National Imagery and Mapping Agency

NIMA was established on October 1, 1996 as a Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency. It is a member of the Intelligence Community and has been assigned, by statute, the additional mission of providing support to national-level customers and other government agencies. NIMA provides ready access to the best-available imagery and geospatial information, supports national decisionmaking, and contributes to the operational readiness of America's military forces.

Since its standup, NIMA has emerged the previously separate disciplines of imagery and mapping has assumed leadership of the imagery and geospatial community. Through its management of the U.S. Imagery and Geospatial Information System (USIGS), NIMA provides customers the critical data necessary to achieve a dominant awareness of the mission space in which they operate.

NIMA is committed to attaining information superiority in the mission space of the next century, as well as to addressing civil issues critical to U.S. national interest, and improving the decision and cycle times for those who make and execute national security policy. The Agency's focus is on providing high-value information and laying the foundation for the more efficient exchange of data and integration of products and services.

NIMA was formed through the consolidation, in their entirety, of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), the Central Imagery Office (CIO), the Defense Dissemination Program Office (DDPO), and the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), as well as certain imagery-related programs, elements, and personnel from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The NIMA headquarters is in Bethesda, Maryland. The Agency also operates major facilities in northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and St. Louis, Missouri, and has liaison officers, technical respresentatives, and other support personnel stationed at major customer locations around the world.