How I would fix the dissemination of Intel

Throughout the years, the collection of Intel has gotten more advanced and accurate,

But unfortunately, the dissemination of the information collected hasn’t gotten too much

Better. Sure the intelligence agencies have gotten better at sharing information, but

There are still major problems in getting the needed Intel to the war fighter. While most

Solutions for this problem requires a policy change, there is still things that can be done

By anyone regardless of rank. This problem has to be fixed for everything, from the

Collection of the intel, to briefing it. The subject of this essay is how I would fix these

Problems at the lowest level.

One of the things that could be done by anyone is to read the newspaper. Although

Some of the reporting is biased, there is still very valuable information contained that

could at the very least give you an idea of what is going on. Having a general

knowledge of what is going on will make it easier for the analyst to understand the

mission, and what needs to be done to accomplish it.

Another thing you could do is to learn as much about the culture, population,

geographics, ect about the area that you are assigned to. This information could prove

valuable in a number of ways, for instance, Before I left for Afghanistan I didn’t know

that it is consided and insult to shake hands with somebody using your left hand. I also

did not know that to turn down anything that an Afghani was to give you, whether it is a

cigarette or a gold plated toilet would be considered an insult. One soldier messing up

relations in any of the countries that we are currently in could mean the difference

between victory and defeat. One example of how a simple mistake could mess

up foreign relations happened a couple years ago when some idiot in Iraq decided

that he wanted to hand out bibles to the locals. In the states advertising your

religion is not a big deal, but when you do it in a country that is prominently Muslim you

have a major problem. Within a few days there was protesting in several different

locations and a large amount of people lost faith in what we were doing there.

The situation could have gotten a lot worse, but luckily for us it didn’t. Just learning

About the culture of these people could avoid these embarrassing situations as well as

Help you understand the people and why they do what they do. If you can do that it

Will help you to predict what they will do next. Not only will this save lives it will help

With the collection of this much needed information.

Learning about the Geographics of the area is important too. One historical reason for

this is during WW2. When the Germans were pushing into Russia, they didn’t do their

homework and learn about the weather of the area. Due to That blunder, They had

massive casualties and ultimately lost their campaign in Russia. While this example is

mainly something that would be on the level of policy change, there are things that can

be done on my level that could help with the collection of intel. While I was in Bagram

there were several rocket attacks. Before I arrived they were a lot worse but they

slowed down quite a bit in the weeks following my arrival. While there was still attacks

there was a pattern for when they occurred. On the cold days there was hardly anything

coming in but on days that the temp got above 50 degrees we got hit. It was obvious

that the bad guys liked the cold about as much as I did and preferred to stay indoors

during the bad weather. Also while consulting with some of the other analysts I

discovered that the bad guys go south for the winter like birds and come back up

during the summer months. This is VERY helpful information for a couple reasons.

This will help me to find the location of the bad guys and it will prevent me from taking

Away resources from a hot area and send our door kickers on a wild goose chase.

Knowing what to expect would also be very valuable when briefing your intel to you

audience because if you do not know much about the area that you are covering it

would be very difficult to put out the information you need to put out. You have to

be 100 percent confident in yourself as well as the info you are briefing or your

audience will lose interest and ultimately lose faith in your abilities to accomplish

the mission.

Abandoning the whole “hurry up and wait” concept would be very helpful when it

Comes to Intel. Too many times have I seen analysts just sitting there waiting for

Something to happen. I too have been guilty of this. Just being proactive and going out

Of your way to find something could yield results. Who knows, the intel that you don’t

Wait for could lead to the capture of a terrorist. An example of this would be with the

Attempted underwear bombing on Christmas. There was intel already collected on the

Suspect and if it was all put together I’m sure that there would have been a case on the

Guy but the information was just sat on. If there was better communication there

Probably would not have been a situation to begin with because the bad guy would

Have already been caught.

Constant communication is big when it comes to the dissemination of Intel. While

Keeping the information secret is important, making sure that is distributed to those

Who can use it is just as important (remember to follow classification guidelines, making

Sure the recipients are cleared for the information.) One way you could ensure this

information is received and understood is to in constant communication with the other

analyst working on the case. They may have information you don’t have that could

piece the whole thing together. While most of the time you will not be working across

the hallway from everyone you can still keep in contact via email. This brings up the

point of improving your written communication skills.

Learning to write better would help with the dissemination of intel. For some writing A

simple write up is a nightmare. By attending an English course or practicing your Writing

skills, you could make the transfer of information so much easier.

One way that I could personally Improve communication of intel would be for me to

learn to verbally communicate better. I have a horrible southern accent and at times is is

hard to understand what I am saying. Also with my limited vocabulary it is hard at time

for me to get a point across to some people. It is Hard enough to understand what a

person is trying to say when they are trying to put out information in a hurry, but try

mixing that with slang or a really horrible sounding accent, Not only does it get

incredibly annoying, but after a while it gets unintelligible.

You could help with the production of intel by trying always to see the big picture. At

Times it is very difficult to take your job seriously because you do not see a product.

You put together your information and send it out and don’t get a reply back. For

All you know your work could have been just tossed in a burn bag. This kind of attitude

is something that Can slow down the collection of intel and worse case scenario could

cost lives. One example of this is what I see on the watch floor here every day.

You sit around and wait for something to happen only to have it passed up to the day

Shop and never hear about it again. It begins to wear on you and eventually you feel

That your efforts do not amount to much. This kind of attitude could be fixed by going

Back to my point of constant communication or as the folks here at Buckley call it

“Fusion”. If you were to go to the different sections and explain your situation with them

And gather any information that they have on the events going on, it would help for you

To see the big picture.

Another way to help with the dissemination of intel is to keep very detailed logs of

The events of the day. Keeping those logs will help you brief anyone who needs the

Intel. An example of this I was involved with was when I was stationed at Fort Meade

working HFDF. This example involves a SAR (Search and Rescue) operation

for a downed chopper in Iraq. There was a beacon set off and my crew had

To find the target using triangulation. We were working with many other sites across the

World to find this guy. We had to use verbal as well as written skills to get his

Coordinates, and when we did we had to rely on the logs that we took to communicate

The information to the ground guys that came in and got him. Without very detailed

Logs he may not have gotten out alive. Granted this example is old news and in a

Country that are in the process of leaving, the lessons learned are still the same. We

Could have another aircraft go down in Afghanistan and to find our people we would

Have to keep logs with the fusion information we collected to get them out.

Another way to improve the dissemination of the information gathered is to actually

Talk with some door kickers to see how they operate. While TTP’s are different

Depending on where you go, some of them stay the same. While this will not provide

Info on the bad guys, at the very least you can build repore with them and start a

working Relationship with the folks we are supporting. If you can gain their confidence

and trust you will be more likely to succeed in your mission.