NATIONAL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE FOUNDATION

The National Military Intelligence Foundation (NMIF) was established in August 2007.  It was established to be a sister association to the National Military Intelligence Association (NMIA).  The reason members of the NMIA Board decided to establish a separate association was that NMIA was an IRS Tax Code 501(c)(6), not-for-profit association and some NMIA supporters had expressed an interest in supporting a scholarship program, but only if their donations would be tax deductible.  To encourage donations to a scholarship program, NMIF was established as an IRS Tax Code 501(c)(3) tax deductible organization.

 

NMIA had been the premier professional association for practitioners of military intelligence since its inception in February 1974.  It was originally established in Sierra Vista, AZ and its first President was LTG Vernon Walters, who, among other important assignments, served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and as the American Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany.  In addition to LTG Walters, charter members included five other general officers and one U.S. Senator, as well as two officers who would become general officers.

 

In 1976, NMIA was restructured and broadened to include the other Services and NMIA executive offices moved to the Washington, DC area.  The move was deemed necessary as a means of banding all Service intelligence entities together in the aftermath of severe Congressional criticism following Watergate and Vietnam. 

 

During the next decade COL Chuck Thomann, USA (retired), served first as President and then as Executive Director.  He also functioned as the Editor of the American Intelligence Journal (AIJ).

 

In 1985, NMIA was reorganized again to adapt to changes in the intelligence environment and was re-incorporated in Virginia.  Changes were made in the programs offered, in the publication of the AIJ, and in the Association’s administration.

 

The NMIA awards program was initiated in 1985 by Col Roy Jonkers, USAF (retired), who was the President of the NMIA Potomac Chapter at the time.  The awards program was quickly adopted by the national organization in 1986.  Over the next 20 years, additional agencies (e.g., the Department of Homeland Security), service categories (e.g., the Army National Guard), and disciplines (e.g., counterintelligence and human intelligence) were added as separate award categories.

 

NMIA was disestablished in late 2017 based on a decided preference by supporters to contribute to a tax deductible, vice not-for-profit organization.  At the time of its disestablishment, two of the NMIA principal activities (events/symposia and the publication of the AIJ) were transferred to NMIF.  The awards program and banquet were already a shared activity between NMIA and NMIF, and all NMIA specific awards program activities were transferred to NMIF.