Pentagon spooks get own spy service

The Pentagon is reorganising its clandestine spy operation, sending more of its case officers to work alongside CIA officers to gather intelligence in places like China, after a decade of focusing intensely on war zones.

A senior defence official says several hundred case officers will make up the new Defense Clandestine Service.

Defence Department personnel already gather intelligence globally on everything from terrorism to weapons of mass destruction, mostly working out of CIA stations in embassies.

But the Defense Intelligence Agency did not always reward that experience with promotions, so its officers often left for the CIA, one senior defense official said. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the classified program.

The new service is meant to change that.