FBI adds new leadership position

The FBI has added a new position to its leadership structure: associate deputy director. Joseph Ford, the first to hold the job, will oversee management of the bureau's employees, budget, administration and infrastructure, including technology.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, in announcing the position and other internal realignments, said the position will be similar to that of a chief operating officer at a company and will be third on the agency's chain of command.

The FBI got final approval July 24 to pursue its realignment plans, Mueller said. In addition to Ford's appointment, several other new leaders have been brought to the Washington, D.C., headquarters office and the organizational chart has been redrawn.

Mueller said he resisted using the word reorganization.

"People call it a reorganization, but really it's a realignment of responsibilities," he said. "We as an organization have to change in response to threats we see."

The new structure includes five branches, each led by an executive assistant director. One of the new branches, Science and Technology, combines the agency's computer crime efforts into one organization. Executive Assistant Director Kerry Haynes, formerly with the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, heads that branch.

In addition, the Office of the Chief Information Officer is now its own branch, a change intended to coordinate the bureau's information technology efforts more tightly with strategic planning, finance, security and facilities management.

The FBI began planning changes immediately after the 2001 terrorist attacks to fight the emerging threat more effectively, Mueller said.

"This has taken a tremendous amount of time to come to fruition," he said.