In Greek mythology, a Phoenician named Cadmus killed a dragon and
planted its teeth in the soil like seeds. From those teeth sprang
an army of people who populated Thebes, the city he founded.
In similar fashion, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff has used a review of the agency to sow new offices, positions
and directorates that will grow into DHS infrastructure.
Most of the actions can be done internally, but others will require
congressional approval.
One position advocated in Chertoff’s review in need of legislative
consent is a directorate of policy, which will be headed by an undersecretary.
The office would help promote consistent policies across all the
agencies within the department, Chertoff said. The border and transportation
security directorate currently handles this policy coordination.
Another high profile position is an intelligence director, who
would have the job of centralizing information analysis. The director,
yet to be appointed, “will be asked to improve the department’s
standing within the intelligence community, where it is perceived
as a junior partner and often left out of the loop,” according
to a DHS statement. That office will be staffed with analysts from
the current information analysis directorate and other intelligence
operations within the department.
Also new in town—a chief medical officer to oversee bio-terrorism
policy and coordinate responses to outbreaks or attacks. Poor information
flow among federal agencies during a false anthrax scare in the
Capitol region this year helped convince DHS officials that a post
to help coordinate state and local distribution of therapeutics
was needed, officials said.
Jeffrey W. Runge will be leaving his post as administrator of the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to become the DHS’
first chief medical officer.
The realignment also creates a director of operations coordination,
who will assist in joint, multi-agency operations and translate
intelligence into action. Officials anticipate that the homeland
security operations center, stood up in Washington D.C. in July
2004, will be the nerve center of the new office.