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Planning the Future of the Collection Skill Community

SUMMARY

NSA staff is aging, and most new hires for signals intelligence collection positions arrive at the agency with inadequate training. Human resources and others have formed a committee to determine what skills are needed for these jobs, and how to create viable career development plans to ensure that the NSA is staffed to collect intelligence in a decade.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Aug 22, 2005

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Mar 01, 2018

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Page 1 from Planning the Future of the Collection Skill Community
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U//FOUO) Planning the Future of the Collection Skill Community FROM: Charles H. Berlin III Advocate of the Collection Skill Field and Deputy Director for Customer Relationships (S1) Run Date: 08/22/2005 (U//FOUO) The Collection Resource Capability Initiative... unmasked (C//SI) A Link Access (S33) study, conducted in 2004, identified the declining health of the Collection Skill Community. It highlighted that human capital is being lost, new hires coming into the field do not cover attrition levels, the collection community is overly senior in grade, and the Collection Management training material is obsolete. The study noted that all levels of the Community are at risk and identified strategic options. (C//SI) To turn this study into action, Link Access, in partnership with ADET , HR , A&P , and other Data Acquisition offices, has formed the Collection Resource Capability Initiative (CRCI). The objective of the CRCI is to define roles, responsibilities, knowledge and skills for the collection capability. The team also is developing strategies for staffing the positions identified, and providing a career model based on continued individual development. Based on these objectives, resource investment recommendations will be made based on mission, technical soundness, fiscal responsibility and personnel. (C//SI) The team's focus is to project how the NSA enterprise will access SIGINT signals 10 years from now and beyond, from the human resources perspective. In order to make informed decisions, the CRCI requires input from various sources throughout the enterprise. As the team reviews options, other communities will be engaged for their expertise and opinions. The team expects to complete its work and present recommendations to agency seniors before the end of this calendar year. (U//FOUO) The CRCI team recently concluded their first phase of the initiative, which provided a framework for option 1 - revitalizing the Collection Skill Field. They now turn their attention to option 2 - that of blending the Collection capability into other skill communities. There was a third option identified - contracting collection and collection management out to industry. That option is being investigated through corporate council, and is not likely to be a viable solution. (U//FOUO) Included in this initiative is providing a channel to capture specific information that will assist in developing the final recommendation. The team will be conducting a survey of the Collection Skill Field community in the next several weeks. If you receive a survey request from the CRCI, please take the time to complete it accurately. While you may not be able to participate in the day-to-day involvement with the CRCI, the survey is your chance to provide your input to help change the future direction of this important function of the agency: collection. "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108