Office of the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security (OUSD(I&S))
Executive Profile (BLUF)
The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security—statutorily designated as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security but employing the “War” nomenclature under 2025 Executive Order 14347—is the supreme civilian oversight apparatus for the United States’ military intelligence enterprise. Acting as the principal civilian advisor to the Secretary of War (Defense), it exerts overarching authority, direction, and resource control over a massive global intelligence and security apparatus, functioning as the critical integration node between kinetic military operations and the broader United States Intelligence Community (USIC).
Grand Strategy & Strategic Objectives
The office’s grand strategy focuses on securing absolute informational and decision-making supremacy across all operational domains to maintain US global military hegemony. Its long-term objectives involve accelerating the modernisation of the defence intelligence architecture, enforcing aggressive counterintelligence postures, and integrating advanced enterprise-wide query systems and artificial intelligence to outpace peer competitors. Strategically, it seeks to pivot the vast military intelligence apparatus towards complex, contested “grey zone” environments and irregular warfare, establishing a credible, full-spectrum deterrence against advanced cyber and kinetic threats targeting both deployed forces and domestic critical infrastructure.
Capabilities & Power Projection
Kinetic/Military: While a civilian oversight body without direct kinetic units, the OUSD(I&S) dictates the policy, planning, and resource allocation for the Military Intelligence Program (MIP). By governing sensitive activities, special operations intelligence support, and battlespace awareness portfolios, it provides the foundational intelligence architecture necessary for the United States Armed Forces to execute global expeditionary warfare, precise kinetic strikes, and complex anti-access/area denial (AD) penetration.
Intelligence & Cyber: The office wields immense power through its authoritative oversight of primary combat support agencies, notably the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). It strictly governs the Department’s vast human intelligence (HUMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and special technical collection programmes. Furthermore, it manages the sprawling personnel, physical, and industrial security apparatus of the federal government, controlling background investigations and the protection of classified information.
Cognitive & Information Warfare: The OUSD(I&S) structures the defensive and offensive parameters of the military’s information environment. Defensively, it implements stringent counterintelligence frameworks to neutralise foreign espionage, mitigating the aggressive recruitment of US military personnel by adversarial intelligence services. Offensively, it oversees the intelligence support required for irregular warfare and strategic deception operations, seeking to disrupt adversary psychological operations and impose costs via offensive counterintelligence manoeuvres.
Network & Geopolitical Alignment
- Primary Allies/Proxies: * United States Intelligence Community (USIC) - Serves as the primary bureaucratic ally, integrating military intelligence requirements with civilian agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
- Five Eyes (FVEY) - The core international alliance for signals intelligence sharing, joint operational coordination, and the standardisation of defence intelligence doctrines.
- Primary Adversaries: * China (Ministry of State Security / People’s Liberation Army) - Viewed as the primary systemic threat; friction centres on pervasive espionage, intellectual property acquisition, the targeting of critical infrastructure, and aggressive talent-recruitment operations against US veterans.
Leadership & Internal Structure
As of early 2026, the office is led by the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security, Bradley D. Hansell (confirmed July 2025), a former special forces officer and national security strategist. The principal deputy is Justin P. Overbaugh. The OUSD(I&S) is bureaucratically segmented into highly specialised directorates, including the Collection Concepts and Strategies Directorate, the Special Capabilities Directorate (which manages sensitive activities and critical operational shortfalls), and directorates overseeing Battlespace Awareness and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) programmes.