Sources used in this document:

There are also several agencies not represented in the Department of Homeland Security whose role in the protection of our nation and its citizens has long been a vital part of the United States' defense system. Most notable among the missing are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. The functions of these three independent government are often nebulously defined and seem to be rather redundant. All are involved in the detection and prevention of acts against the United States; though the FBI tends to be more involved in home-soil affairs and the CIA and NSA are known -- at least in the popular folklore -- for their infiltration of foreign governments and other international activities, they ostensibly share the same collective goals of keeping the people of the United States safe, which is also the primary function of the Department of Homeland Security. Again, the creation of this Department was to in large part to create a consolidation of the information and powers that could be effectively used in the protection of our national security. The exclusion of these organizations from under the umbrella of the Department can only have been politically motivated, and makes no practical sense.

In it's brief history spanning slightly less than seven years, the Department of Homeland Security has undergone several massive reorganizations. It's first proposal by President Bush in 2002 was a stated attempt to consolidate the patchwork of office concerned wit national security into one centralized and coordinated department, and the 2003 organization structure did much to accomplish that, with approximately nine offices and three directorates -- Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. This set-up seems far more streamlined and efficient tan the current system, which was set up in 2005, though many of the redundancies and inefficiencies that exist today were problems then, too. The 2005 reorganization was a further attempt at centralization, but meant to accomplish this through the creation of new offices such as the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Office of Operations Coordination. A more effective way to streamline the Department would have been to consolidate current offices under more direct leadership, rather than the creation of new ones.

The current structure of the Department of Homeland Security is not as well equipped to handle issues of national security as its older incarnations. The increased division and redundancies of the component offices and agencies makes the operation of this Department far less efficient. Specifically, the various offices meant to handle information gathering and sharing, and those devoted to day-to-day operations of law enforcement personnel in multiple agencies, ought to be consolidated into single office to maximize synthesis of information and action. The ever-increasing number of components at each tier of the Department's organization increases the inefficiency of the Department, which could lead to an unawareness of vital information or a hindrance of necessary action.