TheOffice of the Chief of Military Security Affairs (OCMSA) (တပ်မတော် စစ်ဘက်ရေးရာ လုံခြုံရေးအရာရှိချုပ်ရုံး), commonly referred to by its Burmese acronymSa Ya Pha (စရဖ), is the national military intelligence agency of theMyanmar Armed Forces, tasked with clandestine and covert operations, counterinsurgency, counter-revolutionary, counterterrorism, executive protection (especially the Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Joint Chief of Staff, and Minister of Defence), foreign military threat assessment to national security, military cybersecurity, military intelligence gathering and counterintelligence, political warfare, protects military classified information, psychological warfare, support irregular warfare, and surveillance and suppression those who disagree with the government. It was created to replace the Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI), which was disbanded in 2004.[1]
OCMSA is charged with handling political issues, and had played a central role in monitoring the 2007 popular protests in Myanmar; coordinating widespread arrests of protesters and their interrogation.Human Rights Watch reported that as part of its interrogation process, OCMSA uses sleep deprivation and condones the beating and kicking of detainees until they are unconscious.[2]
Notable former commanders of OCMSA include Vice President Lieutenant General (Ret.)Myint Swe, Chief of General Staff (Army, Navy and Airforce) GeneralMya Tun Oo and Union Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant GeneralKyaw Swe. As of September 2016, OCMSA is headed by Lieutenant General Soe Htut.[3] Brig.-Gen Tin Oo (no relation to Gen. Tin Oo) was trained by the CIA on the Pacific island of Saipan and went on to run one of the most feared and effective military intelligence spy networks in Asia throughout the 1970s and ’80s.[4]
| Office Name | Head | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Colonel Lwin | 1959–1969 |
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Colonel Chit Khin | 1969–1972 |
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Brigadier General Tin Oo | 1972–1978 |
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Colonel Aung Htay | 1978–1980 |
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Colonel Myo Aung | 1980–1982 |
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Colonel Kan Nyunt | 1982 – May 1983 |
| Directorate of Military Intelligence | Colonel Aung Koe | May 1983 – September 1983 |
| Directorate of Defence Service Intelligence / Office of Chief of Military Intelligence (OCMI) | Lieutenant General / GeneralKhin Nyunt | September 1983 – October 2004 |
| Office of Chief of Military Security Affair | Lieutenant GeneralMyint Swe | 2004–2005 |
| Office of Chief of Military Security Affair | Lieutenant GeneralYe Myint | 2005–2010 |
| Office of Chief of Military Security Affair | Lieutenant GeneralKyaw Swe | 2010–2014 |
| Office of Chief of Military Security Affair | Lieutenant GeneralMya Tun Oo | 2014–2016 |
| Office of Chief of Military Security Affair | Lieutenant GeneralSoe Htut | 2016–2020 |
| Office of Chief of Military Security Affair | Lieutenant GeneralYe Win Oo[5][6] | 2020−present |
