The Intelligence Process

Scope

Introduction
Information Vs Intelligence
Types of Intelligence
The Intelligence Cycle
Intelligence Led Operations
The Role of Intelligence in Operations
Description of the Intelligence function Product Provided to an Operational Commander

Information. Information is data that has been collected but has not been analysed to provide meaning with respect to implications for the operation.
Intelligence. Intelligence is the product resulting from the processing of information concerning individual and group beliefs, terrain, customs and norms; foreign governments; hostile or potentially hostile forces or elements; and operational environments specific to areas of actual or potential operations.
Therefore:
Intelligence is the result of a process involving the collection, evaluation, analysis, integration and interpretation of disparate pieces of information. This process usually involves the utilisation of earlier information and intelligence, to clarify a situation and to produce meaningful conclusions, assessments and predictions in response to the commander’s intelligence needs. Intelligence also includes factual data derived by processing information.

Intel and Ops feed back on one another.
Effective Intel drives effective Ops, which produce more Intel.
Similarly, ineffective or inaccurate Intel produces ineffective Ops, which reduce the availability of Intel.
Therefore Operations and Intelligence staff need to be inseparable!

Prior to an Operation or the Commencement of Planning
IPB (Intelligence Preparation of the Battle Space)
IPB is a systematic, continuous process of analysing the threat and environment in a specific
geographic area. It is designed to support staff estimates and military decision making.
Applying the IPB process helps the commander selectively apply and maximize his combat
power at critical points in time and space on the battlefield by:
Determining the threat’s likely COA.
Describing the environment your organisation is operating within and the effects of the environment on your organisation.

(The hand over between current and future ops is dependant on the size of the formation. But generally exists at the 72 hour mark.)

Force protection: All measures and means to minimise the vulnerability of personnel, facilities, equipment and operations to any threat and in all situations, to preserve freedom of action and the operational effectiveness of the force. (In doctrine, Force Protection is rated as more important than achieving the Mission!)

UAV’s in themselves are not a new concept and have been around for decades. With the advent of certain technologies, however, particularly digital technologies the role and capabilities of UAV’s have increased significantly.
UAV provide high-resolution go-referenced imagery and information, generally for the purposes of situational awareness or threat early warning.
The UAV plays a key role in the Intelligence cycle;

it contributes to baseline intelligence products on a target or area;
it can corroborate, confirm or deny other intelligence sources;
it may be dynamically tasked to fill information gaps in the collection plan and
it provides near real-time support to targeting and current intelligence problems.

The use of live satellite imagery has been made very popular through its portrayal in Hollywood movies.
sometimes closer to truth than fiction, what is widely inaccurate about them is the ease at which organisations are able to receive these feeds.
Whilst it is not impossible to achieve live satellite feeds during an incident, it is rarer than it is reality. For emergency services, it is probably an unrealistic expectation.
Live satellite feeds bring with it a number of problems, and importantly for fire agencies there are four key factors to take into consideration:

In reality for the many benefits a live satellite feed may provide, there are many ways to achieve the same end-state for a lot less cost, and a lots less effort and political angst. In short the emergency service agencies have to ask: “is the juice worth the squeeze?”

Threat Warning is based of internal information which can be well behind the fight.
An IMT does not have the equivalent of an intelligence cell.
This combined with the fact that the different cells within an IMT at times can all be functioning off different interpretations of what the current situation actually is.
There does not seem to be one point where all of the information that can come into an IMT from multiple sources is fused to form a coherent picture to inform the decision makers.
Additional capabilities and technology will quickly overload already straining processes.
Future Ops Vs Current Ops!

Dealing with a rapidly changing scenario, in a high threat environment is a very difficult thing to do.
The military have spent decades of trial and error developing this capability, which cannot be gained in a single fire season.
The wheel does not need to be re-invented, it just needs to be looked at and adapted to emergency service requirements.
Particularly with the modern media age, where the pace of technology can far out strip the humans operating it, the way to deal with information in major events like level three incidents, is to have a proven process.
Use technology to assist (not drive) your decision making process.
Train your staff regularly to breaking point to constantly improve your team!