Oh.....BS! It is not a clandestine army without oversight. I saw this developing. and was a part of it, going all the way back to 2005. It is simply a by-product of the terrain in which we live in: information dominance.
And so we adjusted accordingly. It’s not a big deal, it was a logical move to thwart the prying eyes of foreign intel.
Relax.
The largest undercover force the world has ever known is the one created by the Pentagon over the past decade.
That would put the start date around 2011 (article date 2021), 6 years after the start date you mention of 2005.
Don’t miss the significance of what’s happening.