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CENTRALIZATION Prior to September 11, 2001, the Bureau had no centralized structure for the national management of tts Counterterrorism Program, and terrorism cases were routinely managed out of individual field offices. An al-Qa'ida case, for example, might have been run out of the New York Field Office; a HAMAS case might have been managed by the Washington Field Office. This arrangement functioned for years, and produced a number of impressive prosecutions Once counterterrorism became our overriding priority, however, it became clear that this arrangement had a number of failings. It “stove-piped” investigative intelligence information among field offices {t diffused responsibility and accountability between counterterrorism officials at FB! Headquarters and the SACs who had primary responsibility for the individual terrorism investigations. It allowed for field offices to assign varying priorittes and resource levels to terrorist groups and threats. It impeded oversight by FBI leadership, and it complicated coordination with other federal agencies and entities involved in the war against terrorism For all these reasons, we decided that the Counterterrorism Program needed centralized leadership. In December 2001, we reorganized and expanded the Counterterrorism. Division (CTD) at Headquarters and created the position of Executive Assistant Director (EAD) for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence. (The Assistant Director of CTD reports to the EAD.) We now have the centralized management to run a truly national program — to coordinate counterterrorism operations and intelligence production domestically and overseas; to conduct liarson with other agencies and governments; and to establish clear lines of accountability for the overall development and success of our Counterterrorism Program. With this management structure in place, we are driving the fundamental changes that are necessary to. accomplish our counterterrorism mission. We divided the operations of the Counterterrorism. Division into branches, sections, and units, each of which focuses on a different aspect of the current terrorism threat facing the U.S. These components are staffed with intelligence analysts and subject matter experts who work closely with investigators in the field and integrate intelligence acrass component lines. This integration allows for real-time responses to threat information and quick communication with decision-makers and investigators in the field. MISC DOC. #5 20 000000359