WASHINGTON — National Jos Space Intelligence Agency’s intelligence agency is focusing on mission goals despite ongoing staff reductions, the agency’s director said on March 10.
“Nothing else is going on, there’s nothing like a mission to help people stay focused,” Vice President Frank Whitworth told attendees at the Satellite 2025 conference in Washington. “That being said, they’re human and stressful.”
This statement comes as federal intelligence reporting agencies and defense agencies navigate critical periods of transition and uncertainty as the Trump administration’s government efficiency (DOGE) takes action to reduce the federal workforce. Defense and space industry executives working with federal agencies have privately described work environments where job anxiety can become “obvious” and can be detrimental to productivity.
Whitworth, who has led the agency since 2022, expressed pride in how the NGA workforce handles mandated cuts, but refused to identify the exact number of employees who have departed under the “Fork on the Road” voluntary acquisition program.
“We are very communicative as leaders and do our best to make sure they know everything we know,” Whitworth said of communicating with staff regarding the workforce reduction plan.
Employing around 14,000 people, including 9,000 civilians, the NGA is dual-forming both as a Pentagon’s combat support agency and as a member of the US Intelligence Reporting Agency. Based in Springfield, Virginia, the agency’s central mission, with additional major facilities in Missouri, includes collecting, analyzing and distributing geospatial information, supporting national security and other government functions.
Whitworth said during his recent visit to receive recent intelligence reports, he said that members of the House Permanent Select Committee appear to be “substantially inspired by its professionalism.”
Accelerating AI amid the change in the workforce
As agents manage workforce reorganizations, they are simultaneously accelerating efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into analyst workflows. The purpose of this push is to increase productivity and promote intelligence delivery to decision makers, and is based on the foundation established in 2017 by Project Maven, an initiative to apply AI to drone footage and satellite image analysis.
“We’re talking about the real acceleration of AI this year,” Whitworth said.
To support this vision, the Admiral has announced the appointments of three key executives for AI-related positions.
A longtime agency official specializing in digital innovation and AI, Markman Sel has been appointed Director of AI Standards. Trey Treadwell, formerly Associate Director for NGA Competencies and Chief Acquisition Executive, will serve as director of the AI Program. Retired Army Colonel Joe O’Callaghan joined the NGA as a senior leader and director of the AI mission. O’Callaghan, previously a firefighter for the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, brings experience from units pioneering AI applications on the battlefield under Project Maven.
O’Callaghan is stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, close to the Army operator, Whitworth said.
Despite the potential for increased efficiency, Whitworth warned that implementation of AI technology requires considerable investment and computing resources, as agency officials call it a “data flood.”
“We tell you that it won’t come cheap, especially when we start generating the types of inferences we’re making and the number of detections,” Whitworth said.
Agency is currently facing the challenge of expanding successful AI initiatives like Project Maven to handle ever-growing data volumes while navigating the workforce transition during the early months of the new administration.
