BLIP/CLIC

Under the command and supervision of the Inf Bn STAFF INT OFFICER  intelligence platoons can be created. From among the Bn soldiers according to capability, availability and performance should be selected.

There will 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 Bn 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 directly 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.