U.S. mapping and charting efforts remained relatively unchanged until
World War I, when
aerial photography became a major contributor to battlefield intelligence. Using stereo viewers, photo-interpreters reviewed thousands of images. Many were of the same target at different angles and times, giving rise to modern imagery analysis and mapmaking.
Engineer Reproduction Plant (ERP) The Engineer Reproduction Plant was the
Army Corps of Engineers's first attempt to centralize mapping production, printing, and distribution. It was located on the grounds of the
Army War College in Washington, D.C. Previously, topographic mapping had primarily been a function of individual field engineer units using field surveying techniques or copying existing or captured products. In addition, ERP assumed the "supervision and maintenance" of the
War Department Map Collection, effective April 1, 1939.
Army Map Service (AMS) / U.S. Army Topographic Command (USATC) With the advent of the
Second World War aviation, field surveys began giving way to
photogrammetry,
photo interpretation, and
geodesy. During wartime, compiling maps with minimal field work became increasingly possible. Out of this emerged AMS, which absorbed the existing ERP in May 1942. It was located at the Dalecarlia Site (including buildings now named for
John C. Frémont and
Charles H. Ruth) on MacArthur Blvd., just outside Washington, D.C., in Montgomery County, Maryland, and adjacent to the
Dalecarlia Reservoir. AMS was designated as an Engineer field activity, effective July 1, 1942, by General Order 22, OCE, June 19, 1942. The
Army Map Service also combined many of the Army's remaining geographic intelligence organizations and the Engineer Technical Intelligence Division. AMS was redesignated the U.S. Army Topographic Command (USATC) on September 1, 1968, and continued as an independent organization until 1972, when it was merged into the new Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) and redesignated as the DMA Topographic Center (DMATC) (see below).
Aeronautical Chart Plant (ACP) After the war, the need for charts grew as airplane capacity and range improved. The
Army Air Corps established its map unit, which was renamed ACP in 1943 and was located in
St. Louis, Missouri. ACP was known as the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) from 1952 to 1972 (See DMAAC below).
National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) Shortly before leaving office in January 1961,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the creation of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), a joint project of the
CIA and
DIA. NPIC was a component of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology (DDS&T), and its primary function was
imagery analysis. NPIC became part of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (now NGA) in 1996. ;Directors of NPIC
Cuban Missile Crisis In 1962, NPIC analysts discovered that the
Soviet Union was basing missiles in
Cuba. Using images from
U-2 overflights and film from canisters ejected from
Corona satellites, They informed U.S. policymakers and influenced operations during the
Cuban Missile Crisis. Their analysis garnered worldwide attention when the
Kennedy Administration declassified and made public a portion of the images depicting the Soviet missiles on Cuban soil;
Adlai Stevenson presented the images to the
United Nations Security Council on October 25, 1962.
Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) The
Defense Mapping Agency was created on January 1, 1972, to consolidate U.S. military mapping activities. DMA's "birth certificate", DoD Directive 5105.40, resulted from a formerly classified Presidential directive, "Organization and Management of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Community" (November 5, 1971), which directed the consolidation of mapping functions previously dispersed among the military services. DMA became operational on July 1, 1972, pursuant to General Order 3, DMA (June 16, 1972). On October 1, 1996, DMA was folded into the National Imagery and Mapping Agency – which later became NGA. DMA was first headquartered at the
United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., then at
Falls Church, Virginia. Its mostly civilian workforce was concentrated at production sites in
Bethesda, Maryland; Northern Virginia; and
St. Louis, Missouri. DMA was formed from the Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy Division,
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and various mapping-related organizations of the military services. DMA included the following centers: ;
DMA Hydrographic Center (DMAHC) : DMAHC was formed in 1972 when the Navy's Hydrographic Office split its two components: The charting component was attached to DMAHC, and the survey component moved to the
Naval Oceanographic Office,
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, on the grounds of what is now the
Stennis Space Center. DMAHC was responsible for creating terrestrial maps of coastal areas worldwide and hydrographic charts for DoD. DMAHC was initially located in
Suitland, Maryland, but later moved to Brookmont (Bethesda), Maryland. ;
DMA Topographic Center (DMATC) : Located in the NGA's former headquarters in Brookmont, DMATC created topographic maps for DoD. ;
DMA Hydrographic/Topographic Center (DMAHTC) : DMAHC and DMATC eventually merged to form DMAHTC, with offices in Brookmont. ;
DMA Aerospace Center (DMAAC) : DMAAC originated with the U.S. Air Force's Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) and was located in St. Louis.
National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) NIMA was established on October 1, 1996, by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997. The creation of NIMA followed more than a year of study, debate, and planning by the defense, intelligence, and policy-making communities (as well as the Congress) and continuing consultations with customer organizations. The creation of NIMA centralized responsibility for imagery and mapping. NIMA combined the DMA, the Central Imagery Office (CIO), and the Defense Dissemination Program Office (DDPO) in their entirety, as well as the mission and functions of the NPIC. Also merged into NIMA were the imagery exploitation, dissemination, and processing elements of the
Defense Intelligence Agency,
National Reconnaissance Office, and the
Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. NIMA's creation was clouded by the natural reluctance of cultures to merge and the fear that their respective missions—mapping in support of defense activities versus intelligence production, principally in support of national policymakers—would be subordinated, each to the other.
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) prior to 2012. It had been the headquarters of NGA and its predecessor agencies since 1945. After the move to its current headquarters, this facility was renovated and became
Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda. With the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 on November 24, 2003, NIMA was renamed National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to reflect better its primary mission in the area of
GEOINT.
2005 BRAC and effects on NGA As a part of the
2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, all major Washington, D.C.–area NGA facilities, including those in Bethesda;
Reston, Virginia; and Washington, D.C., were consolidated at a new facility at the former Engineer Proving Ground site near
Fort Belvoir. This new facility, later known as
NCE, houses several thousand people. NGA facilities in St. Louis were not affected by the 2005 BRAC process. As of March 2009, the new center's cost was expected to be $2.4 billion. The center's campus is about and was completed in September 2011.
Next NGA St. Louis In September, 2025, NGA opened a new facility in
St. Louis, Missouri, Next NGA St. Louis, at a cost of $1.7 billion. The facility will hold 3,000 employees.
St. Louis' city legislature is currently reconsidering legislation to surround Next NGA St. Louis with a protection zone that would bar certain businesses, such as gas stations,
hazardous material companies, and foreign government-supported enterprises, from building around the site for security purposes. ==Organization==