Tactical
units engage in combat with intelligence inputs coming from the MI
dep’t from higher echelons. In today’s asymmetric war scenario the
Company-level units should
also have its own organic
intelligence structures with very few personnel and assets deployed.
They can act on available intelligence from the ground themselves
without
having to wait for collected, collated, analyzed
information from Brigade Int section or other agencies which takes
time—add to it the dissemination delays. In addition to
conducting
mission specific analysis and kinetic or non kinetic attack, the
Company-level unit can also disseminate the intelligence acquired to
subordinate units, parallel
units or higher headquarters as
these intelligence inputs may be useful to these parties as often
intelligence about the enemy in one area of operations can help units
in
other operational areas, the enemy may be adopting similar tactics or other behavioral factors.
It
is very important to recognize the lack of an intelligence structure at
Company-level levels. The Company-level unit should have collection and
analytical capabilities. There
have been instances of lethal
attacks on camps and bases itself-a force protection problem. We just
cannot depend entirely on civil police and other intelligence agencies
to
supply us intelligence about the threat which usually is
biased, and influenced by political and regional faction influences.
The soldier on the ground who is a part of say the
Infantry
battalion engaging the insurgents , is face to face with the
reality—the enemy , the local population and other parties of interest.
Say during a reconnaissance patrol
his team may come across a
valuable source. After rapidly dismounting and ensuring he has no
weapons, the teams intelligence component can start source cops like
Company-level
or platoon level questioning, debriefing, etc and if a
counterintelligence agent is also present the more the better for
HUMINT collection.
Let us assume a Command (set up for COIN ops, or
Antiterrorist ops in a State) which has everything in order such as
Command chain, combat machinery, defined
communication
channels, civil administration support and police, civil intelligence
agencies support lacks only an organic intelligence unit and depends on
Higher HQ such
as Battalion intelligence section and civil agencies for intelligence information.
It
should be noted here that the necessary information is requisitioned
first in the form of Request of Information document, which will go
through various processing nodes
as characterized by
administrative channels, then finally landing in the collection
manager’s hands from the requested agencies higher authority to whom
the request was
directed. Now the collection manager will
access already present records database and national databases to
explore if the needed information is already available—if so he
further
initiates request for information, gets the information and passes it
on to the commander of the unit. If not available he prioritizes the
requested information as per the
supported commands
requirements, evaluates availability of suitable assets, allocates the
assets tasking as per their capabilities, capacity and speciality,the
assets are
deployed, information collected, again sent
up channels for evaluation of information quality , credibility (if
source-submitted),analyzed, transformed into intelligence product
and then finally disseminated to the supported commands commander.
All
the above processes takes time, sometimes very long time, rendering the
information useless as intelligence can at times be highly perishable,
especially combat
intelligence. The commander needs actionable
intelligence fast and to enable this it would be far better if he
himself has an organic modular intelligence unit, ready to take
up
assignments, if needed be integrated with the strike platoons itself
for much faster information gathering and analysis and immediate action
by the platoon commander.
Company level/Platoon level
intelligence capability can tremendously increase the competitive edge
of the commander over the enemy, increase his situational awareness
and be a force enabler.
Doctrine,
Personnel, Training and Education, Leadership, Materiel Development,
Organization, and Soldier Systems needs to be reviewed if intelligence
assets need to be
pushed down to the lowest level. There are
dozens of units deployed in Company-level operations on the
battlefield. If they are intelligence capable the Commander will get
the
best up-to-date and regularly updated(in the fluid war scenario of
rapidly changing ground situations) intelligence inputs thus
heightening his situational understanding
immensely and thus giving him that decisive competitive edge over the enemy.
The
need for projected intelligence capability is all the more important if
the commander has to deploy to an unfamiliar area ,inhabited by an
asymmetric threat which unlike
a conventional enemy has no
defined order of battle,organization,discernible patterns ,does not
employ standard military tactics and where ops may be simultaneous ,
non-linear
and distributed. In such a situation the commander needs to project his
force by sending in interim combat enabled (for self defense)
reconnaissance teams who
have intelligence gathering ability
as well as counterintelligence asset , not the usual reconnaissance and
surveillance patrols who are composed only of scouts and which
do not answer the ‘’why’’ of things observed.
Today
we are facing an enemy which is very unlike conventional adversaries
who can be identified using intelligence as to their
leadership,TOE,order of
battle,strength,dispositions or
anything which is determined by set doctrinal military tactics,
techniques and procedures.Todays enemy in low intensity warfare is
asymmetric
in nature, taking refuge among the urban or rural community who act as
enablers of the insurgent movement wither wholly or partially depending
on the degree of
acceptance of insurgent ideology and
insurgent leaderships always try to influence the local communities to
the maximum as they are well aware of the benefits of
sanctuary
among the latter. The enemy recruits, rests and reinforces/resupply
itself from amongst the population. Here intelligence directly focused
on the enemy is difficult
in practice; the enemy is elusive,
deceptive and resorts to unconventional attack modes and very adaptable
but the enemy’s source of sustenance and very survival depends
a
great deal on the local populations support. The company and platoon
sized units need immediate on scene intelligence support to deal with
such a population enabled
asymmetric enemy. As such even the
smallest fighting unit must be capable of intense collection and
analysis of information to get actionable intelligence instead of
waiting
for intelligence from higher headquarters which may
entail time thus letting go of opportunities in combat. It is always
not realistic to depend on higher echelon staff for
intelligence.
We must have an inbuilt intelligence capability in the smallest unit on
the ground. The main criteria here is to shorten considerably the time
between deciding
on intelligence priorities ,detecting the
enemy’s OB,Strength,disposition,capabilities and T&OE ,delivering
the attack sequence and assessing the Battle damage and
re-strike options.
COIN
targeting necessitates overwhelming intelligence from ‘’bottom-up’ for
successful kinetic/non-kinetic operations. Hence ground level units
need to be trained and tasked
with intelligence collection. It
is near impossible to dedicate the very few specialized intelligence
assets to all the operating forces in the area of operations. Here are
the key
challenges of bottom- up collections:
(1)Determining what is important information. Leaders need to determine PIRs for each mission.
(2)Determining where to start – in terms of information or geography. Based upon key terrain (human and/or geographic).
Conventional
operations and COIN/Antiterrorist operations (This can be termed
operation against networked criminal enterprises) are different in that
the intelligence
preparation of the battle space takes into
consideration not only threat elements but also the human terrain—that
is the local population. Unlike kinetic attack priority in
conventional
operations (kill/capture) in COIN operations non-kinetic attack modes
are often the desired outcome – non-kinetic attacks taking into account
civilian
community heads, population psychological operations,
insurgent targets social network, targeting his social contacts to
judge his resultant movements and tracking him to
finally
locate his cell members or leadership, exploitation of targets other
community traits—in effect besides personality targeting we are also
concerned with the fact
(non-kinetic fires) that units must
project the second and third order of effects after they mount any
operation. Operations on a population, with which the targeted
individual
interacts, may have second and third order effects
on that targeted individual (e.g. – he may increase communications or
flee the area—in the former case SIGINT intercepts
can yield a
lot of information about his immediate network , if his communications
are verbal and physical meet ups surveillance will be the preferred
tool whereas in the
latter case if he flees the area he can be
tracked to know his sanctuary—he is bound to contact his team members ,
move in their hideouts.).All in all kinetic attack fires can
yield
much more intelligence than just by acquiring battle order
intelligence. Only resorting to kinetic fires of kill/capture can never
solve an insurgency problem., As the
soldiers on the ground
are those who are frequently in direct contact with community members
(and hence those of them who are affiliates/sympathizers/facilitators
of the
insurgents) they have the best opportunity to gain
intelligence information by conducting tactical questioning (patrols,
checkpoints, choke points) or by casual elicitation
methods in normal scenarios.
Later
it will be shown that setting up a company level intelligence cell and
enabling tactical teams with intelligence assets gives a major thrust
in intelligence collection and
also counterintelligence activities.
There needs to be a change in focus of effort between command levels.
1)Stress
should be given to the fact that tactical company and platoon level
units conduct operations with a high degree of success and hence higher
levels of command
must push intelligence staff and information
down to lowest points of collection (initial points) , that is the
company/battalion levels.
2)At the same time low density high demand
ISR assets need to be stretched and spread across the area of
operations to gain a better situational understanding.
With these
two initiatives the Command Headquarters will not lose control over its
intelligence assets and will neither lose the privilege of gaining
situational understanding
exclusively. On the contrary it will
be able to gain more accurate intelligence inputs. Till so far the
intelligence needs of individual ground units or any feedback from them
was generally ignored what with the Battalion intelligence
officer forwarding the intelligence summary report to higher
headquarters with the overall intelligence picture of the
area of operations falling under the Battalions jurisdiction.
REQUIREMENT FOR INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION AT UNIT/PLATOON LEVEL:
It
is near impossible to allocate specialized intelligence assets to every
operating force in the Area of Ops as such assets are few in number and
the fact that majority of the
information required for
targeting flows ‘’bottom-up’ (that is the lowest level troops)
necessitates the creation of intelligence collection units at troop
level either organic to the
tactical combat ground unit or as
a modular unit capable of plugging into any company or unit as per
requirements. This fact should be taken seriously into Staff
consideration
for targeting, particularly in asymmetric type warfare where the
network must be targeted and where delivery of fire-power is dependent
on very specific
intelligence.
Intelligence Requirements (PIRs) drive the military intelligence collection process.
While
military intelligence officers help in developing intelligence
requirements, it is the commander who is responsible for designating an
intelligence requirement as a
priority. The intelligence staff
regularly updates the commander on its progress toward answering each
PIR.speaking, that a military intelligence officer (STAFF INT
OFFICER) and his staff are tasked with answering.
Additional
intelligence requirements aimed at filling gaps in commanders’
understanding of the operating environment and requests for information
may come from higher
echelons, lower echelons, and lateral
organizations, or from the intelligence staff itself, but it is the
PIRs that an STAFF INT OFFICER has been tasked with that are most
important.
While emphasis shifts in various doctrinal publications, PIRs are generally supposed to:
1.Ask a single question.
2.Be ranked in importance.
3.Be specific: Focus on a specific event, fact or activity.
4.Be tied to a single decision or planning task the commander has to make.
5.Provide a last time by which information is of value (LTIOV).
6.Be answerable using available assets and capabilities.
Usually, a commander only designates three to five intelligence requirements as PIRs at any one time.
The
PIR model makes use of intelligence-led and problem-oriented policing
models that gained traction in combating crime in the United States
after 11 September 2001 by
refining them for practical use
within the military dynamic. The recce unit along with the embedded
HUMINT /CI element conducts area reconnaissance and community
operations
involving atmospherics, thus establishing a PIR framework before
resorting to tactical questioning, elicitation and interrogation by
using the PIRs to force
conversations, gain community
perspective and prepare engagement summaries for analysis...The
engagement summaries are analyzed, community feedbacks are
compiled
thus highlighting the causes that aid insurgency, enabling the unit in
turn to recommend the targets that are the driving causes of the
insurgency.
We can have an integral organic intelligence capability at the Battalion level:
The
Bn Intelligence section will consist of the Bn intelligence officer, a
JCO , 2 havildars and 6 infantry soldiers. The Bn Intelligence section
will interface between the
companies and the Bde.The companies
pass on intelligence information for processing to the Bn Intelligence
section who in turn passes them on to the Bde and also as per
ground
requirements from the companies and Bn staff .The Bn intelligence
section will develop sources and contacts from among the local
population and liaise with the civil
police and intelligence
agencies. The question of deconfliction arises at this stage as the
line companies and platoons have their sorces , contacts and liaisons
as well as
the civil agencies. It is the responsibility of the
Bn intelligence section to deconflict its sources with all these
sources, contacts and liaisons. The Bn intelligence section will
use
its HUMINT and other capabilities to detect weapons/explosives caches,
collect incriminating evidentiary information for prosecution by the
civil agencies and increase
the overall situational
understanding of the Bn and Bde commanders and staff. Delineation of
sources between the Bn , the line companies , the platoons and the
HUMINT
units is very important by clearly defining the
responsibilities of each with respect to the sources. We can have
contacts like community leaders of influence , local
politicians
and councilors , surface and witting contacts as well as those contacts
who are very useful , can supply information of rich intelligence value
but need protection
which will be the responsibility of the
HUMINT units. The overt contacts like the community leaders etc can be
the responsibility of the Bn intelligence section while the
surface
contacts and liaison can be given to the line units and platoons. The
same line units and platoons can forward to HUMINT units any source of
HUMINT interest which
they come across community operations , patrolling or tactical operations.
Just
like the Staff composition at Division level we can create similar
structure at the Divn Bn level. There will be an Ops Staff officer and
an Intelligence Staff officer.
Compared to the Ops Staff
officer the Int Staff officer, by virtue of his direct contact with the
Div Staff Officer is better aware of all Div intelligence requirements,
prioritized or
otherwise and which requirements are tasked to
subordinate units. His duties include analyzing collected information
by Bn Int Section and effect the transfer of intelligence
laterally
and vertically, laterally to adjacent units , higher headquarters ,
line companies and even to the line platoon base camps. The Ops Staff
officer will see to the tasking
of Div intelligence requirements to all subordinate units.
To
further push down the intelligence capability to the line companies
level and platoon level , we can assign 2 NCOs at each line company and
one soldier to take over as
intelligence representative and
co-located at the platoon level. During patrolling , reconnaissance by
the Company soldiers , platoon soldiers , all collected information
will be
filtered , categorized and forwarded to the Bn
Intelligence section for analysis and dissemination laterally and to
higher headquarters. The intelligence soldiers at Company
and Platoon levels can also requisition intelligence and imagery information from higher headquarters.
Secondary Collectors:
HUMINT
collection is not limited only to HUMINT personnel. These can be termed
primary collectors.HUMINT can also be and is collected (sometimes
unknowingly and
never reported) by secondary collectors like military police , troops and civil affairs personnel.
Take
a scenario. A soldier comes across a man who offers information which
the soldier feels could be of use to the HUMINT people. He does not
bring the source in focus
by detaining him or questioning him
before others. He stays friendly , eliciting as much as possible after
the source finishes his narration. He does all this discreetly. He
manages
to record the details of the source and when he is back from the check
post to his camp he discreetly meets the Bn Int section officer and
fills him up with all the
information he has
gatrhered.Therafter one and only one soldier in the Bn Int section
passes on the information to the HUMINT operative with the contact
details of the
source.
In a second scenario the soldier may
come across something , say a weapons cache , which he recognizes , and
this exploitable intelligence he again passes on to the Bn
Int
section discreetly. In both cases he won’t tell his colleagues or
anyone. Thus we find line soldiers and other secondary collectors, if
they keep their eyes and ears open,
can create a good surface
contacts base , thus reducing the workload on primary HUMINT collectors
by gathering exploitable intelligence , the primary collectors can now
focus
on more important issues like prioritized intelligence requirements of
the Commander. If all or many of the line soldiers or other secondary
collectors work in this
fashion the surface contacts base
grows phenomenally, thus creating a secondary source base. Thus we
achieve synchronization between primary and secondary
collectors.
The fact that the soldier does not tell any of his colleagues or even
the chain of command renders the information to be exploited and away
from any technical or
influence detractors by limiting the
sphere of knowledge. Further it is possible that any primary source may
have links with the individual dealing with the secondary collector
or
any other link and this can be of value to the primary HUMINT
collectors. Hence the bottom-line should be personal contact and
liaison with the local community for every
patrolling member.
Mission
Responsibilities of commanders (with regard to soldiers who are not
intelligence personnel, but come across information on tactical
questioning—secondary
collectors):
Squad/Section/Patrol/TCP/Roadblock/Convoy Leader:
Patrols,
roadblocks, checkpoints, convoys—all these come into contact with enemy
personnel (captured), civilians, civil suspects/detainees and criminal
elements who can
be subjected to tactical questioning. Hence
the mission is to train the involved personnel in tactical questioning
and integrate it in the planning and preparation/execution of
the
said activities. Pursuant to this prepare for debriefing after all
personnel of patrols etc report to the unit intelligence officer
Prepare
reports , verbally (debriefing) or written on any observations or
information extracted after tactical questioning including being able
to recognize any information of so
much importance(combat intelligence) that it must be reported immediately without delay.
During
such activities like patrolling, convoy etc all EPW/Detainee and seized
documents must be subjected to exploitation carefully as these are
prime sources of
intelligence.
All the above should be
predicated by the Unit intelligence officers tasking of prioritized
intelligence requirements but collection outside these should not be
ignored if such
information is delivered by the source concerned. They might be of tactical value to the Commander or HUMINT officers.
Platoon Leader:
Squad/section/patrol/
CP/roadblocks, and convoy leaders are tasked by the platoon leader
based on intelligence requirements as laid down by higher headquarters.
Instruct
and see to it that it is followed to the book that all personnel
returning from patrolling, manning checkpoints, convoys etc report
everything and get subjected to full
debriefing.
Highlight
before them the high importance of submitting information of immediate
tactical value without ANY delay. Make it very clear this is mandatory.
To this effect he
should apprise everyone of the procedures laid down by the battalion intelligence staff in this regard.
Company/Troop/Battery Commander:
Squad/section/patrol/
CP/roadblocks, and convoy leaders are tasked by the platoon leader
based on intelligence requirements as laid down by higher headquarters.
All
intelligence inputs by the personnel involved in patrolling and tasked
with collection are reviewed and forwarded to the Bn intelligence staff
and Bde staff. While doing this
highlight that information that is linked to the current operations or the AO environment.
Make
it mandatory for everyone to be debriefed in keeping with the
procedures laid down by higher headquarters intelligence staff.
Ensure that everyone understands that it is mandatory to report information IMMEDIATELY of critical value.
Battalion STAFF INT OFFICER and S3 Sections:
Task the company, section, squad commanders on intelligence requirements and guide them through the Staff headquarters.
Push
down intelligence information to these command levels so as to enable
them to get a better situational understanding and know what is
expected of them. Thus they
will be able to frame tactical questions better.
See to it that all patrols etc are debriefed and no one is left out.
Establish procedures for immediate reporting of information of critical tactical value.
The
fighting forces engaged directly with the enemy, companies and the
platoons therein come into regular contact with the local communities,
local administration, village
heads and panchayats, and the
enemy itself. The battalion may have its own intelligence section and
if it does the section is very understaffed with one intelligence
officer
and an aide. The troops depend wholly on brigade
intelligence inputs and intelligence feeds from other agencies. These
inputs come as a result for requests for information
from the
ground and the process of requesting, tasking the request to brigade
intelligence personnel, gathering the intelligence using collection
platforms and pulling
intelligence from adjacent headquarters,
units and from national agencies and finally pushing it down to the
combat team all takes time resulting in untimely intelligence
feeds.
Add to this the total lack of first hand contact of Brigade level
intelligence section with the human and enemy terrain of the area of
operations (human terrain is the
local population) which is
enjoyed by the troops on the ground fully. This lack of contact leads
to low level of situational understanding of the higher headquarters
and
whatever intelligence they gather is based on standard
TTPs and intelligence sharing with other agencies. Yes certain cases
involve infiltration by HUMINT/CI assets but as
this is
fraught with dangers and requires highly talented agents adept in
deception and which is lacking in our intelligence headquarters
intelligence acquisition using
infiltration is scarce e are
now left with the human terrain, the local populace and higher
headquarters intelligence personnel will not commit to regular
interaction with them
like the soldiers on the ground do
during patrols or securing an area after an operation or mopping up
operations or during a cordon/search operation. Higher commands are
not
fully meeting their intelligence requirements of the companies and
platoons in a timely manner; nor at the level of detail necessary for
company commanders to
successfully operate in the asymmetric
defined battlespace.The company and platoon commanders must be able to
portray the threat and disposition accurately nominate
targets-both
for kinetic and non- kinetic attacks and conduct successfully battle
damage assessments so that the option of restrike does not get
overlooked for example.
For this is required a company level
intelligence cell and pushing down further an intelligence enabled
platoon. The infantry company requires and organic capability to
collect,
process, and disseminate intelligence to increase their operational
effectiveness in full spectrum conflict. Infantry units require company
level intelligence cells (CLIC)
specifically organized, trained, and equipped to address this capability gap.
Each
company (and in many cases several platoons) are assigned their own
Area of Ops where the company level intelligence team or platoon level
intelligence cell conduct
intelligence collection activities
and proper synchronization of ISR and integrating with the targeting
process is invariably attained as all round collection involving the
soldiers
who are now the sensors leads to a far better situational understanding.
Primary
tasks: Threat situation and disposition, Target nomination,
BDA,Combat/security operations, surveillance, target acquisition, and
reconnaissance.
The troops fighting on the ground are fed
intelligence from Brigade level intelligence HQ.There are certain
limitations which must be taken cognizant as well as the offered
solutions ( points 1,6 , highlight the need for company level intelligence structure)
Your intelligence system has some limitations you must understand. These include-
1.Dissemination
of information is highly dependent on communications systems and
architecture and these are usually limited and under constraints in
different fighting
environments. Often requests for
information from ground units are not disseminated in time. Accurate,
timely and specific actionable intelligence is necessary to drive
operations with that distinctive competitive edge and this is usually lacking.
2.Single-source
collection is susceptible to adversary control and deception.Muliple
sources need to be deployed and multidisciplinary intelligence
collection platforms
should be employed.
3.Counterinsurgency
operations may be affected if the enemy resorts to non-usage of
communications/no communications equipment (to avoid getting
intercepted or DF’d)
thus affecting adversely COMINT and ELINT
based intelligence collection. Thus our intelligence collection effort
gets degraded by the enemy.
4.Weather degradation of traffic ability
and the negative effects of high winds on antenna arrays and aviation
collection and jamming systems.
5.Inability of ground-based systems
to operate on the move. Positioning and integration of mutually
supporting ground and airborne systems is critical to continuous
support.
6.Lack of sufficient organic intelligence assets to satisfy all your intelligence requirements.
Current
asymmetric intelligence collection is the primary means to combat
insurgency successfully by gaining a thorough situational understanding
and developing first hand
combat intelligence. This tactical
environment needs our fighting troops to be trained in tactical
intelligence collection to deal with an asymmetric enemy.
When a
battalion is deployed, and usually stability and support operations are
at battalion level we usually see that the battalion itself rarely
executes its operation as a
single unit. It devolves into
sub-divisions which take up strategic areas in the overall area of
operations. Detached posts/stations are set up in these strategic areas
and
these posts /sections create and maintain unit
intelligence cells engaged in tactical intelligence collection on the
enemy. Each garrison unit engages in low level source
operations
using standard intelligence collection methods, and getting a feel of
communication routes.locational economics, topography and geography,
human terrain
intelligence and the political forces operating
in the community together with any other criminal enterprises working
hand in hand with the insurgent elements.
INTELLIGENCE PROJECTION CAPABILITY
After
an area of operations is identified inhabited by an asymmetric enemy in
a complex terrain with weak transportation and logistical
infrastructure. We need to deploy an
interim combat team
complete with HUMINT/, CI/. SIGINT assets which will act as an early
combat team, mounted infantry organization with the capability to
rapidly assess
the environment, physical terrain, community,
cultural and political and conduct an intelligence preparation of the
battlefield by assessing the enemy’s strength, capabilities,
disposition,
TOE thus enabling the striking force to project itself before
deployment. The primary intent here is to develop a situational
understanding of an unknown area
inhabited by an enemy against
the backdrop of distributed, asymmetric, nonlinear simultaneous
operations. Here the problem is to determine the OB of an enemy that
doesn’t
have a conventional standing force nor is easily identifiable. We don’t
see any typical military structure, units, rear and forward areas or
logistical networks
characteristic of conventional enemy
forces. It is a big question how to deploy ISR assets for collecting
intelligence or conducting reconnaissance or for that matter
determining the center of gravity of the enemy.
Without
sending in the interim combat team to gain a situational understanding
it is totally impracticable to deploy the striking forces. What we need
is a interim combat
force with reconnaissance, surveillance
and target nomination capabilities—all these facilitated by an organic
MI company with organic intelligence assets.
The recce platoon, in
addition to reconnaissance and surveillance should also engage in
HUMINT activities for thorough situational understanding. The situation
in
asymmetric warfare is different. Here the recce platoon can
conduct HUMINT operations. The reconnaissance platoon should be
equipped with CI capability. This heightens
its HUMNINT collection ability.
The
HUMINT teams (4 teams) are in effect Tactical HUMINT Teams each with 3
HUMINT collectors and one CI agent. Once deployed, the teams report
their information to
an operational management team (OMT),
which collates intelligence data gathered by the tactical teams. The
information is then passed on to the brigade INT section for
further analysis and integration into the brigade's collection plan.
Military Intelligence Brigade
Military
intelligence brigades coordinate, manage, and direct intelligence and
surveillance; they conduct collection management, all-source
intelligence analysis, production;
and they disseminate
information in support of national, joint, interagency, multi-national,
regional combatant command, and Army service component requirements.
Each BRIGADE: ---4-5 SUBORDINATE MI BNS.
Brigade designated combat team has striker team with HUMINT and CI capability in addition to R&S assets.
Brigade headquarters
Ops Bn,
Aerial exploitation/reconnaissance Bn
Fwd collection Bn(CI/HUMINT) ,
Fwd collection Bn (SIGINT),
Comm. Bn.
And electronics Bn,
Figure 1: Bn Level Int Platoon comprising of Company level intelligence units
PUSHING DOWN INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITY FROM BRIGADE LEVEL
OPTION A: Military Intelligence (Ml) Battalion
The
MI Bn provides a focused approach for Bde Int staff as it is a fully
contained organization with specialized companies, the CI Company, the
C&E Company and the I&E
company. All these companies
provide a better situational understanding of the Bde Commander by
providing support to HUMINT, (Tactical HUMINT teams), conducting
intelligence
preparation of the battlefield, interrogation and document/equipment
exploitation operations, support to targeting and battle damage
assessment/restrike options,
developing threat disposition
estimate. The Companies further have MI enabled platoons which on
account of being near the ground can collect and provide timely threat
intelligence
data. Each platoon may be specialized in its own way; one can be a
tactical HUMINT platoon , HUMINT platoon, one an ISR analysis platoon
all being controlled
by the Company headquarters element which also interfaces with the Company
commander
and staff and laterally with the other specialty MI companies under the
MI Bn.Fusing of intelligence data from the platoons and lateral
companies with those that
are pushed down from higher HQ on
requisition gives a far better threat assessment. Ultimately combat
intelligence, target information and otrher satisfied priority
intelligence requirements are at the hands of the Commander for necessary action.
The MI company in support provides-
Communications intercept, direction finding (DF), and ECM.
CI.
Interrogation.
Ground surveillance.
Personnel to staff the Intelligence Section, These soldiers conduct-
-Collection Management.
-All-source analysis and reporting.
-Dissemination.
-Technical control and tasking.
-Multidiscipline force protection and OPSEC support.
The TEB Unit provides
1.CI
2.interrogation of prisoners
3.ground-based SIGINT and EW support
4.and LRS support to corps operations
COMPANY LEVEL MILITARY INTELLIGENCE CELL:
Organization
The
MI cell (C& E), shown at Figure 2, is organized into a headquarters
section, an MI unit (CI), an MI unit (interrogation and exploitation),
and an MI unit (collection and
exploitation). Headquarters section provides C2, administrative services, and logistic support for units of the company.
Figure 2: Company level Military Intelligence unit
Roles and Functions
The Collection and Exploitation section provides interrogation and CI support. Functions , include:
Setting up interrogation centers and executing interrogation operations of enemy prisoners of war.
Determine
enemy multidisciplinary intelligence threat, analyse it and recommend
countermeasures, both on the passive defensive side as well as
offensive methods.
Conduct exploitation of turned enemy agents. Conduct polygraph techniques and technical operations.
Conduct DOCEX
Conduct
debriefing of high level military/political
figures,refugees,patrols,military personnel who are released by enemy
from capture or who have escaped from
captivity,detained civilians and other people who have information of interest.
Conduct Counterintelligence Force Protection Source Operations (CFSO).
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE UNIT (CI)
Mission
"The
mission of the MI Unit (CI) is to conduct CI operations and
multidiscipline counterintelligence (MDCI) threat analysis in support
of the Commanders intelligence
requirements’’.
Organization
The MI Unit (CI) will be composed of a section HQ, an Ops section, and CI platoon.
Figure 3: Counterintelligence Team
Roles and Functions
Provides C-HUMINT support
Conducts Vulnerability assessment
Supports OPSEC
Supports targeting , nominates HVT
Conducts CI investigations
Conducts Counterintelligence FP Source Operations
Conducts counterespionage,countersubversion and countersabotage operations.
Liases with other intelligence agencies
Conducts offensive operations during wartime Areas of interest:
Known or suspected acts of treason,sedition,espionage by Army personnel
Known or suspected association with elements of threat intelligence
Terrorism,assassination incidents
Defections and unexplained absence of Army personnel
People impersonating as military intelligence personnel.
MI UNIT (INTERROGATION AND EXPLOITATION I&E) Mission
"The
mission of the MI Unit (Interrogation and Exploitation) is to conduct
interrogation of enemy prisoners of war EPW,debriefing of persons
having information of intelligence
value and exploitation of captured doicuments,media and hardware.”
Organization
The MI Unit (Interrogation and Exploitation) consists of a HQ section,an Ops section,communications section and I&E platoon.
Figure 4: Interrogation and Exploitation Team
Roles and Functions
Setting up interrogation facilities during wartime
Interrogation
of EPWs.Establishment of a joint or combined interrogation facility and
conduct interrogations of EPWs. Conduct debriefings of high level
political and military
personnel, civilian internees,refugees, displaced persons, and other non- US personnel.
Conduct
debriefing of high level military/political
figures,refugees,patrols,military personnel who are released by enemy
from capture or who have escaped from
captivity,detained civilians and other people who have information of interest.
Conducts
DOCEX,and translation of captured documents.Translate and exploit
documents acquired, found, or captured in the theater AO.
Debrief US and Allied personnel having escaped after being captured or having evaded capture.
MI UNIT (COLLECTION AND EXPLOITATION C&E)
The
above two units, viz MI (CI) and MI(I&E) are combined into one UNIT
, collection and exploitation MI(C&E) and hence executes all the
functions which are inherent in the
2 units. This is a modular
unit, can hence plug as a detachment support into any Battalion/Company
which requires CI/HUMINT support but does not require a full
intelligence
battalion /Company expertise. It can also be situation may not allow
the deployment of full intelligence assets –in such a case the
MI(C&E) can be scaled and
tailored to suit the
requirements of the Battalion. This unit can pull operatives from both
the MI (CI) and MI (I&E) to create CI and I&E platoons to
conduct tactical HUMINT
(CI/HUMINT) missions with the available CI, collection, and exploitation and interrogation expertise.
Mission
"The
collection and exploitation unit collects intelligence information
through the acquisition, training, briefing and debriefing of HUMINT
assets in support of Army
requirements and provides CI support
within the area of operations, conducts interrogations of prisoners of
war and other personnel of intelligence interest; translates and
exploits selected foreign documents/ media; and exploits foreign materiel of intelligence interest."
Organization
The
MI Unit (Collection and Exploitation) consists of a section
headquarters, CI operations section, interrogation operations section,
and counterintelligence and I & E
platoons.
Figure 5: Collection and Exploitation team.
Roles and Functions
Provides C-HUMINT support
Conducts Vulnerability assessment
Supports OPSEC
Supports targeting , nominates HVT
Conducts CI investigations
Conducts Counterintelligence FP Source Operations
Conducts counterespionage,countersubversion and countersabotage operations.
Liases with other intelligence agencies
Conducts offensive operations during wartime
Areas of interest:
Known or suspected acts of treason,sedition,espionage by Army personnel
Known or suspected association with elements of threat intelligence
Terrorism,assassination incidents
Defections and unexplained absence of Army personnel
People impersonating as military intelligence personnel.
Setting up interrogation facilities during wartime
Interrogation
of EPWs.Establishment of a joint or combined interrogation facility and
conduct interrogations of EPWs. Conduct debriefings of high level
political and military
personnel, civilian internees,refugees, displaced persons, and other non- US personnel.
Conduct
debriefing of high level military/political
figures,refugees,patrols,military personnel who are released by enemy
from capture or who have escaped from
captivity,detained civilians and other people who have information of interest.
Conducts
DOCEX,and translation of captured documents.Translate and exploit
documents acquired, found, or captured in the theater AO.
Debrief US and Allied personnel having escaped after being captured or having evaded capture.
Areas of interest:
Known or suspected acts of treason,sedition,espionage by Army personnel
Known or suspected association with elements of threat intelligence
Terrorism,assassination incidents
Defections and unexplained absence of Army personnel
People impersonating as military intelligence personnel.
OPTION B
CLIC
Under
the command and supervision of the Inf Bn STAFF INT OFFICER Int officer
intelligence platoons can be created. From among the Bn soldiers
according to capability,
availability and performance should be selected.
There wil be two echelons in each platoon.
SECTION
A supports Bn HQ.The Bn Int HQ Section will be composed of one Int
officer,one intelligence specialist of the rank of JCO, and 3 enlisted
soldiers. The Int officer
can serve both as staff officer for
the Bn Command and also as Commander of the operating forces in the
Company. He is responsible for analyzing intelligence and planning
deployment
and tactical employment of ISR assets. The intelligence specialist can
be a ground recon specialist whose duties involve observe and report on
enemy activity
and other information of military importance in close operations.
(Close
operations are operations that are within the commander's area of
operation (AO) in his battle space . Most operations that are projected
in close areas are usually
against hostile forces in immediate
contact and are often the decisive actions. It requires speed and
mobility to rapidly concentrate overwhelming combat power at the
critical
time and place and exploit success. Dominated by fire support, the
combined elements of the ground and air elements conduct maneuver
warfare to enhance the
effects of their fires and their
ability to maneuver. As they maneuver to gain positions of advantage
over the enemy, combined arms forces deliver fires to disrupt the
enemy’s
ability to interfere with that maneuver.)
SECTION B is the CLIC.Colocated with the Company. (One intelligence analyst and five enlisted infantrymen.)
Each company of the Bn should select and train at least 6 personnel.
The
formation of this platoon will facilitate initial and sustainment
training by ensuring consistency throughout the battalion and
eliminating additional training requirements for
the
companies. It will also ensure standardization in processes and
reporting formats, and further promote lateral communication among the
CLICs. Armed with the BLIP the
Commander now has his own
organic intelligence unit which will provide him additional support
apart from the intelligence feeds as a result of his request for
information from
higher ups.Moreover and more important the
BLIPs of all the companies in the Bnb conduct lateral communication ,
exchanging combat intelligence and other information,
thus
keeping abreast of latest developments and enemy tactics which the
other company is confronting and the tactics, techniques and procedures
employed by the
company with an element of success. With the
passage of time the initial training given to say the enlisted soldiers
or the intelligence specialist helps in sustainment
training
,the training a byproduct of the operations the soldier is involved
with without resorting to tutored training. Soon the BLIP transforms
itself into a robust intelligence
unit of the Bn
Company Level Intelligence Cells
Coming
to the CLIC level we have an organic capability to acquire combat
intelligence directloy at the ground level. Actionable intelligence is
needed desperately by our
fighting forces but the time delay
from sensor to shooter(sensors on receipt of request for information
collect the data matching given coordinates, pass it on to the
intelligence
section for interpretation who in turn sends it to his higher up for
evaluation and dissemination to the ground unit; in case of map/imagery
obtained by aerial
surveillance the time delay is much more)
is often so much that despite accurate target nomination the operation
slips out of hand. With the CLIC at his disposal the
commander
now can obtain, analyse and act on readily available combat
intelligence without having to wait for intelligence feeds.C2,
intelligence and operations are hereby
synchronized and
integration achieved successfully. That too at the lowest level. The
CLIC is supervised by the company commander. The two sections of CLIC ,
collection
and analysis and production are looked after by the
officer in charge , usually a JCO and there will be two soldiers , one
from each section to function as intelligence watch
and are assigned to the company combat ops center.
Functions/responsibilities:
CLIC
O-I-C: Reports to Company Comander,assists the watch officer in
operations situation development (common tactical ops picture),managing
and supervising CLIC
ops,interacting with adjacent units , lower units and higher echelons and utilizing the intelligence flow.
If
required, the CLICs now have the capacity to surge intelligence trained
soldiers to support operations such as cordon and searches and raids.
After
an area of operations is identified inhabited by an asymmetric enemy in
a complex terrain with weak transportation and logistical
infrastructure. We need to deploy an
interim combat team
complete with HUMINT/, CI/. SIGINT assets which will act as an early
combat team, mounted infantry organization with the capability to
rapidly assess
the environment, physical terrain, community,
cultural and political and conduct an intelligence preparation of the
battlefield by assessing the enemy’s strength, capabilities,
disposition,
TOE thus enabling the striking force to project itself before
deployment. The primary intent here is to develop a situational
understanding of an unknown area
inhabited by an enemy against
the backdrop of distributed, asymmetric, nonlinear simultaneous
operations. Here the problem is to determine the OB of an enemy that
doesn’t
have a conventional standing force nor is easily identifiable. We don’t
see any typical military structure, units, rear and forward areas or
logistical networks
characteristic of conventional enemy
forces. It is a big question how to deploy ISR assets for collecting
intelligence or conducting reconnaissance or for that matter
determining the center of gravity of the enemy.
LRS
units provide reliable HUMINT against second echelon and follow-on
forces and deep targets. LRS units conduct stationary surveillance and
very limited
reconnaissance. They deploy deep into the enemy
area to observe and report enemy dispositions, movement and activities,
and battlefield conditions. They arc not equipped
or trained to conduct direct-action missions..
PROJECTING COMBAT POWER WITH ORGANIC ISR CAPABILITY
Reason for creation of interim team:
Without
sending in the interim combat team to gain a situational understanding
it is totally impracticable to deploy the striking forces. What we need
is a interim combat
force with reconnaissance, surveillance
and target nomination capabilities—all these facilitated by an organic
MI company with organic intelligence assets.
The recce platoon, in
addition to reconnaissance and surveillance should also engage in
HUMINT activities for thorough situational understanding. The situation
in
asymmetric warfare is different. Here the recce platoon can
conduct HUMINT operations. The reconnaissance platoon should be
equipped with CI capability. This heightens
its HUMNINT collection ability.
The
HUMINT teams (4 teams) are in effect Tactical HUMINT Teams each with 3
HUMINT collectors and one CI agent. Once deployed, the teams report
their information to
an operational management team (OMT),
which collates intelligence data gathered by the tactical teams. The
information is then passed on to the brigade INT section for
further analysis and integration into the brigade's collection plan.
C2:
The
reconnaissance platoon HQ and the HUMINT platoon HQ both should contain
one CI NCO.The reconnaissance squads each should have one CI soldier.
Thus at the
lowest tactical level organic CI capability with
the deployment of maximum possible CI soldiers is hereby achieved thus
increasing significantly the reconnaissance troops
HUMINT collection capability. We can optimally have in the recce patrol 3 six-man squads, each having a CI soldier.
HUMINT OR MI BN IDEA
INTERIM COMBAT TEAM WITH ORGANIC INT AND R&S CAPABILITY – TO PROJECT FORWARD OF AO
Operations Battalion
Collection Management Section
Production Section ASPD & OB Teams
BDA & TGT Team
CI Team
Single Source Teams.
MASINT Team
SIGINT Team
HUMINT Team
IMINT Team
Corps Military Intelligence Support Element
Intelligence Support Elements
HUMINT Collection Operations
Combating terrorism support
Rear operations support
Civil-military operations support OPSEC support
Information operations support
Civil disturbance support
Local operational data collection
Debriefing and interrogation
HUMINT threat assessment
Reconnaissance HUMINT Missions
Elicit information from the local populace.
Interrogate EPWs and Detainees.
Debrief Allies and U.S. personnel.
Document exploitation.
Threat vulnerability assessments.
Source screening operations.
Spotting/assessing for Tactical HUMINT Teams.
The
early entry force, the interim combat team along with HUMINT/CI
capability executes both an operational mission and intelligence
endeavour.It shapes the battle space
before the strike force
moves in, makes conditions disadvantageous for the enemy in the initial
stage , facilitates the arrival of the strike forces. It also conducts
a preliminary
intelligence preparation of the battlefield,
makes a human terrain study and interacts with local populace using
tactical questioning and elicitation to identify threats. In other
words
it helps in projecting the force into the new area of operations. In
the case of asymmetric warfare projecting the force should be the case,
not just deterrence. The
latter part is force protection—is
indeed very important, but if we have to uproot the enemy we need to be
proactive, offensive and resort to projecting right into the heart of
the enemy’s base.
THE INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE
Intelligence
estimate. The intelligence estimate is derived from the intelligence
preparation of the battlefield (lPB). It is based on all available
intelligence and considers
everything of operational
significance. It will help point out gaps in the intelligence database.
It is from these gaps that requirements are derived. It will provide
information on
the mission, AO, weather, terrain, enemy
situation, enemy capabilities, and conclusions. It will cover all of
the standard OB topics.
In the Army at the Division or higher HQ
level the intelligence estimate is prepared by the Intelligence Officer
and his staff...it is instrumental in devising the COAs by the
Commander.
The estimate sums up the intelligence factors affecting the mission. It
identifies the enemy’s probable COAs and the order of their adoption.
It takes into
account the Terrain and weather characteristics
which might affect both the gauged intentions of the enemy and our
mission and details the area of operations, the enemy
situation
and the capabilities of the enemy. The estimate is continually updated
so as to keep the Commander abreast of any latest developments or
changes in the intent of
the enemy. This intelligence estimate
is briefed at the Brigade/Battalion level. The intelligence estimate is
predicated by the Intent of the enemy. Or Intents. The Staff
Running
Estimates helps each staff officer recognize and interpret the
indicators of enemy intentions, objectives, combat effectiveness and
potential enemy COA‟s which
may counter the commanders end
state. Thus the aim of the commander is to study the intents and devise
appropriate course/s of actions taking into account several
factors
including order of battle, intelligence preparation of the battlefield,
behavioral indicators, table of organization and equipment, enemy
capabilities and so on.(Order of
Battle refers to the
compilation of a systematic and methodical analysis of assets,
capabilities, composition, and disposition of an adversarial
organization, whereas TO&E
refers to the organization table of units and associated equipment.)
To
prepare this very important document the intelligence officer and his
staff draw on the intelligence reports prepared earlier by the
intelligence units detailing the terrain,
weather
characteristics and enemy strengths ,capabilities and limitations and
the intelligence officer's conclusions about the total effects of the
area of operations (AO) on
friendly courses of action, the
courses of action most likely to be adopted by the enemy, and the
effects of exploitable enemy vulnerabilities. In other words we’re
conducting
a CAPABILITIES BRIEF of the ENEMY Our MISSION
is to develop an understanding of the ENEMY through the collection and
analysis of available information, and then
create an Intelligence product for dissemination.
These
intelligence feeds by the units upwards which aid finally in the
preparation of the intelligence estimate, is the result of tasking
handed down to the collectors/HUMINT
personnel by the
Collection Manager. It is here where the intelligence efforts of the
HUMINT/collector agents come into play which is governed by the
intelligence cycle.
DERIVATION FROM ABOVE ..
1.MODULAR
FORCE DESIGN : The resources and capabilities at the hands of the
Commander with respect to intelligence assets are limited , sometimes
scarce .From the
above we can introduce the concept of
‘’Modularity’’ in force design. That is to say we can create a
deployable, scalable, modular intelligence capability to plug into the
requirements
interface of any adjacent unit/company/headquarters who lack the
necessary intelligence capability or whose resources are very limited.
This modular plug-in
can be tailored to suit the needs of the
Commander of that unit. For example if HUMINT assets are more in demand
than the CI or DOCEX elements , the former can be
augmented to
the plug-in by pulling from the parent units MI Company’s
sub-components , with the Company’s capabilities not being reduced in
any way. The MI (C&E) is a
good example of a plug-in.
2.
Tactical HUMINT team formed at company level from CI and I&E
platoons of the C&E Company.( Please refer to the Appendix for
further details on Tactical HUMINT.)
Production Section
The
all source production and dissemination team (ASPD) in concert with the
Order of Battle (OB) Team, determines if intelligence requirements and
RFIs can be satisfied
with its existing information and data
base holdings. Information not available defines the collection
requirements. The collection manager then tasks collection assets
within
theater or requests support from national level assets.
These two teams determine what enemy information is available to help
identify specific indicators of enemy intent
and provide a
current, integrated picture of the battle space. During the analysis
and production portion of the intelligence cycle, the ASPD and OB teams
coordinate with
and receive information from the other
production section teams. This constant exchange of information ensures
single discipline reporting is fused into all- source products.
BDA & TGT Team
BDA
and targeting team (TGT) performs target development selection and
assessment. Based on collected all source intelligence, the team
identifies target vulnerabilities,
provides targeting data and
nominates targets in accordance with the commander's HPT lists and the
attack guidance matrix (AGM). The BDA/ TGT will also assess battle
damage based on physical damage sustained by the target and their remaining combat effectiveness
.
CI Team
The
Counterintelligence Team performs CI analysis. The team assesses the
adversary's intelligence collection capabilities and operations
directed against friendly forces,
missions, and installations.
The adversary uses many methods to collect information against friendly
forces, including HUMINT, SIGINT, and IMINT. As a result, the CI
analytical
capability includes a diverse mix of specialists who fuse information
to identify and isolate collection operations. The CI team and other
elements of the production
section exchange critical
information required to analyze the enemy. Intelligence gaps and lack
of holdings are provided to the CM section for action as appropriate.
Specific
functions of the CI team include:
o Develops and maintains CI data bases. o Monitors CI collection efforts.
o Produces IPB products to support CI operations.
oProduces analytical products, including threat assessments, estimates and summariesv