What the Secret Neighbors Do: Look for Terrorist Threats, Share the Information to Thwart Them

Three times a day, officials sit in a windowless secure videoconference room in one of McLean's most secure buildings and give other high-ranking officials around the government a rundown of the most prominent terrorist threats facing the U.S.

The first briefing of the day occurs at 1 a.m. The biggest occurs at 8 a.m. The last at 3 p.m. The building works like a factory with three shifts a day.

These briefings are central to the job description of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), one of McLean's newest secret neighbors, spawned directly from the ashes of Seot. 11.

Sunday we told you the story we pieced together of how the NCTC and the Director of National Intelligence became our neighbors. Today, we'll tell you what they say they do.

Within the sprawling intelligence community, the NCTC was formally established in 2004 to bring together all available information on terrorism, analyze the information, and warn of potential attacks on the U.S.

One of the most painful findings after 9/11 was that U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies didn't talk to each other.

The center’s work excludes terror that is exclusively domestic. The FBI takes care of that. NCTC says they don't do operations. They simply collect data, analyze and share it.

They also create the "watch lists," also called no-fly lists.

"We are one of the bright shining stars in the post-9/11 environment," said NCTC spokesman Carl Kropf.

The Washington Post reported last year that some blamed the NCTC for failing to uncover a man before he boarded a Northwest Airlines flight and attempted to blow it up as it was landing in Detroit on Christmas Day.

The NCTC and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), were created to force the 16-agency intelligence community to share information in ways that eluded it leading up to the attacks of Sept. 11.

As the central repository for "all-source" intelligence on international terrorism, the NCTC is supposed to find the important dots, connect the dots and advise the government on threats, the Post explained.

"We are to connect and make sense of an unbelievable amount of information we receive about plots and threats" from foreign intelligence sources, from the military, and myriad other sources," Kropf explained.

"There is an unbelievable amount of data in our world and the ability to understand what is relevant and important and to make those judgements as quickly as possible," is what the agency does, he said.

The NCTC command center brings together staffers from the FBI, the Department of Defense, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, Homeland Security, etc.

In a large, two-story room filled with 16-20 desks arranged in pods of four, analysts watch information flowing into the three screens on their desk. The room looks like a sound stage with movie lights hanging from the ceiling. That's because it was designed by a set director from the Disney company, McLean Patch was told during a recent tour.

A huge TV screen dominates the front of room. When visitors come, the screen shows CNN.

The folks sitting at the desks come from the "partner" agencies. "This is part of breaking down the walls ... they are really in the same room. ... You walk to your (intelligence) colleagues 20 feet over there," said Laurie Hoisington. the command center administrator. "This is a real example of how the barriers have broken down on counter terror."

Who's in Charge

The director of the NCTC reports to both the president of the United States and to their next-door neighbor, the director of National Intelligence.

Vice Adm. John Redd was the first director of the National Counterterrorism Center in August 2005. He resigned in November 2007 because he needed replacement surgery on both knees, which would require a prolonged absence if he were to stay as director, Kropf was quoted as saying.

He was succeeded by his deputy, Michael Leiter, who was confirmed in 2008 and departed this summer.

was sworn in as the director in August, following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Olsen is the top attorney at the National Security Agency, which is responsible for cracking enemy communications and encrypting ours, and he’s also a law professor at Georgetown University, according to the New York Daily News. He's now our new neighbor.

James R. Clapper Jr. was sworn in as the fourth director of National Intelligence on Aug. 9, 2010. He is a retired lieutenant general of the U.S. Air Force.

As director, Clapper oversees the United States Intelligence Community and serves as the principal intelligence advisor to the president.

Remembering Their Roots

The NCTC contains a permanent 9/11 Memorial.

A glass case on the first floor holds a large piece of limestone from the Pentagon, a flag that flew over the ashes of the World Trade Center, a piece of twisted steel from the World Trade Center.

"We do this for our families, our community and for our nation," Kropf said.

We pray that they succeed.