U.S. Army (Ret.)

sk government officials what's on their wish list for homeland security, and "better intelligence" is probably close to the top. Whether the task is gathering it, analyzing it, or sharing it, the importance of intelligence in preventing terrorist attacks cannot be overstated. When President Bush tapped Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes in November for the job of assistant secretary for information analysis at the Homeland Security Department, he got someone with 37 years of active military service, much of it spent in the defense intelligence community.

Hughes, a plainspoken 61-year-old from Great Falls, Mont., was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Clinton administration; he has served as director of intelligence for the Joint Staff, Central Command, and was commanding general of the Army Intelligence Agency. "Being a head of DIA and [having] the respect of the intelligence community means a lot," says Duncan Campbell, chief of staff for Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, "especially for that position."

And "that position," according to some analysts, has been difficult to fill. The job needed "a start-up, entrepreneurial mind-set, and someone who has an understanding of intelligence work and background," says Frank Cilluffo, associate vice president for homeland security at George Washington University, praising the selection of Hughes.

The information-analysis unit at Homeland Security is responsible for analyzing intelligence from a dizzying array of agencies, including the FBI, the CIA, and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, as well as units within DHS. Cilluffo says Hughes has his work cut out for him: "He's got to build out his own independent bench to make information assessments on analysis he's getting from multiple sources." Hughes, who retired from the Army in 1999, has a bachelor's degree from Montana State University and a master's degree from Central Michigan University.