Fortunately for him, there are some hopeful signs that he will have a better partner in new Defense Secretary Robert Gates than his predecessor had in the last Pentagon boss, Donald Rumsfeld.

During a press roll-out for the new plan McConnell, confirmed February as the director of national intelligence, said that he had only accepted the post after ensuring he and Gates were on the same page.

McConnell told reporters that before taking the job he met several times with Gates -- and with the latter's nominee for the top intelligence post at the Department of Defense, retired U.S. Air Force Gen. James Clapper.

"The reason I'm here is because of that discussion," said McConnell, a retired admiral in the U.S. Navy and former head of the National Security Agency.

Clapper, who was confirmed by the Senate last week, told his confirmation hearing that he and McConnell had been "professional colleagues and personal friends for over 20 years."

"I anticipate a very close, productive relationship with" him, Clapper said.

Critics charge that under Gates' predecessor Donald Rumsfeld, turf-conscious Pentagon bureaucrats like Clapper's predecessor as undersecretary of defense for intelligence, Stephen Cambone, have long sought to block or delay initiatives aimed at strengthening the integration of intelligence agencies.

In an interview Sunday with C-SPAN television, former deputy DNI and current CIA Director Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden played down that view.

"To be very candid," he told the network's Q and A show, "The urban legend out there that there was a constant battle between Secretary Rumsfeld's Pentagon and the intelligence community, that's simply not true. They had a lot of good things happening."

But he acknowledged that "with Secretary Gates arriving, it gives you a chance for fresh beginnings. It gives you a chance to bring up perhaps ideas that no one had had before, because you've got new players on the scene."

Clapper promised just such a new approach at his confirmation hearing, saying he would restructure his office to align it more closely with the way the DNI's staff was organized.

"The Secretary of Defense wishes to synchronize (Defense Department) intelligence with the DNI," he said, pointing out that eight of the 16 agencies that McConnell oversees are part of the Pentagon.

"I believe there are improvements that can be made by clarifying this relationship institutionally and partnering with the DNI to manage intelligence as a seamless enterprise," he said.

Clapper said that the way Cambone and Rumsfeld had structured the Pentagon's intelligence policy office was "neither optimized for the missions it must perform, nor postured for the relationship that should exist with the DNI."

Clapper said the lack of a deputy for the office "has hindered internal coordination" and that his staff was not "large enough to fulfill their existing responsibilities."

Last month McConnell announced a redrawing of the organization chart for the DNI's office, and his Chief of Staff David Shedd told United Press International that elements of the restructuring would be "finalized after consultation with the defense secretary."

Clapper said he agreed with McConnell's priorities, and pledged to "work cooperatively ... to bring them to fruition." But, in a caveat that some highlighted as a get-out clause, he added that he would do so "without compromising the secretary's statutory responsibilities and authorities."

Clapper pledged a review of the military's role in two issues that have been a particular source of friction in intelligence circles: covert and/or clandestine action and human intelligence collection, or spying.

Clapper said that "clarify(ing) roles and responsibilities in clandestine activities" was a major challenge for the whole U.S. intelligence community, as America's sprawling and sometimes squabbling collection of 16 spy agencies is called.

In written testimony prepared for the hearing, he said, "For me, the crucial distinction lies in whether an activity is 'passive' ... or 'active' (which is the case with covert action)."

Covert actions, defined by law, are designed "to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the United States will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly."

By contrast, he said, "clandestine activities -- a term that is not statutorily defined -- are those activities conducted in secret, but which are, in an intelligence context, passive in nature."

He said military actions ought to be restricted to passive operations.

"I believe that, to the maximum extent possible, there needs to be a line drawn between (clandestine and covert operations) from an oversight perspective and as well as a risk perspective," he said at the hearing.

He also pledged "to conduct an in-progress review of (human intelligence) activities, both within the department, to include the involvement of Special Operations, and externally with the CIA and the National Clandestine Service."

Clapper also said he would promulgate what he called a "campaign plan" for the military intelligence agencies -- "a concise yet comprehensive statement of strategic intent, in which I would describe objectives, priorities, and instructions."

He said the plan would ensure that all the Pentagon spy agencies were at least on the same page. "This will be the vehicle I would use to articulate a common understanding, and to elicit a common commitment by all (Defense Department) intelligence components, to a shared set of goals."

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