Clues Local Organizations And Agencies Survey: Fill & Download for Free

Spare Room Key / Old Gift Card Trick: The Disney cruise cabins are outfitted with energy saving lighting, which means that in order to activate the power outlets and lights in your cabin, you have to insert your Key to the World (KTTW) card into the slot / holder at the entryway of the of cabin. However, this can be annoying at best and difficult at worst, as it may be hard to fish out your KTTW card if your hands are full, you are trying to shuffle in multiple kids or it is inside an lanyard. So, an easy hack for this is to use an old hotel room key, old gift card or even an old KTTW card for this purpose and leave it there for the length of your cruise. Just make sure to lift it out of the locked position when you leave the room to save on energy and turn off the lights, but this way, when you first enter, you only have to press down on the card to activate your lights.Fast Food Drink Holder Hack: For a larger family like ours, I often find myself getting more drinks from the top deck than my hands can hold. And, if you want anything else (pizza, ice cream, burger, etc.) from the same area, there is no way you can carry it all. The best way to reduce extra trips up and down the stairs (though I found I needed it after the ice cream, pizza and soda) was to bring a drink holder. Some people like to deck it out and decorate their drink holders like this and I found the best one for this purpose is from Chick-Fil-A. Now you can carry all the drinks you want in one hand and the snacks in the other. You will certainly get lots of inquiries from other passengers on where you got this along the way!Bring Ziplock bags: On of the most versatile items we packed on this last cruise were Ziplock bags. We used them to keep crafts together, organize some of our freebies collected throughout the cruise, stash away wet clothes and bathing suits from port adventures and to help in packing lunches off the boat. You never know how these may come in handy while on the sea.Uncrustables: How is this a hack? First, these handy sandwiches are not specifically listed on the room service menu, but they are available. Second, almost every single kid I know likes them. Third, they can be available in other eating places (if you just ask). Fourth, these are not considered prepared foods and therefore can be taken off the ship at most ports. This is where the true hack comes into play. We like to place a room service order the night before a port day where we are planning on eating lunch out and order four Uncrustables. We place these in our fridge overnight and bring them along to save big money on lunch. So, Brooke and I can grab local fare, while the kids eat their lunch and we are all just as happy.Food, Food Everywhere: Everyone knows about the “freely” (I use quotes because yes, you did pay for this as part of your fare, but it is not extra) available food throughout the ship, like at quick service (Flo’s Cafe on Dream/Fantasy, Pete’s and Pinocchio’s on Magic/Wonder), ice cream, at restaurants during service time and room service. But, there are other places to pick up unique bites to eat during your cruise. Make sure to frequently check out offerings available at Cove Cafe and Vista Cafe. The treats are usually sweet bites (think cheesecake, cupcakes and brownies) and you have to ask the staff member to place the goodies on your plate. Also, keep an eye on your Daily Navigator for Late Night Snacks. Usually, a small buffet will be placed in the Adult Only area with some great options like fried shrimp, wings and dessert.Don’t Be Afraid to Ask: This tip is one of the most quoted, but it worth mentioning again. Disney Cruise Staff are encouraged to create Magical Moments for the passengers and love to fulfill your requests if they can. So, if you have a request, don’t be afraid to ask. It can be simple things, like when our youngest really wanted an Uncrustable while we were dining at the lunch buffet, or it can be more elaborate. For instance, on one of our first cruises while we had two very young ones, there was a midnight chocolate buffet offered. We were dressed up for formal night, but had the kids in their pajamas. I was carrying Emily (3 at the time) who was asleep and Brooke was pushing Caitlyn (1 at the time) in the stroller. We took a quick look inside at the buffet line and knew that we couldn’t possibly make a trip through with the kids and the stroller, so we made a quick stop at some couches just outside. A crew member walked by and started a conversation which quickly led why we weren’t enjoying the chocolate buffet. She took note of our preferences, said wait right here, and created a plate for each of us. While I am sure it was really a small gesture, it meant a lot to us (and plus it must have been hard to grab all that chocolate goodness for someone else knowing you couldn’t have any). It made a difference and we made sure to note on our survey about how this one crew member went out of her way for us.Picture Timing: If you want to have your pictures taken in front any of the staged backgrounds, the lines can be pretty daunting. I have found that the best time to go is just after second seating for dinner has started. This can be difficult if you have second seating, but if you have first seating, try and squeeze this in before the nightly entertainment.Snacks for Nightly Entertainment: If you are familiar with the Disney Cruise, you know that Preludes outside the Walt Disney Theatre has popcorn, soda and other drinks for purchase. This is always tempting, not only for the kids, but for the adults as well. One way to save some money here is to have one person in your party head up to the top deck and grab the free sodas there, and if Flo’s Cafe is open, some potato chips for a snack.Heated Lounge ChairsRainforest Room Day Pass: If you are considering the Rainforest Room Day Pass, buy it ahead of your sailing. The day pass can quickly sell out for the entire cruise in the first day or so, so please make sure to grab yours before the ship even sets sail. If you are not familiar with the Rainforest Room, check out our experience as part of the Star Wars Day at Sea.Snap photos for Midship Detective Agency: The Midship Detective Agency is meant to get you moving all around the ship. However, I felt a bit run ragged as we attempted to do an entire mystery in one turn. In particular, we had to visit one of the two non-picture clues (Pepe the King Prawn’s Cabin Room Door) twice. Not a big deal, but we were all the way in the front of the ship and the Cabin 5148 1/2 is Aft. It was a trek to get back to it. If I had taken a picture, we could have quickly referenced the picture to get our next clue. Make sure to take a close enough picture so you can clearly read the details of the info on the door. Also, the outcome of the mystery can be different every time you do the Midship Detective Agency, so if you want to play more than once, it is well worth it.Order Breakfast Room Service on Port Days: Port Days can be crazy busy. It is busy for your family trying to get everyone ready, plus planning all your stuff that will need to go into bags take off the ship with you. And, then, making sure that you are at your assigned meeting area for a Port Adventure on time. With all that going on, it can be difficult to wade through the other groups of people at Cabana’s trying to get a buffet breakfast before leaving the ship. It gets really crowded on port days for breakfast because everyone is planning on leaving the boat around the same time and schedules are all in sync. So, do yourself a favor and place an order for breakfast the night before by completing the breakfast room service door hanger the night before and hanging it on your door. Double bonus, if you do it for early enough, it can act as a wake up call too.Visit Youth Areas During Open House: This is a multiple part tip, the first part pertaining to Open House in the Youth Areas where you children are assigned to go and the second part for Youth Areas that your children may not be old enough for just yet.Our children are all currently only able to visit the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab (3 – 12 years old) so we have had the chance to explore these areas extensively. However, it is still a great idea to visit again with your kids during Open House times. First, this is a great time to be able to take pictures. You are not allowed to take pictures during the secured play time, so Open House is your only chance to get pictures of the areas with your kids. Second, your kids will love to show you around to their favorite places and activities. Third, there are still a lot of planned activities going on during Open House that you can participate in with your children.Alternatively, our children are not old enough to visit The Vibe (teens) and The Edge (tweens), so we like to visit with them during Open House. There are some really cool things to experience, like video games, board games and interactive games. The Vibe also has probably the best pool and hot tub on the ship just for the teens (can’t use it during Open House though). Our kids’ favorite part was creating their own 90 second scripted TV piece with a green screen in The Edge. After they read through the lines and like their production, the crew will burn it onto a DVD for a keepsake!Stateroom efficiency: With so much to do on the Disney Cruise, you won’t end up spending a lot of time in your stateroom, but for the time you do, it is nice to have an organized and well-maintained cabin. We’ve found that the best place to stash your suitcases is under the bed (there is plenty of room). Sand toys and pool floats seem to work best in the aired chest that acts as a coffee table. Drying your wet clothes in the bathtub/shower combo using the drying line works the best. And, most importantly, if you want good pictures of your stateroom make sure to take them when you first walk in on the first day before your luggage arrives – it’s pristine then.Disney Cruise Line Navigator App: Our most recent Disney Cruise was our first time experiencing the Disney Cruise Line Navigator App. The app has some great features for communicating with others (and the Youth Areas) and staying up to date with what is going on that day. However, one of the most underused features was the fact that it would list the planned activities for the entire cruise, not just for the specific day. This allowed us to plan ahead a little, though we did not go as in depth as we could have with it. For instance, if we knew that our girls would like to do a Disney Cooking Class in the Oceaneer’s Lab, but it conflicted with another activity, we could use the app to click on those two activities and see when else they might be offered later in the cruise. If one of the future times worked better, it allowed us to prioritize our time even better and spend the most of our time doing what we wanted to do!Be picky (and greedy) at Dinner: The wait staff on the Disney Cruise wants to please, so don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. If you want a side from another option, just ask. If you want something from the kids menu, just ask. If you want a cheese plate (or fruit plate) before dinner, just ask. If you want two desserts, just ask. It’s all yours for the asking.What to Pack for the Beach (and what not to): If you can, pack your sand toys. Besides Castaway Cay, you will probably visit a beach or two and buying sand toys at any of these places can be expensive. Don’t pack beach towels. Whether you are on a Port Adventure or not, Disney Cruise always provides towels to take with you when you leave the ship.BOYB: Yes, you can bring your own beer (and wine) aboard the Disney Cruise on embarkation day and when coming back aboard from each port. Each adult is allowed up to 2 bottles or wine or 6 beers. They cannot, however, be packed in any of the “checked” luggage, but have to be carried on your person.Room Service Secret Menu: There are items that can be ordered on the Room Service menu that are not directly listed on the Room Service menu. Our favorites include the Mickey Bar (ice cream treat) and Uncrustables.Showering in the Spa: Senses Spa offers a lot to passengers and one such freebie are the showers located in the locker rooms. I find these showers to be larger and easier to maneuver in versus the bathtub / shower combos found in the staterooms. And, if you are with a larger party, instead of lining up to use the shower, one of you can visit the spa to get ready!Door Decorations: While not necessarily a secret because almost everyone does it, one effect of decorating your door is that it makes it easier for your kids to find their way back to the stateroom, differentiating your door from everyone else’s.Stay on Board at Port: While you may not want to listen to this advice in full because of some of the amazing places you will be visiting on the Disney Cruise, you may still want to attempt to portion off a small section of time while at port to spend back on the boat. With the crowds dissipated, it can be much more enjoyable on the top deck enjoying the water play areas, especially the slides and pools.Join a Facebook Group: For each upcoming sailing of the Disney Cruise, you can find a corresponding (unofficial) Facebook Group. This is a great way to meet others who will be cruising with you, but also to find out what others are doing to prepare, get great tips and pose any questions you may have.The Pixie Dust is Free: Just stop by the Bippiti Boppidi Boutique any time that they are open and they will shower you with free Pixie Dust. It is a great experience for the kids, especially if you don’t want to pay for the entire BBB experience.Book Excursions Directly: To save time and money, it can be beneficial to book your excursions directly. This will free up time to spend back on the ship while everyone else is still off on a tour. Now, there are some good reasons to book with Port Adventures, especially if you are concerned about safety at the Port or just unsure of doing it on your own, but for those ports with which we are comfortable, we usually opt to book directly.Self Service Pin Trading: While there are a few organized times for pin trading with the officers and other crew members, you can always trade with the Pin Board Books found in the shops (whenever they are open).Run the 5K: While the popularity and knowledge of the Castaway Cay 5K has greatly increased since when I first ran it in 2008, there are still a great many number of people who do not know this exists while cruising. It is a ticketed event, though I don’t think they limit the numbers just yet, you just have to visit Guest Services to sign up. Not only do you get to experience a race on Castaway Cay, you get a medal, which is another great, free keepsake.Mickey Bands: The Youth Activities Areas use the Mickey bands to check in and out your children and they scan just like they do at the theme parks. The technology is also pretty neat because it can track specifically where your kids are in the clubs when you go to pick them up so you are not looking everywhere for them. However, on the last night, the crew begin to ask for the bands back and you are charged $13 for each one that is not returned. These may be a good idea to hang on to as they cannot be purchased land side anywhere and make a unique keepsake.Clothes Planning: Bring coordinating clothes for the family. There are just so many picture taking opportunities (both planned and unplanned) that these pictures end up becoming those few that still get printed out. Also, check to see what themed nights will be occurring on your cruise (Pirate Night, Star Wars Day at Sea, etc.) and buy those outfits ahead of time. Amazon versus the on board Disney shops can save you big money.Originally found on CLEW Travel at Disney Cruise Hacks.

At present the investigators who have possession of the debris have released very little information about it, so in simple terms there is little publicly available evidence one way or the other. But a close examination of photos of the debris raises some interesting questions.The first piece of the pieces your question refers to was discovered on February 27 by American lawyer Blaine Alan Gibson on a sand bar near the town of Vilankulo. Composed of fiberglass skin around an aluminum honeycomb core, and bearing the words “no step,” the piece is widely presumed to be a part of a 777 horizontal stabilizer. The second object was reported on March 11 by South African teenager Liam Lötter, who found it on a beach near the resort town of Xai Xai in southern Mozambique in December. Approximately a meter long, it carries the stencilled code “676EB,” which is written on the right-hand outboard flap farings of Boeing 777s. The Australian agency in charge of the MH370 search has confirmed that both pieces almost certainly came from MH370.The pieces’ appearance, however, is quite different from that of the first (and so far, only confirmed) piece of MH370, the plane’s right-hand flaperon, which was found on Réunion on July 29, 2015. Every edge of the flaperon, and much of its broad surface area, was encrusted with goose barnacles of the genus Lepas. The flaperon also had been settled across much of its surface by a brownish algae. Both of the recently discovered pieces are relatively free of marine growth.This is surprising, because when man-made material is immersed in an oceanic ecosystem, a number of plant, animal, and microbial species will begin to settle and grow upon its surface, a process known as “marine biofouling” because historically the process has attracted the most attention as a nuisance to mariners.Marine biologists study the process using devices called “settling plates” or “fouling panels,” rectangles of material which are put in the water and then observed as time goes by. “The first thing that settles is microalgae, which looks like a slimy brown scummy scuzz,” says Cathryn Clarke Murray, a marine biologist who studies floating debris at the North Pacific Marine Science Organization. “If I put a piece of fiberglass into the ocean, I would expect to see that kind of scummy scuzz about a month after,” says Murray. However, in photographs the pieces of Mozambique debris “look pretty clean to me,” she says.Out in the open ocean, microalgae is followed by bryozoans, moss-like filter feeders, and goose barnacles of the genus Lepas. “I’ve found paper bags that have blown into the Pacific and have barnacle larvae on them,” says Bloomsburg University professor Cynthia Venn, who has been studying marine organisms for decades.Given the great size of the Earth’s oceans, and the relatively slow speed at which objects drift (on the order of dozens of miles per day), objects encountered on the open sea have plenty of time to become colonized. During a survey of debris in the Pacific, marine biologist Miriam Goldstein collected 242 objects and found that all had organisms growing on them except for two that were one square inch in size. University of Florida biologist Mike Gil conducted a similar survey voyage in the eastern Pacific and says that “we didn’t find any clean debris, bottle cap size and larger.”The mix of species present on an object can yield clues about how it has drifted, a process that renowned invertebrate biologist James Carlton, director of the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program, has labeled “bioforensics.” Shown an image of the new debris and asked how long the pieces look like they’ve been in the water, Carlton says, “My gut instinct would be [that these pieces have been] not long at sea. Not long at sea, because we presume that if you are at sea, you’re going to get Lepas and bryozoans and other oceanic species on you. If you drift in the coastal zone, you’ll pick up coastal barnacles.” Given all that, he cites a possible immersion time of “a couple of days.”Sam Chan, who studies invasive species at Oregon State University and regularly conducts settling plate experiments on the Pacific coast, says that he finds the clean condition of the honeycombs to be telling. “Not to see marine growth in the honeycomb structure was surprising to me,” he says. “The settling plates we put in the water actually look very much like the honeycomb structure, because it’s a good environment for them to settle.” He says the amount of time the objects have been in the water “could be a couple of weeks. It’s certainly not indicative of something that has been in the water for multiple years, let alone even half a year.” He adds, “If there’s no fouling, was it even in the water?”Local Mozambique officials who were able to examine the Gibson piece firsthand were similarly skeptical. Joao de Abreu, the director of Mozambique’s National Civil Aviation Institute, was quoted by his government’s official news agency as saying that the object was too clean to have been in the ocean for two years.All of these results counterindicate a scenario in which these pieces of debris were generated by a crash on March 8, 2014 near the area currently being searched by the ATSB. Even more baffling, a report generated as part of the official French investigation into the flaperon found on Réunion last July (available here) reveals that officials were unable to make any sense of how the part might have floated. Hopefully, officials will come forward with additional information to shed some light on these mysteries.

MI5 deals with threats inside the UK, and MI6 combats overseas threats, as anyone who has seen a recent James Bond film knows from the shots of MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall in London.James, London UKMI5 - Domestic intelligence, MI6 - foreign intelligence. Interestingly, that makes James Bond a member of MI6.J R Scott, AberdeenMI5 is formally known as the Secret Service, and deals with matters internal, and MI6 should be known as the Secret Intelligence Sevice and deals with extrenal affairs.JB, LondonMI5 is the British security service while MI6 is the British foreign intelligence service. Crudely, MI6 are "our" spies while MI5 is there to catch "their" spies. It gets a little more complicated in that MI6 has its own "counter-intelligence" section. "MI5/MI6" were the original designations when both organisations came under the War Office, now the MOD - "MI" stands for military intelligence. Their official names (acquired in the 30s) are the Security Service (MI5) and SIS, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). The former is responsible to the Home Office and the latter to the Foreign Office.John Burnes, Manchester LancashireMI (Military Intelligence) had agencies numbered up to 19, but not all at the same time. Most were folded into MI5, MI6 or GCHQ after the war. I've found the following after a few web searches: MI1 (Codebreaking), MI2 (Russia and Scandinavia), MI3 (Eastern Europe), MI4 (Aerial Reconnaisance), MI8 (Military Communication Interception), MI9 (Undercover operations), MI10 (Weapons analysis) MI14 and MI15 (German specialists), MI19 (PoW debriefing), MI17 (Military Intelligence "Head Office"). Conspiracy theorists will have you believe that there is still a clandestine MI7 dealing with matters extraterrestrial.Allan, Wimbledon UKMI5 investigates matters of national security in the UK (investigates terrorists, counterinsurgency, etc). Equivalent to the US National Security Agency (NSA). MI6 (now SIS) gathers intelligence pertenant to the UK's international affairs - spying on Iraq for example. Equivalent to the US's CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) NCIS (national criminal investigation squad) are top ranking police officers dealing with high profile crimes, and have little to do with intelligence, though often co-operate with intelligence agencies for practical reasons. Equivalent to FBI.Anonymous,Anonymous' contention that NCIS stands for National Criminal Investigation Squad is a load of old tosh. NCIS is the National Criminal Intelligence Service, and far from being merely "top ranking police officers dealing with high profile crimes" it busies itself with identifying new criminal trends, acting as a clearing house for information from police forces around the UK, and liaising with Interpol, Europol, and various intelligence service around the world.Paul Bartholomew, Harrogate EnglandAlso contrary to Anonymous' reply, MI5 is more equivalent to the US FBI. The UK equivalent of the NSA (National Security Agency) would be GCHQ.David, Madrid SpainAccording to an American PBS documentary on the Allied Prisoners of War held in Colditz Castle during the Second World War, MI9 existed primarily to aid the escape of British soldiers held captive. One of the principal techniques MI9 used was to mail contraband to prisoners hidden in Red Cross care parcels. German money was hidden inside a Monopoly board, and decks of playing cards were sent containing military-grade maps of Germany.Christopher, Boston, Massachusetts USAMI-8 was a cover name for S.O.E.--Special Operations Executive, the ad hoc covert ops and dirty tricks organization during WW2. See M.R.D. Foot's SOE, The Special Operations Executive 1940 - 1946. As mentioned above, MI-9 was the escape and evasion apparat. (Mr. Foot has apparently also written a book on that entity.)John C.Watson, Amherst, MA U.S.A.They're all coming to get me...Bob, Exeter, UKMI5 and MI6 were originally part of the Military Operations and numbered MO5 and MO6, lower numbers dealing with various administrative matters. They kept the same numbers when Military Intelligence was formed. I think that MI7 dealt with censorship.Jim Gilbert, Santa Ynez CaliforniaWell here is the list I've managed to come up with from searching on the net, no clues for what MI12 or MI18 were/are though. MI1 Codebreaking, MI2 Russia and Scandinavia, MI3 Eastern Europe, Germany? MI4 Aerial Reconnaisance MI5 domestic intelligence MI6 foreign intelligence MI7 Propaganda MI8 Military Communication Interception, MI9 Undercover operations, /POW escape MI10 Weapons analysis MI11 Field security police MI12 ??? MI13 Reconnaissance MI14 and MI15 German specialists, Mi16 royal secret service MI17 Military Intelligence "Head Office". MI18 ??? MI19 PoW debriefing,T Swindells, HampshireA full list of Miliary Intelligence (MI) Departments during world war 2 can be found on pages 147 and 148 of "Codebreaker in the Far East" by Alan Stripp, published in 1989 by Oxford University Press. This goes numerically up to MI19 plus MIL, MIR and MIX. The author says that the whole series has now been replaced anyway.Alastair Thomson, Northampton, UKMI1-director of military intelligence; also cryptography MI2-responsible for Russia and Scandinavia MI3-responsible for Germany and eastern Europe MI4-Aerial reconnaissance during world war two MI5-domestic intelligence and security MI6-foreign intelligence and security MI8-interception & interpretation of communications MI9-clandestine operations (escape and evasion) MI10-weapons and technical analysis MI11-field security police MI14-German specialists MI17-secretariat body for MI departments MI19-POW debriefing unitMatt, Bracknell, BerkshireContrary to the above answers likening MI5 to the FBI, that's rubbish too. The FBI is not an intelligence service AT ALL. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the US Intelligence services and is simply the "Federal Bureau of Investigation". The FBI is a national and federally empowered police force - to investigate crime. They do NOT collect clandestine intelligence or have anything to do with the military. The NSA is the nearest equivalent to MI5 but GCHQ's role may well overlap in terms of jurisdiction. GCHQ collaborates with all the British intelligence services on a daily basis, both cross-checking information or providing useful intelligence for the MI community. GCHQ regularly recruit analysts, and have large teams who can understand and verify whether information is up to date, or translate documents and coded messages. GCHQ are experts on things like terrorist groups, and can almost immediately decide whether a groups' claim to an attack is genuine.John, LondonAt which time we the british empire have been called upon to defend itself, its allies and dependancies it became nessacery to form a number of departments and agencies. Over the years these dapartments have served a number of different roles and purposes. in answer to the above question: MI1 Code breaking, MI2 Russia and Scandinavia, MI3 Easton Europe, MI4 Aerial Reconnaissance, MI5 Domestic Intelligence, now The Security Service, MI6 Foreign Intelligence, now the Secret Intelligence service, MI7 Propoganda and censorship, MI8 Signals Intelligence, MI9 Undercover operations supporting POW, MI10 Weapons and technical Analysis, MI11 Field Intelligence, MI12 Military Censorship, MI13 Remains Classified, MI14 German Intelligence, MI15 Aerial Photography, MI16 Scientific Intelligence, MI17 Secretarial section, MI18 Remains Classifed, MI19 Extraction of information from foreign POWs MI20 - MI25 remain Classified. It is important to also remember that most of these where small departments and at the end of world war 2 they were mostly all merged into MI5, MI6, GCHQ and other agencies. most british intelligence agencies still remain classified to the general public x the only reason this information has been released is that these agencies have all now terminated activity and new agencies have replaced them. Captain S.S DG of MI section 25Captain S, EnglandI love these responses. I am watching a movie call MI-5. Excellent intelligence movie of our brothers over the Atlantic.Jay Casiano, Albany, NY, USABy-the-way: NCIS stands for National Criminal Investigative Service. NCIS is a team of federal law enforcement professionals dedicated to protecting the people, family, and assets of the US Navy and the Marine Corps worldwide.Jay Casiano, Albany, NY, USAThe FBI does have a counter intelligence section and they work very closely with the CIA and other intelligence agencies in the US like the NIA (Naval Intelligence Agency) and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency).John Smith, Chicago, United StatesMinus one.Francisco Scaramanga, Secret Island, CarribeanTo John C.Watson. Thanks for the info. Having lived and studied in Amherst, I'm wondering how you can possess such a deep and correct knowledge of matters military while in 'the valley', an area not exactly conducive, but rather hostile, to that region of scholarship. Hats off to you.Tom Roberts, Tokyo, JapanIn the United States, NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We do not have an agency called the National Criminal Investigative Service, because we have many federal agencies that investigate crimes nationally. Some of these are the FBI, DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), U. S. Postal Inspectors, and U. S. Marshal's Service. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has the Criminal Investigation Division to investigate tax fraud. Now included in the Department of Homeland Security (which was created in 2003) are these federal investigative agencies: CBP (U. S. Customs and Border Protection), ICE (U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), U. S. Coast Guard, and U. S. Secret Service. The Transportation Security Administration also is within DHS. Finally, all federal agencies have Offices of Inspectors General (OIG) who have special agents with law enforcement responsibility and authority to investigate fraud, waste, and abuse within and against each agency. Law enforcement in the United States is very fragmented. There are many federal law enforcement agencies, each state has various investigative agencies (the number depends on the individual states), and of course every town and city has local police agencies. Every county in the U. S. has a sheriff's department to investigate crimes in the counties that are outside the jurisdiction of local police departments. Even many public school districts now have their own independent police departments and most colleges and universities of any size now have their own police departments. Altogether there are approximately 850,000 full-time law enforcement officers in the United States.J. R. Price, Arlington, TexasNo wonder conspiracy theories etc abound - I simply went to the source MI5 - The Security Service and there all is explained. I never really understood the expression 'get a life' but now browsing the responces to this query, it has relevance.James, Newcastle upon Tyne UKThe binary distinction between MI5 and MI6 presented in some of the answers above is incorrect. As displayed on the MI6>FAQs and on the MI5 website>about us>myths sections, "SIS (MI6) collects secret intelligence overseas on behalf of the British Government. MI5, the Security Service, is the UK's security intelligence agency responsible for protecting the UK, its interests and citizens against major threats to national security." However, these 2 distinct roles entail actual operational overlap and thus "the scope of national security extends beyond the British Isles and may involve the protection of British interests worldwide, e.g. diplomatic premises and staff, British companies and investments and British citizens living or travelling abroad. Security threats to British interests anywhere in the world fall within the scope of our functions as set out in the Security Service Act 1989. In dealing with security threats overseas we co-operate closely with the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), who are responsible for gathering intelligence overseas, and with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office." Simples.Vinesh Patel, London, EnglandFor John in London: The FBI is in fact partly an inteligence service. FBI has jurisdiction within the continental US while CIA has responsibilities over seas, NSA has ability now to monitor communications both domestically and over seas. Like our UK Counter Parts they are unsung heroes, who allow us to keep our freedom!!Jack Zalenski, Beverly, New Jersey, USAThanks for the info, guys.Manaal Basit, Budgam, Indiadosent matter casue the usa is the best! go seal teamsRYAN, rakin cille USA"Question" I need to ask is: does anyone know if MI9 existing after WW2 in to the 50s & possibly 60s?My Canadian father was in R.C.A.F. Intelligence Services back then,served and married my mother in England in fifties,also served in France in fifties, I was told even though he was Canadian, he also worked for the British, is it possible that he could have worked for M19 after the War 2, I am trying to validate information I have been learning on him.Some older close associates have mentioned to me M19..He was recently killed while in Turks & Caicos Islands shot in isolated location, no weapon found or bullet or casing etc. Because of his past with the military, I am trying to connect some dots prior to and around the time of his death, local police kind, and still investigating, but not all are well educated,the Islands were bankrupt and political corruption caused The Queen to provide a temporary Governor till next elections: recently Britain has supplied T&C with additional police experts, investigations etc. I also read recently that there is an Interpol office located on the Islands as well. I am no expert in any of these matters..Just curious to see if there is any possible chance my father could have ever been linked with Britain's MI9, since his death people I'm connecting with are telling me he previously served with MI9: he was very brilliant and a serious intellectual.Advice would be appreciated.Thanking you for your assistance.ann, toronto canadaMmm some interesting answers!! You are right that MI originally stood for Military Intelligence (followed by Department 1, 2, 3 etc). The current Security Service and Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) are still sometimes referred to as MI5 and MI6 respectively, though technically they are no longer 'military' being staffed by civil servants. You can find out more about the MI5/MI6 designations on their websites MI5 - The Security Service etc - it is not a secret!GJB, Bishops Stortford UKMi5 is about affairs that happen on British soil. Mi5 is often referred to as security service or ss. On the other hand Mi6 deals with current affairs overseas and are often referred to as secret intelligence service or sis kind of like the FBI but the sis does not shed names or appearance of their agents.Euan McMurtrie, Glasgow ScotlandHaving spent 21 years finding out about Lockerbie, I have some familiarity with various US, UK and Iranian and other agencies. The CIA and MI5 cooperate closely, though MI5 tries to prevent some of the FBI's more absurd plot ideas, like attributing the destruction of Pan Am 103 to the Irish. MI6 looks down on the CIA as the johnny-come-lately with too much firepower, the child of SOE and OSS. The Agency will do wet jobs - it helped blow up Pan Am 103 - while the SIS does not kill people, and there is a rule to that effect. The CIA London officer attends the first half of the JSC meeting every week in London, and the feeling that the UK should always take its lead from the US often grates to the British horribly. GCHQ is the child of BP is still respected by the NSA. The NSC is despised by all, as simply being the porthole by which the White House tells the world how it wishes to see things. Everyone detests the DIA, and BAFTA are regarded as fools and buffoons. The US security estate is far bigger than the UK one, but slow, bureaucratic and always fighting the last war but one. No-one liked the French, DST and DGSE, the Russians are still feared and the Germans uncooperative.Charles Norrie, London, UKThere are some very good answers here. However, I do believe that the most important department in British security has been overlooked. Not surprisingly it is only natural that, as all CI5 operations are very secretive and carried out by professionals, they are kept extremely quiet. George Cowley - Head of CI5George Cowley, London, UKDuring WWII MI-9 was the organisation responsible for establishing networks behind enemy lines that assisted POW's and downed airmen in escaping or evading capture.Stuart Kohn, Maplewood, NJ USOriginally all MI, Military Intelligence was in one building. Each department had it's own 'Room'. The numbers following the letters MI refereed to room or door number.Paladin, Moncton CanadaThere seems to be so many acronyms for NCIS so I googled it NCIS Naval Criminal Investigative Service NCIS National Coroners Information System (Australia) NCIS Nebraska Career Information System NCIS National Crime Intelligence Service NCIS National Coalition of Independent Scholars NCIS National Crop Insurance Service (gathers crop-hail statistics) NCIS Nuclear Criticality Information System NCIS NATO Common Interoperability Standards NCIS Navy Cost Information System NCIS New Century Infusion Solutions (Brea, CA) NCIS Naval Criminal Intelligence Command NCIS NATO Common Interface Standard NCIS No Change in Status NCIS National Coordinated Industry Survey (Australia) NCIS National Crime Investigation Squadjamo, Castletown Isle of ManI think there all differentTee, Nashville TN USAAdding to Stu Kohan's answer, MI9 was also called "Escape and Evade," and the American MIS-X was modeled after the British MI9.Bill Streifer, Inwood, NY USAMI5 specializes in identifying and neutralizing domestic threats or security threats emanating from within UK while MI6 is tasked with combing and neutralizing external threats.Wycliffe, Eldoret KenyaMI1: Codes and cyphers. Later merged with other code-breaking agencies and became Government Code and Cypher School (now known as Government Communications Headquarters). MI2: Information on Middle and Far East, Scandinavia, USA, USSR, Central and South America. MI3: Information on Eastern Europe and the Baltic Provinces (plus USSR, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia after Summer 1941). MI4: Geographical section — maps (transferred to Military Operations in April 1940). MI5: Liaison with Security Service, following the transfer of Security Service to the Home Office in the 1920s. MI6: Liaison with Secret Intelligence Service and Foreign Office. MI7: Press and propaganda (transferred to Ministry of Information in May 1940). MI8: Signals interception and communications security. MI9: Escaped British PoW debriefing, escape and evasion (also: enemy PoW interrogation until 1941). MI10: Technical Intelligence worldwide. MI11: Military Security. MI12: Liaison with censorship organisations in Ministry of Information, military censorship. MI13: Not used (except in fiction). MI14: Germany and German-occupied territories (aerial photography until Spring 1943). MI15: Aerial photography. In the Spring of 1943, aerial photography moved to the Air Ministry and MI15 became air defence intelligence. MI16: Scientific Intelligence (formed 1945). MI17: Secretariat for Director of Military Intelligence from April 1943. MI18: Used only in fiction. MI19: Enemy PoW interrogation (formed from MI9 in December 1941).Chris Meadow, Middleton, USM15 is a secret Intelligent unit primarily deals with internal affairs but terrorists unusually and The Great MI6 deals with foreign affairs which has to do with the UK or not. M07 become MI7 in 1916 after the War.Which is responsible for information and press or propaganda. MI8 is the Radio Security Service (RSS).MI4 now the JARIC agency. In short you can be made to believe that MI1-M14 still exist after the second world war.Kwame Akonnor, Sakyikrom-Nsawam, GhanaNCIS stands for NAVAL Criminal Intelligence Service. The word is not "national."Carole Parkinson, Portland United StatesFirstly, NCIS does not refer to US Naval version it's referred to the UK National Criminal Investigative Service now known as SOCA (Serious Organized Crime Agency) this agency took over most of the MI5 responsibilities leaving matter of counter-intelligence and foreign diplomatic services up to MI6 which really no longer exist as an agency only unto itself. It may have a website etc, but any MI (Military Intelligence) office is overseen by the Foreign Secretary. Years ago the "operatives" used in Clandestine Services were reassigned and renamed under Her Majesty's Customs and Excise via Home Office. MI5 Secret Service is domestic only. Handles British territories with some travel. Most of the foreign embassies in the world have Diplomatic Protection Officers in them. Ian Flemming's Bond is loosely based on the association of these two agencies but they are not related and quite honestly MI5 is nothing more than an Interpol type office conducting mostly anti-terrorism operations where as SOCA is chiefly responsible for national investigations and policing. It can be argued because there is not substantial information available to the general public as to what or how each foreign service office or officer are assigned or their duties. As to what has happened to the other MI's they have been re-titled UKSF and INTCORP or ICA Intelligence Corp Association.P. M. Skellen, Herefordshire United KingdomAll I can say is Thank God for the United Kingdom, the english language the principals of law and the rich heritage we have recieved from them. God bless all of our english speaking cousins around the world. Thank you.Robin L. Garces, Newberg Oregon, USAPretty much MI5 and MI6 have absolved all the other sections MI's activities. MI5 works closely with the Police as well in the UK. Now my next question is... What does MI6 do in this peace time activities. I have heard what the CIA is doing? MI6 is very secretive and am pretty sure that their actions are passive rather than active. Is there a secret hatchet unit that's unsanctioned by the British Government known as Section 20? Basically under the CIA, this is called Blake Ops. If there is one, then Sec 20 is the creme de la creme of international law enforcement.Dominic W S Chan, Shah Alam MalaysiaI believe that the closest to MI5 is the US Department of Homeland SecurityHarold Basa,Contrary to John London's post, the FBI, like the CIA, is a member of the US Intelligence Community.Carson, Virginia USMy dad worked for MI8 at one point just after the war. It involved sitting in the back of a army waggon listening to Russian morse and transcribing it. He had no Russian language translation skills, that duty belonged to someone else. Not the most glamorous of jobs, but at least it sounded good....Nik, Leigh UKIn response to what the American NCIS stands for, it's not NATIONAL, but Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I believe the UK one is National. And I'm also watching MI-5, know in the UK as Spooks. I wanted to get a handle on the different intelligence agencies. To my understanding, MI-5 deals with domestic intelligence, but not equivalent to our FBI because of their clandestine nature (I would say equivalent to the NSA). And MI-6 is international intelligence, like the CIA. So can anyone elaborate more on GCHQ? Or what their American equivalent would be if there is one?Ike, San Diego, California USAA big thank you for your post. Want more.forum profiles, NY USADuring the second world war, GCHQ was the organization that handled the decryption of German encrypted radio communications based on sophisticated mathematical techniques supplied by great minds such as Alan Turing and an Enigma machine supplied by a Polish soldier who escaped to England. The letters stood, I think, for Government Communication Headquarters. It probably still deals with codes and cyphers, something like our NSA. GCHQ has a famous site at Cheltenham, I think.Thomas, Stoneham, USDirectorate of Military Intelligence - Wikipedia