Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla.
| Official Web siteU.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was activated April 16, 1987, in response to congressional action in the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 and the Nunn-Cohen Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 1987. Congress mandated a new four-star command be activated to prepare Special Operations Forces (SOF) to carry out assigned missions and, if directed by the president or secretary of defense, to plan for and conduct special operations.
Source: Adapted from U.S. government regulations, "U.S. Government Manual", and "An Overview of the U.S. Intelligence Community"Learn more about our sourcing and methodology »
Top Secret Work
Number of Work Locations
11
Number of Contracting Clients
125
Types of Work (21)
- Management consulting and administration
- Air and satellite operations
- Counter-drug operations
- Counter-IED explosives operations
- Counterintelligence
- Cyber operations
- Disaster preparedness
- Facilities and Infrastructure
- Ground force operations
- Weapons technology
- Human intelligence
- Information technology
- Intelligence analysis
- Law enforcement
- Naval operations
- Staffing and personnel
- Psychological operations
- Building and personal security
- Specialized military operations
- Technical intelligence
- Training
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- Blog: The Washington Post aims high on Monday (The New York TImes' Media Decoder)
- Time to rethink the implicit security bargain (The Atlantic)
- The Real U.S. Government (Salon)
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Live Q&As
Q&A Transcript for Part 1 of Top Secret America (July 19)
Q&A Transcript for Part 2 of Top Secret America (July 20)
Q&A Transcript for Part 3 of Top Secret America (July 21)
Q&A Transcript for Part 4 of Top Secret America (December 20)
Your Take: Crime vs. Homeland Security (December 20)
Part 1: July 19, 2010
- A hidden world, growing beyond control
- Photo gallery: An alternative geography
Part 2: July 20, 2010
- National Security Inc.
- Photo gallery: The role of private contractors
- Video: Help Wanted: Professionals with security clearances
Part 3: July 21, 2010
- The secrets next door
- Photo gallery: In our back yards
Part 4: December 20, 2010
- Monitoring America
- Photo gallery: Counterterrorism on Main Street
"Top Secret America" is a project nearly two years in the making that describes the huge national security buildup in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. | Read More »
More than a dozen Washington Post journalists spent two years developing Top Secret America. | See the details »
Video
Top Secret America on Frontline
A short video from PBS’s FRONTLINE on The Post’s two-year investigation. An hour-long documentary film is forthcoming. Watch the trailer »
The reporters
Dana Priest
Investigative reporter Dana Priest has been The Washington Post's intelligence, Pentagon and health-care reporter. She has won numerous awards, including the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for public service for "The Other Walter Reed" and the 2006 Pulitzer for beat reporting for her work on CIA secret prisons and counterterrorism operations overseas. She is author of the 2003 book, "The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace With America's Military, (W.W. Norton).
William M. Arkin
William M. Arkin has been a columnist and reporter with The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com since 1998. He has worked on the subject of government secrecy and national security affairs for more than 30 years. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books about the U.S. military and national security.
Project Credits
Stephanie Clark, Ben de la Cruz, Kat Downs, Dan Drinkard, Anne Ferguson-Rohrer, Justin Ferrell, David Finkel, Jennifer Jenkins, Robert Kaiser, Laris Karklis, Jacqueline Kazil, Lauren Keane, Todd Lindeman, Greg Manifold, Jennifer Morehead, Bonnie Jo Mount, Larry Nista, Ryan O’Neil, Sarah Sampsel, Whitney Shefte, Laura Stanton, Julie Tate, Doris Truong, Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso, Michael Williamson, Karen Yourish, Amanda Zamora.
Contact Us
Phone: 202-334-9300
E-mail: topsecretamerica@washpost.com
