Overview

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and a member of the United States Intelligence Community. Its primary mission is to collect, analyze, and distribute geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national security, serving as the world leader in timely, relevant, accurate, and actionable GEOINT. NGA acts as the functional manager for GEOINT in the Intelligence Community (IC), the DoD GEOINT manager, head of the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG), and chair of the Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence (ASG). It manages a global consortium of over 400 commercial and government partners.

History

Established on 1996-10-01 as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) through the merger of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), Central Imagery Office (CIO), Defense Dissemination Program Office (DDPO), and elements from other agencies. Renamed NGA on 2003-11-24 to emphasize its GEOINT focus. Headquarters relocated to the current NGA Campus East at Fort Belvoir (Springfield area) in 2011 following the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process. Opened new NGA Campus West in St. Louis, Missouri, in September 2025 at a cost of $1.7 billion.

Leadership

| Name | Title | Start Date | End Date | Current | |------|--------|------------|----------|---------| | Lieutenant General Michele H. Bredenkamp | Director | 2025-11-05 | null | true | | Brett Markham | Deputy Director | unknown | null | true |

Recent past directors include Frank D. Whitworth III (2022-06-03 to 2025-11-05).

Facilities and Operations

• Headquarters (NGA Campus East): 7500 GEOINT Drive, Springfield, VA 22150
• NGA Campus West: St. Louis, Missouri (3,000 employees)
• NGA Arnold: Arnold, Missouri
• Approximately 14,500 civilian, military, and contractor employees across >100 U.S. locations and 20 international sites.

Controversies

• 1999: Alleged faulty maps contributed to NATO bombing of Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
• 2013: Inaccurate chart led to USS Guardian grounding on Tubbataha Reef.
• 2013-2018: Misdesignated coordinates for Pretoria, South Africa, affecting IP geolocation.