is there only MI5 and MI6? why no other numbers?
In: 84
Mi5 is the domestic intelligence service. They focus on counter terrorism and intelligence within the UK.
Mi6 is the foreign intelligence service. They focus on overseas intelligence to support the UK’s national security.
Mi5 is their equivalent of the FBI, they focus on domestic matters. Mi6 is their equivalent of the CIA, they focus on international matters of intelligence.
MI6 stand for **Military Intelligence, Section 6**. As the name implies, there *are* other sections. [According to Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate_of_Military_Intelligence_(United_Kingdom)), there were originally 17 of them (1-19, with MI13 and MI18 not being used), though many were absorbed into various other organizations.
Their duties vary from administration (MI1), mapping (MI4), propaganda (MI7), and interrogation of POW’s (MI19).
EDIT: MI5 deals with domestic intelligence, similar to the FBI, while MI6 is for foreign intelligence, similar to the CIA.
To add to the other answers, there used to be MI1-4, but they were all absorbed into other agencies around the end of WW2. MI1 did code breaking, MI2 and 3 handled specific geographic information, and MI4 was responsible for aerial reconnaissance and interpretation.
MI5 and MI6 are not in fact the official names of those organisations; they’re pop-culture holdovers from a time when there were many Military Intelligence departments. During WW1 and 2 collectively there were some 19 MI divisions. While the official names of MI5 and 6 are different, there’s enough marketing in the familiar names that the govt includes them on organisational logos.
MI5 is officially the Security Service (there’s a reason people think of it as MI5 and not the SS…) and is responsible for domestic security and counter-terrorism, which means it (official) operates solely within the UK.
MI6 is officially the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS could, I think, be too easily confused with the S*A*S) and is responsible for foreign intelligence, which is to say spying on other countries.
The easy comparison to make is that MI5 is akin to the FBI, while MI6 is more of a CIA. That said, I don’t actually know if MI5 has the same law-enforcement mandate that the FBI has. I don’t *believe* that it does.
Interesting and contrarily to James Bond like portrayals, MI6 were headed by a ragtag bunch of drunks and swingers who got cucked by a Soviet spy for decades
My favourite military intelligence division is the now defunct MI-14, with such brave pigeon heroes as [William of Orange](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Orange_(pigeon)).
Why is nobody mentioning CI5 ?
And now I want a fast, 70’s Ford.
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