4.2 DHS Organization

WHO? The Department of Homeland Security.

WHAT? Has 240,000 personnel in 23 agencies filling mission, service, and service support roles.

WHEN? The National Operations Center maintains 24x7 watch over all DHS operational areas.

WHERE? DHS hopes to find a permanent home at St. Elizabeth’s campus in Anacostia by 2021.

WHY? DHS has evolved into a complex organization to tackle a complex mission.

If you will remember, DHS was created to close the gaps exposed by 9/11, and form a streamlined Federal organization capable of coordinating information to prevent another such attack. Although DHS may have begun that way, it would be difficult to call it “streamlined” today. The Secretary of Homeland Security is in charge of 23 separate agencies with 240,000 employees located across the nation and around the world, including 60 separate offices in Washington DC. DHS remains temporarily headquartered at the Nebraska Avenue Complex in northeast DC. They hope to move to their permanent home at St. Elizabeth’s campus in Anacostia by 2021. The Secretary reports to the President as a member of his advisory cabinet and security council. The Secretary also reports to 108 committees and subcommittees that provide oversight from Congress. One way to grasp the complexity of DHS is to use the Army classification of “roles and missions”. DHS agencies can be classified by three different roles: operations, support, and service support. Operation agencies do the mission. Support agencies help Operations do the mission. And Service Support agencies provide essential services that help everybody do their job. Depending how you view it, the following DHS agencies may be considered Service Support:

1. Science & Technology Directorate

2. Office of Policy

3. Office of the General Counsel

4. Office of Legislative Affairs

5. Privacy Office

6. Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

Similarly, the following DHS agencies may be considered Support agencies:

1. Chief of Staff

2. Management Directorate

3. Office of Public Affairs

4. Office of the Inspector General

5. Office of Partnership & Engagement

6. Office of Citizenship & Immigration Services Ombudsman

The remaining 12 agencies may be considered Operations. Operation agencies perform essential missions identified in the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review:

1. Border & Transportation Security

2. Counterterrorism

3. Emergency Management

4. Counter WMD

5. Critical Infrastructure Protection

6. Cybersecurity  

The Border & Transportation Security mission has the largest grouping of Operation agencies:

1. US Customs & Border Protection

2. US Citizenship & Immigration Services

3. US Coast Guard

4. US Immigration & Customs Enforcement

5. Transportation Security Administration

Counterterrorism has only two Operation agencies:

1. Office of Intelligence & Analysis

2. Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

Emergency Management has only one Operation agency:

1. Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Counter WMD mission also has only a single Operation agency:

1. Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office

Critical Infrastructure Protection is shared by two Operation agencies:

1. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

2. US Secret Service (who protect key assets)

And the same agency that does Critical Infrastructure Protection also does Cybersecurity:

1. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

That leaves just one agency we haven’t mentioned: the Office of Operations Coordination runs ALL the 24-hour watch centers, including the National Operations Center, which track ALL DHS operations. Well that’s one way to slice the DHS pie into digestible pieces. This is just an overview to help you navigate around the organization. We will take a closer look at the missions starting in the next block.