The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate criminal activities involving the Navy and Marine Corps, though its broad mandate includes national security, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, cyberwarfare, and the protection of U.S. naval assets worldwide. NCIS is the successor organization to the former Naval Investigative Service (NIS), which was established by the Office of Naval Intelligence after the Second World War. One half of NCIS personnel are civilian, with the other half being special agents. NCIS agents are armed federal law enforcement investigators, who frequently coordinate with other U.S. government agencies and have a presence in more than 41 countries and on U.S. Navy vessels. NCIS special agents are supported by analysts and other experts skilled in disciplines such as forensics, surveillance, surveillance countermeasures, computer investigations, physical security, and polygraph examinations. History Origins NCIS traces its roots to Navy Department General Order 292 of 1882, signed by William H. Hunt, Secretary of the Navy, which established the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Initially, ONI was tasked with collecting information on the characteristics and weaponry of foreign vessels, charting foreign passages, rivers, or other bodies of water, and touring overseas fortifications, industrial plants, and shipyards. In anticipation of the United States' entry into World War I, ONI's responsibilities expanded to include espionage, sabotage, and all manner of information on the U.S. Navy's potential adversaries. The plan contemplated obtaining information by both overt and covert means, and, in the fall of 1916, the first branch office (a small undercover unit) was established in New York City under the supervision of the ONI. Heavy reliance was placed on reserve, active duty, and civilian operatives, many of the latter serving voluntarily and without pay. Rapid demobilization and the desire for a return to normalcy after World War I saw investigative activity reduced to a virtual standstill. In early 1926, initiatives were undertaken to organize special groups of volunteer reserve intelligence officers who were envisioned as a means of obtaining information on persons and activities that might constitute a threat to the naval establishment, as well as providing a cadre of trained personnel in the event of national emergency. During the early and mid-1930s the development of an independent professional investigative capability within the Navy was being nurtured. In Washington, D.C., the first civilian agent was employed