Strategic Support Branch
Strategic Support Branch | |
---|---|
Active | 2001 |
Country | Operation Iraqi Freedom |
The Strategic Support Branch (SSB) was a
Overview
Originally titled Human Augmentation Teams, the Strategic Support Branch was established to give DoD an increase of
Although the SSB was designed to operate without detection and under the defense secretary's direct control, it is commanded by high-ranking military officials. Strategic Support teams have about 10 members each, consisting of case officers, linguists, interrogators and other specialists from the
Controversy
The Strategic Support Branch was financed using "reprogrammed" funds, without explicit authority or appropriation of the United States Congress. The Pentagon hadn't released any details of the unit's operations or even of its existence to Congress until after an article about the secret unit was released by The Washington Post.[3]
Pentagon officials emphasized their intention to remain accountable to Congress, but they also asserted that Defense intelligence missions are subject to fewer legal constraints than believed. That assertion involves new interpretations of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which governs the armed services, and Title 50, which governs, among other things, foreign intelligence. Under Title 10, for example, the Defense Department must report to Congress all "deployment orders", or formal instructions from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to position U.S. forces for combat. But guidelines issued by former Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen A. Cambone state that special operations forces may "conduct clandestine HUMINT operations... before publication" of a deployment order, rendering notification unnecessary. Pentagon lawyers also define the "War on Terror" as ongoing, indefinite, and global in scope. That analysis effectively discards the limitation of the defense secretary's war powers to times and places of imminent combat.[3]
References
- ^ a b Jehl, Douglas; Eric Schmitt (January 25, 2005). "Reports on Pentagon's New Spy Units Set Off Questions in Congress". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ Starr, Barbara; David Ensor; Joe Johns (January 24, 2005). "Congress eyes once-secret Pentagon unit". CNN. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ a b c d e Gellman, Barton (January 23, 2005). "Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld's Domain". The Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^
"DoD Background Briefing on Strategic Support Teams" (Press release). HUMINTAugmentation Teams. And in response to the questions of staff, which suggested that that title was a much too ordinary title and made you think of them operating at a very low level when indeed this was meant to operate at the three-star level of concern, maybe it ought to have a different name. And so it was given the name of Strategic Support Teams -- that is what the teams were called -- made up of interrogators and collectors and so forth.
Further reading
- "Pentagon Tries to Explain Secret Group". Fox News. Associated Press. 25 January 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- Miles, Donna (25 January 2005). "New Teams to Provide Expanded Human Intelligence Capabilities". American Forces Press Service. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- Schmitt, Eric (January 24, 2005). "Pentagon Sends Its Spies to Join Fight on Terror". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-17.