NEWS

Serve, Honor, Respect: Celebrating National American Indian Heritage Month

November 9, 2011

DIA celebrated National American Indian Heritage Month Nov. 8 with a special visit by The Early Show's Hattie Kauffman, the first Native American to be featured in a nationally televised broadcast.

The event, hosted by the Equal Opportunity and Diversity Office (EO), honored and reflected on the achievements and contributions of American Indians and Alaska natives to the history of our nation.

"This year, the national theme for American Indian Heritage Month is 'Service, Honor, Respect,'" explained Chief of Staff Sharon Houy during her opening remarks welcoming Kauffman to the agency. "This theme is perfect for us because it is very similar to our values here at DIA."

Houy continued, "Native Americans make up a very small, but very effective part of the workforce, working in core mission areas around the agency. I'm very pleased to say DIA seems to be a great fit for Native Americans."

Kauffman, a senior correspondent with CBS, echoed Houy's sentiments during her own keynote address: "It's a real miracle to me that there are American Indian people working here at DIA, doing the critical work you do every day," she said. "We can no longer say that we don't count."

Kauffman talked at length about the benefits of her heritage to her historical career in broadcast news. She also shared the story of her son, a Marine who served two tours in Iraq, and his contributions to the long history of Native Americans serving the U.S. in uniform.

"I want to let all American Indians know that we can do what we can dream," Kauffman added in closing. "We can make it happen."

The November observance, like all of EO's sponsored activities, reinforces DIA's commitment to protect, educate and preserve the workforce one person at a time.

DIA is the nation’s premier all-source military intelligence organization.

It provides the nation’s most authoritative assessments of foreign military intentions and capabilities. The agency’s four core competencies -- human intelligence, all-source analysis, counterintelligence and technical intelligence -- enable military operations while also informing policy-makers at the defense and national levels.

DIA’s mission is unique and no other agency matches its military expertise across such a broad range of intelligence disciplines.