FBI National Security Branch

The National Security Branch (NSB) is a service within the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The NSB is responsible for protecting the United States from weapons of mass destruction, acts of terrorism, and foreign intelligence operations and espionage. The NSB accomplishes its mission by investigating national security threats, providing information and analysis to other law enforcement agencies, and developing capabilities to keep the US nation secure.

National Security Branch
Seal of the National Security Branch
ActiveSeptember 2005 - Present
CountryUnited States
AgencyFederal Bureau of Investigation
Part ofReports to the Deputy Director
AbbreviationNSB
Structure
Subunits
Commanders
Current
commander		Executive Assistant Director John Brown[1]
Website
Official website

Leadership

Headed by an FBI Executive Assistant Director, the NSB is responsible to the FBI Director through the Deputy Director. As a unit of the FBI (which is a division of the United States Department of Justice), the NSB is ultimately responsible to the Attorney General of the United States. In addition, the critical role the NSB plays within the United States Intelligence Community places it within the overview of the Director of National Intelligence.

Organization

The FBI created the National Security Branch (NSB) in September 2005 in response to a presidential directive to establish a “National Security Service” that combines the missions, capabilities, and resources of the FBI's counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and intelligence elements under the leadership of a senior FBI official.

The NSB was formed by the unification of the FBI's various national security and intelligence gathering units:[2]

Future

It is speculated that this will lead to the formation of "career paths" for FBI Special Agents; meaning that once a new agent has completed Special Agent Training at FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and has completed the mandatory probationary period, that he or she will choose to go into the National Security Branch, or go into the "Criminal" part of the Bureau and focus on crimes such as organized crime, narcotics, civil rights violations, fraud, and violent crime. Some advocates of this new program say that this re-organization will help the fight against terrorism by making it less bureaucratic.

References
  1. "Leadership & Structure". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  2. "National Security Branch". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 10 August 2020.


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