Marrin--CIA Kent School and University-2000

8/8/2019 Marrin--CIA Kent School and University-2000

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/marrin-cia-kent-school-and-university-2000 1/3

Marrin, Stephen. ‘The CIA's Kent School: A Step in the Right Direction' The

Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies. V. 11, No. 2. (Winter 2000): 55-

57.

The CIA's Kent School: A Step in the Right Direction (1)

The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) May 2000 creation of the Sherman Kent

School for Intelligence Analysis was an important step towards more effective

centralization and dissemination of the Directorate of Intelligence's (DI's) analyticalexpertise. However, as envisioned and currently constituted the Kent School is

insufficient to meet the DI's future requirements.

Changes in intelligence requirements and information technology will impact both thesubstance and process of intelligence analysis, and the DI will need to adopt innovative

business practices in order to continue to provide the intelligence that our national

security decision makers require. While the Kent School provides training services sorely

needed by the DI, a university model for the school would provide the DI with thecapability to tailor future research and development to the DI's unique informational

requirements. In fact, a 'CIA University' might centralize knowledge of intelligence practices to the degree that intelligence could become the formalized and accredited

profession that as of yet it is not.

Progress Made

In May 2000, the CIA inaugurated the Kent School as 'a key component of the DCI's

Strategic Direction initiative launched in 1998.' (2) The immediate reason for the creation

of the Kent School may have been concern over recent intelligence failures--such as thefailure to warn of India's 1998 nuclear tests--which led to a renewed emphasis on 'better

collection, technology and analysis.' (3) However, the idea for a school has been aroundfor some time. In a 1955 essay, Sherman Kent--a leader in developing the profession of intelligence analysis--described his attempts to make a number of improvements to the

practice of intelligence. (4) These improvements included the establishment of a

classified 'journal … devoted to intelligence theory and doctrine' as well as 'an "Institutefor Advanced Study of Intelligence." ' The journal--Studies in Intelligence--has been

published regularly by CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence since 1955. (5) And

now CIA has finally created Kent's intelligence institute in the form of the Kent School.

In remarks at the Kent School dedication in May 2000, the Director of Central

Intelligence George Tenet noted that the Kent School--headed by its Dean Frans

Bax-'will prepare generations of men and women for the…profession of intelligenceanalysis in the 21st Century. Whether the students are new analysts, team leaders, or

issue managers, they will see and learn for themselves the best of what we as an Agency

have learned about the craft of analysis." (6)

The Kent School accomplishes this through a six-month long Career Analyst Program for

neophyte analysts still learning their craft. In addition, the school provides a leadership

program for new managers and a 'Center for Intelligence Analysis' where experienced

1



officers can document their analytical lessons learned and develop new analytical

approaches. (7)

Through these initiatives the Kent School fills a glaring inadequacy in the DI's

organizational structure. By almost any measure previous analytical training had been

insufficient, consisting of only two or four week sessions usually after a period of sink-or-swim on-the-job training. (8) The increased structure and length of the Career Analyst

Program provides greater opportunity for individual growth in understanding of the

profession, and hopefully a greater self-conscious rigor in the use of analytical tools. Inaddition, institutional knowledge that had previously been handed down through a verbal

'lore' but only minimally documented may now be captured instead of lost as has been the

case for much of the accumulated wisdom of generations of intelligence officers.

Farther to Go

Yet despite its substantial benefits, the Kent School is insufficient for the needs of the

future because it does not provide the home for expertise and innovation that future

institutional adaptations will require. Changes in the external information acquisition anddissemination environment will force changes in the DI's business practices, but CIA is

inefficient in the implementation of reforms. Many of CIA's organizational reforms andimprovements result from task force recommendations or consultations with outside

experts. However, each time a change is made in structure or process, the wheel--

consisting of tying existing practices to theoretical constructs of function and purpose--is

re-created. Once the recommendations are made and the task force or consultancydisbanded, the lessons learned regarding the conversion of theory to practice dissipate. As

a result, the field of intelligence management--as practiced by the CIA--has become for

the most part ahistorical with limited and non-cumulative knowledge of how its theoryshould be put into practice.

It does not have to be that way. The Kent School could form the core of a center of learning and innovation--a 'CIA University'--where knowledgeable insiders could

collaborate with insightful outsiders to develop both the theory and practice of

intelligence analysis tradecraft and teach it to interested practitioners. Synergies resultingfrom the formal integration of analytical occupational standards; methodological training,

and alternative and innovative approaches to intelligence analysis would result in greater

conceptual variety, a pre-requisite for effective institutional change. The creation of the

equivalent of a graduate program would provide the appropriate environment andresources for promising young intelligence officers to work with more experienced senior

intelligence officers on projects developing new intelligence products, processes, and

dissemination methods. From these projects could come the kernels of insight to foster improvements in intelligence analysis. In addition, such a structure would provide

bureaucratic protection for the innovators and experimenters willing to use their insight

and a trial-and-error approach to test concepts while allowing for failure but pursuingsuccess.

2



Down the Road

The establishment of the Kent School is a substantial step towards creating Kent's vision

of intelligence as a profession. As Donald Steury notes, Kent had a 'passionate interest inthe growth of intelligence analysis as a profession, and to its establishment as a scholarly

discipline with a well-ordered methodology.' (9) However, just as other professional

disciplines such as medicine and law developed through the accumulation of knowledgein centers of learning, and dispensed this knowledge to newly chosen practitioners

through a formal program of education and accreditation, so might intelligence develop

its own core university structure, and thereby develop into a self-conscious and structureddiscipline in its own right. The Kent School takes CIA further towards this goal. A 'CIA

University' with the Kent School at its center would go even farther towards providing

the DI--and senior national security policymakers--with the knowledge to build effective

business practices that will continue to provide future American policymakers with thevery best intelligence that the DI can offer.

Endnotes

1. Stephen Marrin ([email protected]), an AFIO member and former CIA analyst, iscurrently a graduate student specializing in intelligence studies at the University of

Virginia. This article was developed--with some references excised, and othersexpanded--from thoughts posted to an internal CIA computer discussion board in

December 1999. Frans Bax--the Dean of the Kent School--subsequently responded at

length to my note, and some of the initial suggestions have since been implemented.

Also, as required, it was submitted to the Agency for pre-publication review.2. CIA Press Release; Tenet Dedicates New School for Intelligence Analysis. 4 May

2000:

http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/press_release/pr050400.html3. Drogin, Bob. "School for New Brand of Spooks." LA Times, 21 July 2000, 1.

4. CIA Press Release; Tenet Dedicates New School for Intelligence Analysis. 4 May

2000: http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/press_release/pr050400.html5. Kent, Sherman. 'Valediction' in Steury, Donald P. Sherman Kent and the Board of

National Estimates: Collected Essays, Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central

Intelligence Agency, Washington DC, 1994. 24-25.6. Remarks of the Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet at the Dedication of

the Sherman Kent School, 4 May 2000;

http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/dci_speech_05052000.html

7. CIA Press Release; Tenet Dedicates New School for Intelligence Analysis. 4 May2000:

http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/press_release/pr050400.html

8. Drogin, 19. Steury, Donald P. 'Introduction.' Sherman Kent and the Board of National Estimates:

Collected Essays Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency,

Washington DC, 1994. xiii.

3

Documents

Marrin--CIA Kent School and University-2000