The first-term senator and now the President-elect, Barack Obama, will get versed with the "burdens of office" on Thursday, when he will receive his first 'top secret briefing' from Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence. Vice-president elect, Joseph Biden, will receive a separate briefing from the CIA.

Intelligence officials told ABCNews. com that McConnell will be accompanied by the CIA's top intelligence analyst, Michael Morel, the Director for Intelligence, and two senior CIA briefers.

According to an official familiar with the process, the 'detailed and comprehensive briefing' that Obama receives will be the same as that given to the outgoing President George W. Bush.

The CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden, who had provided a national security briefing to both Obama and McCain during the presidential campaign, said: "Obama will see the full range of capabilities we deploy for the United States."

In addition to two ongoing wars, the immediate security issues Obama will face are - Pakistan's protests over U. S. attacks on militants in its border region with Afghanistan, decisions on the future of the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspect, and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

As Obama prepares himself to face security challenges from terrorism to a resurgent Russia, top Obama advisers are eager to begin a strategic shift in counter-terrorism policy with a much greater focus and commitment of resources to going after al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani tribal region.