A milestone event for the intelligence community, Director
of National Intelligence James Clapper officially recognized DIA as the
executive agent for the Wounded Warrior Program, which took effect July 4.
“We’re doing a lot of things in the IC now, and this is
absolutely the right thing for DIA,” said DIA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn,
as he expressed his confidence in the agency’s ability to continue helping our
nation’s wounded in managing this program.
Modeled after the Department of Defense’s Operation
Warfighter, ODNI established the IC Wounded Warrior Program from a collection
of disparate internship programs in June 2009 to provide injured, ill and
wounded service members with meaningful work experience intended to assist with
their recuperation and transition into the workforce. The program has assisted
nearly 600 wounded warriors with internship opportunities since it was created.
During the June 24 transition ceremony, Clapper acknowledged
Medal of Honor recipient retired Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who worked with
the National Counterterrorism Center through the IC’s Wounded Warrior Program.
“That says something about the utility of the program and the impact of it,”
Clapper said.
Under ODNI’s leadership, the program created policies and
guidance that helped improve clearance successes and processing timelines for
wounded warriors, and also funded security clearances for interns going to
smaller IC elements. The program expanded its presence to promote internships
through monthly events, outreach to military treatment facilities and
semi-annual fairs hosted by other agencies in the community.
Clapper expressed his gratitude for DIA accepting the
executive agent responsibility as both directors agreed this transition of
responsibility will continue to build on the success of the past several years.