National Guard Bureau The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's longest-enduring institutions, celebrated its 370th birthday on December 13, 2006. The National Guard traces its history back to the earliest English colonies in North America. Responsible for their own defense, the colonists drew on English military tradition and organized their able-bodied male citizens into militias. Since that time, the National Guard has seen the nature of its Federal mission change, with more frequent call ups in response to crises in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the skies over Iraq. Most recently, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, more than 50,000 Guardmembers were called up by both their States and the Federal government to provide security at home and combat terrorism abroad. In the largest and swiftest response to a domestic disaster in history, the Guard deployed more than 50,000 troops in support of the Gulf States following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Today, tens of thousands of Guardmembers are serving in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan, as the National Guard continues its historic dual mission, providing to the states units trained and equipped to protect life and property, while providing to the nation units trained, equipped and ready to defend the United States and its interests, all over the globe.
U.S. Department of Interior The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the nation’s principal conservation agency. It's mission is to protect America’s treasures for future generations, provide access to our nation’s natural and cultural heritage, offer recreation opportunities, honor our trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives and our responsibilities to island communities, conduct scientific research, provide wise stewardship of energy and mineral resources, foster sound use of land and water resources, and conserve and protect fish and wildlife. The work that DOI does affects the lives of millions of people; from the family taking a vacation in one of the national parks to the children studying in one of the Indian schools. DOI is a large, decentralized agency with over 73,000 employees and 200,000 volunteers located at approximately 2,400 operating locations across the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, and freely associated states. DOI discharges its responsibilities on a $16.5 billion total annual budget. DOI raises more than $6.3 billion in revenues collected from energy, mineral, grazing, timber, recreation, land sales, etc.
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) responsibility is the administration and management of 55.7 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives. There are 561 federal recognized tribal governments in the United States. Developing forestlands, leasing assets on these lands, directing agricultural programs, protecting water and land rights, developing and maintaining infrastructure and economic development are all part of the agency's responsibility. In addition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides education services to approximately 48,000 Indian students.
Social Security Administration The Social Security Administration's (SSA) mission is to advance the economic security of the nation’s people through compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America's Social Security programs.   SSA is committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting Employees with Disabilities (EWD).  EWD may require workstations and/or assistive technologies (AT) to perform their job functions.  The Agency currently has approximately 1,650 EWD and approximately 7,000 AT devices at the field offices, Teleservice Centers (TSC), the Remote Operations Communications Center (ROCCS), Regional Offices (RO), Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) and State Disability Determination Service (DDS) sites, throughout the country.  Office of Telecommunications and Systems Operations (OTSO) is responsible for ensuring that the SSA provides appropriate AT and other productivity tools to meet user requirements and remain in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.  In addition, Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology (IT) to people with disabilities.  Section 508 applies to all Federal Agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and IT.  OTSO is responsible for the acquisition, configuration, testing, and successful implementation of AT for EWD on the SSA Network (SSAnet).   SSA currently has 2,300 local area networks (LANs) installed in more than 2,000 locations worldwide.  There are 10 SSA regions throughout the United States, including District of Columbia, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Mariana Islands.