CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency's
Seal

The Central Intelligence Agency one of the United States' main intelligence-gathering groups. It was formed in 1947 during the presidency of Harry S. Truman, following the OSS. The George Bush Center for Intelligence located in Langley, Virginia is home to the headquarters of the CIA. The current director of the CIA is John Brennan, and the current deputy director is Michael Morell. The CIA plays a large role in the United States' gathering and analyzing of intelligence, counterintelligence and counterespionage, and counterterrorism. The CIA had a major part in gathering intelligence on Soviet technologies during the Cold War. Things like the SR-71 aircraft were developed and designed to move quickly enough and fly high enough to evade surface-to-air missiles and allow pilots to more safely fly over the Soviet Union. CIA operations help to gather intelligence on terrorist organizations and plans, allowing for more terrorist attacks to be prevented and for leaders of terrorist groups to be either captured or killed. One CIA operation resulted in Osama bin Laden being killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May of 2011.

The CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia