Intelligence Targeting

Keshav Mazumdar

Antiterrorism Officer & Sr VP ATAB

Anti Terrorism Accreditation Board

Providing the Commanders the Intelligence they Require

Targeting

• Targeting is the process of identifying areas of instability or networks/elements of insurgency including criminal elements supporting the insurgency.

Commanders Decisions

• The Commanders intent, guidance, priorities, vision and operational objectives should not adhere only to the often resorted to campaign plan of physical destruction

Reducing Violence

• --Reducing or limiting the use of violence as “the means to an end” prevents the regeneration of a systemic problem …the insurgents!

Targeting and the Intel Process

• Targeting begins in the early phases of intelligence preparation of the battlefield. IPB takes into account the terrain, weather and infrastructure and assesses the impact of these on the security forces as well as the enemy.

Enemy’s Intentions

• After careful examination of all the variables involved the decisive points in the area of operations as well as the larger area of influence are determined.
• This further leads to the prediction of the enemy’s COA’s and corresponding to each COA we develop our COA to counter it.
• IPB thus assists in determining the enemy’s intention, objectives, combat effectiveness and possible courses of action.

Political Environment

• Here is where it is very important to underscore the fact that assessment of these enemy attributes must be made with the analysis of the local population/communities, the insurgent movement, the political environment and the counterinsurgency line of effort in the background.

Lethal Techniques

• Solely focusing on the enemy with the intent to use kinetic/lethal techniques to annihilate him is the wrong decision.
• This will only embolden the enemy, make him more determined and give rise to the birth of more insurgents.

Pre and Post Combat Assessments

• All military planning, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, and pre and post combat assessments must be focused on the environment, not only the enemy.
• All these are cyclic, not linear.

Targeting Should be Modified as the Environment Changes

• That is to say they are executed on a continual basis with information/intelligence requirements generated during the process causing a review of the processes (like request for additional resources and capabilities) and appropriate modifications incorporated. If the enemy is the focus tactical thinking becomes limited, centers of influence located in the population, political environment, corrupt circles in the government and security forces leadership and insurgent sympathetic nodes are excluded from consideration.

Assessment and Action

• The total environment must be taken into consideration and the interaction between the populace, government bodies and individuals who are hostile? (insurgents, insurgent-0criminal nexus, insurgent-political elements nexus must be studied in detail.
• There should be total co-operation between the security forces and the Government and both must act concertedly or else there is the risk of exclusion of several nodes of influence.
• Thus a UNIFIED ASSESSMENT AND ACTION is required to combat insurgency.

Target Selection Standards

• Targeting is a process wherein the detection platforms successfully acquire the target and transmit the required information to the delivery platform to service the target.

Target Selection

• Target selection standards depend a great deal on intelligence about the enemy.
• TSS depends on the enemy activity determined by intelligence collection and the availability of attack platforms capable of accurately destroying the target. This depends on perfect intelligence input about target location.

Target Errors

• If there is error in locating the target accurately Target Location Error results. We must have intelligence about the size of the enemy, whether point or area, as the size is proportional to the attack system which will be used to destroy the target

Command Target Decisions

• Proper detection about the status of the target and its activity and timeliness of the information transmittal greatly impacts the Commanders decision to service the target with the attack platforms at his disposal.

The Targeting Process

• The overall campaign has as its objectives strategic gains.
• To enable this are required operations which shape the battle space in such a way so as to achieve the strategic objectives.
• These shaping operations are interdicted by insurgents and allies and also sympathizers from among the administration and populace.

Target Listing

• These elements are vetted properly and a Target listing compiled.
• During vetting by the Targeting Officer it is very important that the target meet set down selection criteria and after engagement the results should satisfactorily contribute to the overall objectives.
• At the end of the targeting process the Commander approves the Target list and it is sent over to the various subordinate units for execution of the approved targets.

Targets that Could Hamper Mission

• Thereafter combat assessments are conducted from the bottom echelons wherein lies the fire support system and these assessments outline the successes or failures as the case may be.
• Throughout the Targeting Officer tasking involve selection, vetting and approval of all targets that hamper the shaping operations.

Targeting Officer

• The targeting process is a very involved process. From the intelligence standpoint, the Targeting officer assumes a very critical position in the process.
• He assists in deciding what, where, when and how to detect the target in question (it can be a personality like a High Value Individual Target or it can be a network) and what, how, when and where to deliver or attack that target in question.

Physical and Behavioral Targeting

• At this juncture it is important to point out that both physical and behavioral targeting should be incorporated in the process, that is to say the targeting officer must assess the consequences of kill or capture of the target on the local populace, religious groups and the other insurgent groups (this intelligence assessment can also point out the sympathizers of the target in the community).

Emboldening Their Morale

• It should be noted here that it is a fact that resorting to outright kill at the very first emboldens the threats rather than defeating their morale or forcing them into submission.

Community Discontentment

• The offensive nature of targeting often leads to community discontentment and swift repercussions from the insurgents thus now the commander has to deal with new situations as a result of the kill operation.
• It is very important that in the event of a kill or capture the village leaders or the provincial leaders communicate to their communities the reason behind the removal of the element and justify the causes.

Kill Equation

• Targeting should not and never be a combat patrol operation with the objective to kill.
• The kill equation goes like this.
• 1 kill=10 new insurgents. The removal of one HVT may send shock waves in the brethren or the insurgent group with the former usually vowing to avenge the death even if they are not in the insurgency movement with the result 10 more join the ranks, not to mention the repercussions being planned by the insurgent group itself.

Targeting Process at Operational and Strategic Levels

• We must permanently bind behavioral and physical targeting venues under one Targeting Process at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.

Influencing Targets

• Simply put, we must place emphasis on influencing targeted areas consistently throughout; before, during and after every combat patrol which is resourced and designed as a last resort to kill or capture an HVT.