Establishment
On 23 November 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a media release announcing the establishment, within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (I&S), of the Aerial Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG.) Almost nothing more has been heard of the AOIMSG since then, until now.
Position vacant - AOIMSG Senior Analysis Lead
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently advertised a position titled "AOIMSG Senior Analysis Lead." Joint Duty Number OUSDI-22-0023U. Agency - OUSDI. Grade GG/GS-15. Located at Virginia-Alexandria, Arlington & Falls Church. Start date 26 April 2022. Vacancy open date 16 March 2022. Vacany close date of 15 April 2022. Primary point of contact Col. Brian Kreitlow. Secondary point of contact Thorn Hilton. Duty station - Crystal City, VA. Tour length - 24 months. Security clearance required TOP SECRET/SCI. No polygraph required.
Duty description
"The AOIMSG Analysis Lead synchronizes intelligence analysis and reporting on behalf of the Director of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG). The AOIMSG synchronizes DoD efforts to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in Special Use Airspace and assesses and mitigates any associated threats to safety of flight and national security. The Analysis Lead:
- Synchronizes AOIMSG analytic efforts with key members of the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Intelligence Enterprise (DIE) and the Intelligence Community (IC) to include: the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and other U.S. Government (USG) departments and agencies, as necessary, and ensures coordination across these agencies with regard to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena reporting and analysis;
- Manages analytical workflow to, and through, DIA and across the DoD and other USG departments and agencies;
- Establishes processes and procedures to ensure that reported anomalous objects are analyzed by subject matter experts in appropriate intelligence disciplines;
- Ensures intelligence analysis and reporting is conducted in-line with IC standards and best practices;
- Ensures all-source intelligence analysis has access to additional collection and reporting, as necessary;
- Oversees the inclusion of intelligence analysis into regular AOIMSG reporting, in conjunction with the AOIMSG Director, ODNI and the AOIMSG Reporting Lead.
- Oversees the development of Action Plans and resource requirement plans for intelligence analysis, in support of the AOIMSG mission;
- Advocates for additional resources to support DoD and DIE intelligence analysis in support of the AOIMSG mission;"
Minimum qualifications required
"An academic and/or work history grounded in intelligence, intelligence-related activities, and functional areas with an emphasis on all-source data analysis and associated tools.
- Subject matter expertise in intelligence analysis standards, all-source analysis and intelligence production;
- Excellent verbal and written communication appropriate for informing and interacting with senior decision-makers across the DoD, DIE and Intelligence Community
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and with minimal oversight;
- Demonstrated ability to form diverse teams and to shape organizational goals;
- Experience at the DoD Component or USG Department/Agency level is desired
- Understanding of the roles and responsibilities of DoD agencies related to intelligence production;
- Familiarity with the roles and responsibilities of the Office Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;
- Familiarity with the organizations of the DIE and the IC, and their portfolios."
Other comments
"After completing this JDA tour, the member will have an expanded understanding of:
- The different roles, responsibilities, programs, and analytical processes of different members of the DIE and the IC;
- DoD operations, chains of command and operational reporting processes;
- DoD, DIE and IC intelligence tasking, collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination processes;
- OSD roles and missions, and relationships with DoD components;
- Congressional affairs interactions and procedures;
- The different roles, responsibilities and relationships of other USG departments and agencies and their relationship with the DoD;
- The different roles, responsibilities and capabilities of DoD Components, to include Military Departments and the Joint Staff;
- OSD staffing processes and procedures."
How to apply
"APPLICATION PROCESS:
1. IC employees must apply by the vacancy close date. The IC employee application should include the following ...
a. A brief (two-page limit) candidate resume or biographical summary.
b. A short narrative describing the applicant's qualifications (general and specific) for the joint duty rotational assignment.
2. IC employees must be nominated by their employing (home) element within 10 calendar days of the vacancy close date in order to be considered by the gaining element. Please contact your employing element's Joint Duty Program Office for nomination procedures as some agencies may require written supervisory endorsement at the time of application. IC Element Joint Duty Program Office contact info can be found at: https://ichas.dni.ic.gov/JDAT/Contacts.aspx. Any application sent directly by an IC employee to the gaining element will not be considered."
Position vacant - AOIMSG Collection Lead
Joint duty number OUSDI-22-0024U. At OUSDI. Level GG/GS-15. Located Virginia-Alexandria, Arlington & Falls Church. Start date 26 April 2022. Vacancy open 16 March 2022. Vacancy close date 15 April 2022. Primary point of contact Col. Brian Kreitlow. Secondary poc Thorn Hilton. Mission category Collection and operations. Work level JDAT. GG/GS-15. Duty station Crystal City, VA. Length of tour 24 months. Security clearance required TOP SECRET/SCI. No polygraph.
Duty description
"The AOIMSG Collection Lead synchronizes intelligence requirements and collection on behalf of the Director of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG). The AOIMSG synchronizes DoD efforts to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in Special Use Airspace and assesses and mitigates any associated threats to safety of flight and national security.
- Synchronizes AOIMSG collection requirements with key members of the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Intelligence Enterprise (DIE) and the Intelligence Community (IC) to include: the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and other U.S. Government (USG) departments and agencies, as necessary, and ensures coordination across these agencies with regard to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) intelligence collection;
- Manages intelligence collection workflow to, and through, DIA and across the DoD and other USG departments and agencies;
- Establishes processes and procedures to ensure that intelligence collection and collection requirement support further analysis of reported anomalous objects;
- Ensures intelligence collection systems are appropriately tailored to enable collection on UAP and that collection meets the needs of the DIE;
- Oversees the inclusion of intelligence collection processes and metrics into regular AOIMSG reporting, in conjunction with the AOIMSG Director, ODNI and the AOIMSG Reporting Lead.
- Oversees the development of Action Plans and resource requirement plans for intelligence collection, in support of the AOIMSG mission;
- Advocates for additional resources to support DoD and DIE intelligence collection in support of the AOIMSG mission;"
Minimum qualifications required
"An academic and/or work history grounded in intelligence, intelligence-related activities, and functional areas with an emphasis on intelligence collection and associated tools and processes.
- Subject matter expertise in intelligence collection and collection management;
- Excellent verbal and written communication appropriate for informing and interacting with senior decision-makers across the DoD, DIE and Intelligence Community
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and with minimal oversight;
- Demonstrated ability to form diverse teams and to shape organizational goals;
- Experience at the DoD Component or USG Department/Agency level is desired
- Understanding of the roles and responsibilities of DoD agencies related to intelligence production;
- Familiarity with the roles and responsibilities of the Office Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;
- Familiarity with the organizations of the DIE and the IC, and their portfolios."
Other comments
"After completing this JDA tour, the member will have an expanded understanding of:
- The different roles, responsibilities, programs, and collection processes and capabilities of different members of the DIE and the IC;
- DoD operations, chains of command and operational reporting processes;
- DoD, DIE and IC intelligence tasking, collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination processes;
- OSD roles and missions, and relationships with DoD components;
- Congressional affairs interactions and procedures;
- The different roles, responsibilities and relationships of other USG departments and agencies and their relationship with the DoD;
- The different roles, responsibilities and capabilities of DoD Components, to include Military Departments and the Joint Staff;
- OSD staffing processes and procedures."
Other AOIMSG vacancies?
As there were two AOIMSG positions advertised, I wondered if there were others? So, I went to the website where vacancies are advertised for the Intelligence Community Civilian Joint Duty Program. Listed here are the vacancies for the AOIMSG Analysis Lead and the AOIMSG Collection Lead as described above. I failed to locate any current vacancies for other AOIMSG positions, either within the OUSDI or other IC agency listed there. Interestingly, I note that in the vacancy details for both the AOIMSG Collection Lead and the AOIMSG Analysis Lead, there is mention of "the AOIMSG Reporting Lead," suggestive of a third position, either already created or to be created in future.
The ODNI website also has an area titled "Career opportunities." A search of vacancies listed there failed to find any AOIMSG related positions.
However, I noticed that on the ODNI website, there is an area describing what "Joint Duty" is, and there is a sentence:
"Are you interested in exploring Joint Duty, but don't see an opportunity that interest you? Never fear, only select opportunities are posted on this site! For a full listing of all available opportunities, visit the classified web site at jointduty.ic.gov."
Update: 11 May 2022
On 11 May 2022 D Dean Johnson tweeted:
"Director of National Intelligence re-listed a job opening for "AOIMSG Senior Analysis Lead" position now with a "start date" of May 24, 2022, a month later than the previously reported start date. Job describes certain tasks "on behalf of the Director" of AOIMSG."
A check of the current ODNI vacancies reveals that Joint Duty Number OUSDI-22-0023U has re-appeared on the vacancy list. The "vacancy open date" is the same as previously, namely 16 March 2022, however the "vacancy close date" is now shown as 13 May 2022; with a "start date" of 24 May 2022. The rest of the details appear to be the same as the original advert.
Update 15 May 2022
In a recent tweet U.S. researcher D Dean Johnson advised that sources had informed him that Sean Kirkpatrick will direct the AOIMSG.
