Intel gathering


CIA shatters a glass ceiling with the appointment of a woman to lead its clandestine arm

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) made groundbreaking news when Director Gina Haspel appointed Elizabeth (Beth) Kimber to serve as the first woman deputy director for Operations. The Directorate of Operations (DO) is the clandestine arm of the CIA responsible for recruiting spies, stealing secrets, and conducting presidentially authorized covert action programs. The DO produces human intelligence (HUMINT), which is the foundation for the CIA’s all-source analysis.

The United States is facing a myriad of complex and significant national security threats. It will be Kimber’s responsibility to ensure that the DO produces the sensitive source reporting on hard targets like Iran, nuclear proliferation, North Korea, Russia, cyber, China and transnational terrorism, upon which our national security relies.

Clandestine officers develop proficiency in foreign languages, learn espionage tradecraft, and deploy overseas, often in harm’s way. Kimber will lead the men and women who, as Director Haspel said in her May 2018 Senate testimony, “are our country’s silent warriors. These dedicated professionals spend much of their careers in difficult, far-flung outposts of the globe, striving to make our fellow Americans more secure at home.”