About

FAQs

"Commanders in the field have acknowledged two tactical 'game changers': constant surveillance from advances in manned and unmanned aircraft, and the application of law enforcement forensic and biometric techniques on the battlefield. These capabilities remove violent extremists' greatest defense - anonymity."

- Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero (Ret.)
Director, Joint IED Defeat Organization, 2011-2013

  1. What is the role of the Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency?

    The Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency (DFBA) is charged with executing the Secretary of the Army's Executive Agent responsibilities for DoD forensics and biometrics. In this role, DFBA leads, consolidates, and coordinates forensics and biometrics activities across DoD in support of the National Security Strategy.

  2. Who does DFBA work with in support of its mission?

    DFBA works with Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, Military, and Academic partners to achieve the goal of greater unity of effort in the enterprise.

  3. In what ways does DFBA and other agencies work together?

    An example of DFBA interagency and intelligence community collaboration is the file sharing between FBI, DHS, and TSC databases, which supports a whole of government approach for identifying terrorists. Another example is DoD assisting the DHS refugee vetting missions with analytic support to the biometric screening of applicants.

  4. What is the brief history of DFBA?

    DFBA represents the synthesis of Department of Defense (DoD) capabilities in forensics and biometrics. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC) has maintained forensics labs since World War II, which in 1996 were consolidated into a single facility, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL). In contrast to forensics' long history in DoD, biometrics is a recent addition. Congress designated the Secretary of the Army as the Executive Agent (EA) for biometrics programs within DoD in 2000. The Biometrics Management Office was initially established under CIO/G-6 oversight, but transitioned to the Biometrics Task Force (BTF) under G-3/5/7 in 2006. The BTF continued changing to better serve mission requirements, becoming the Biometrics Identity Management Agency (BIMA) in 2010. In 2012, BIMA was shifted from G-3/5/7 to OPMG. In 2013, SecArmy approved the General Order redesignating BIMA as DFBA and as a Field Operating Agency (FOA) incorporating both forensics and biometrics capabilities.