conversation with the former National Security Agency (NSA) director at the consulting firm’s Herndon, Va., offices, the primary reason for McConnell’s continuing service is pretty simple—he loves the work.
“I’ve been in the intelligence business, either as a professional intelligence officer or some other capacity, for nearly 40 years,” McConnell said. “Once you’re in it, it’s hard to walk away from it. Booz Allen offered me this position, which gave me an opportunity analogous to much of what I did as DNI—to engage with a whole set of clients and help them be successful.” He added, “One gets the opportunity for public service and to enjoy the fruits of life in the private sector.”
Overseeing BAH’s work with the intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement communities is rewarding, he said, and takes advantage of his unique blend of skills and experience.
“As for any business in this area, the objective is quality work, opportunity for the staff and growth of the business,” McConnell observed. “If you’re growing and it’s a healthy business, you’re always creating opportunity for the staff. I particularly like the people aspects of it—recruiting, training, providing opportunity to the staff and teaching them what I know about the intelligence business, how it works, and what the problems are on the inside. Based on my years and experiences, I can add a level of understanding and insight that they often find useful. ...
“I enjoy recruiting bright young people without any experience and giving them the opportunity to bloom and grow. One of the benefits of being older is having the experience of guiding things, and providing opportunity to self-starters who are ready to take on hard problems, and watch them be successful,” he added.
“Intelligence is hard work. It’s a secret world, and most people don’t understand the vagaries of it, and how it works, because most of it is done in secret. I’ve been there and done that, so I can add insight on what the real issues are, and help people be successful,” he said. “I don’t think of myself as the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but if you’ve been there and done it, at all levels, you’ve got a perspective, understanding and potential access that can help our staff understand positions across the various players how to address an issue.”
CYBER-ISSUES
During his time in government—from 1992 to 1996 at NSA and as DNI from 2007 to 2009—and now again in the private sector, McConnell has made cybersecurity a major focus of his work.
The issue is critical for government and society in general, he suggests, in part because the explosion of information capabilities and technologies over the past 20 years has left the United States with strategic vulnerability because we have become so dependent on our networked infrastructure.
“As wonderful as IT has been, in increasing productivity and connectivity all around the world, it has also introduced a level of vulnerability that must be addressed and mitigated,” McConnell noted. “What Booz Allen has offered to have me do, in addition to serving as a market lead for the area I’m interested in, is to chair what we call the Cyber Campaign. It’s seeking to think through, at the most advanced level, issues such as the evolution of the Internet and how to address the issues of risk mitigation, not only for the military and the federal government, but also for the private sector and society at large.
“We have a broad-based business across the federal government today, where we assist people who are struggling with cybersecurity and network security issues. This puts me in a space that I am interested in, enjoy, and have a passion for—raising cybersecurity barriers to protect the nation from someone who would attack us from a foreign location, whose intent is not to steal money or information, but to destroy data. If one could destroy data in our financial system, one could cause global economic impact. A terrorist organization committed to the destruction of the U.S. could have a devastating impact if they attack us through cybermeans.
We, as a nation, need to understand that,” he urged. As a veteran of two “tours” in both government and industry, McConnell also is a strong advocate of dialogue and open exchange between the public and private sectors in the intelligence field and elsewhere.
“If you think about it, the effectiveness of the U.S. military is directly tied to the strength of the U.S. economy. I would make the same argument for the intelligence community. A large part of the technology, creativity, tools and techniques comes out of the private sector. It’s the private sector, with its profit motive, where people are willing to work and invest to see if they can create the next level of technology. The dynamic of the free market is what makes us powerful, and what defeated the Soviet Union. They had no mechanism for punishing inefficiency and rewarding efficiency. In the free market, if you’re efficient, you make money, and if you’re inefficient, you go out of business,” McConnell said.
“Most of the technology, techniques and capabilities of the intelligence community come out of the private sector,” he continued. “Should the private sector be employed to do inherently governmental functions? No, but how do you define an inherently governmental function? ... We need more clarity there.”
By and large, the relationship between government and industry works pretty well, McConnell suggested, while acknowledging strains.
“I’ve always been surprised in government to hear officials talk about contractors as if that were something evil. On industry side, I’ve been fascinated to hear industry players talking about government as if it were not inherently capable of doing something. Open dialogue allows either side to understand the other, and find common ground. That level of open exchange is what makes the process work,” he said.
“Senior policymakers and members of Congress would be advantaged to understand that better,” McConnell added. “I agree that no contractors should do inherently governmental functions. But what do you mean by ‘inherently governmental’?” he asked.
GEOSPATIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
McConnell, who addressed the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s GEOINT Symposium in 2008, also reflected on the importance of geospatial technology for the U.S. role in the world.
“Geospatial intelligence was a significant contributor to winning the Cold War,” he recalled. “In my time, the Soviets could not plan or field a capability—from ships to tanks—that we didn’t understand and were prepared to counter. A big chunk of that goes to geospatial intelligence. Maintaining what we have achieved in geospatial intelligence is absolutely essential for the role we play in the world and for preserving the interests and protecting the people of the United States.”
Although the supply of geospatial information available to everyone, through projects such as Google Earth, has exploded, and a number of other nations have developed these capabilities, none has achieved the level of those serving the U.S. intelligence community, McConnell observed.
“It’s essential to preserve that, because it is unique and makes a contribution that far surpasses what anyone else can do. We don’t like to think of ourselves as the world’s policeman, but if you believe in the things that America represents, such as democracy and respect for human rights, maintaining that edge in geospatial intelligence is essential for us, to be able to inform policymakers so they can think about and decide on issues before they happen.
“Everything has a place. The better that you can understand the geospatial relationships of the sea, Earth, conditions of the globe and the things on it, the better you are the master of your own destiny. Everything has to be somewhere, and I want to know where ‘somewhere’ is,” McConnell said. ♦