The Combat Intelligence Cycle

the radio in the corner of the talk crackles to life as one of the pilots starts hurdly declaring a sapphire surface-to-air fire somebody just got shot at as they finished giving his present location he mentioned it would be a good idea to wake up the S2 walking over and taking the handset from the RTO you figure out what happened this pilot just flew over the Recon Target you had given his team about an hour prior you the analyst had tasked his flight with getting some pictures of a particular compound high up in the torabora mountains the reason you had identified this compound for collection was due to a bad guy's cell phone pinging nearby and you could hear a lot of radio chatter from the roof of the talk you also know from experience the Taliban fighters have been collecting taxes from locals in this region and a lot of the goat paths coming from Pakistan converge near this particular compound which also is situated nicely above the village below the local Oda team has a compound a few miles away and the CIA is always getting into trouble in the area so it seemed like as good of a Target as any to go take a look at all in all not good enough to just strike this location but ce o trouble in the area so it seemed like as good of a Target as any to go take a look at all in all not good enough to just strike this location but certainly enough to send four Pilots out to take a peek and turns out they found more than they bargained for taking up an orbit off to the side of the target building so as to confuse the talibanus which building they were collecting Intelligence on they spotted 15 military age males all carrying weapons on a Hilltop right next to the Target you had identified a donkey train was inbound from Pakistan with each Beast of Burden carrying recoilless rifles RPGs 107 millimeter rockets and even a couple of dishka heavy machine guns these Pilots had struck the motherload of smuggling routes about the same time the Apache Pilots realized this all hell broke loose though there was still some daylight left in the day Tracer rounds lit up the sky in front of the lead aircraft with a handful of 12.7 millimeter disco rounds ripping into the hull of their aircraft his wingman got off a burst of 30 Mike Mike but since he was orbiting the Target and therefore shooting off the wheel he didn't have a good shot the explosive rounds landed far from the hi Mike but since he was orbiting the Target and therefore shooting off the wheel he didn't have a good shot the explosive rounds landed far from the hilltop HMG site that protected the smuggling route with one aircraft having hydraulic issues and with the instrument panel indicating trouble Brewing all they could do was break contact and Limp back to the fob with a good aircraft providing OverWatch just in case the aircraft that got hit had to make an unscheduled Landing nobody wanted a Spur ride today back at the fob with one airframe offline another team was going back out to strike these guys immediately now that they know the s2's intel was good they need to know what in the Sam Hill the first crew stumbled upon where these bad guys are headed where the HMG is located where the closest civilians are and some more Targets in the general area that would be on alert running out to the pad and handing up a piece of paper with a handful of coordinates on it to the front seater in each aircraft you explain that you'll brief them in the air as they fly to the Target they already knew the gist of what happened but they needed more information than the first crew could give them it was u ir as they fly to the Target they already knew the gist of what happened but they needed more information than the first crew could give them it was up to the S2 to prepare the next crew for what they were flying into and the Intel shop had only seconds to work with right now those Taliban fighters were also scrambling for the fight ahead and every second wasted meant another box of ammo delivered to a waiting fire team another RPG dug out of its Hiding Place with the war drawing to a close and with a peace deal on the table the shoot and Scoot tactics of the past were no longer an option for the battle scarred faces of the Taliban fighters nestled in the mountains high above nangahar the field of intelligence might be more of an art than a science but that doesn't mean there aren't guidelines intended to make the process a bit easier and reliable in the long run the intelligence cycle is the absolute basis for understanding all intelligence work in Military Intelligence schools all around the world the Intel cycle is taught on day one if you want to be an analyst or are interested in the more analytic aspects of being a prepared citizen understanding the Intel cycle is where you n e if you want to be an analyst or are interested in the more analytic aspects of being a prepared citizen understanding the Intel cycle is where you need to start so let's hop to it the intelligence cycle is a five-step process to make your life easier as an analyst and to help prevent you from forgetting something that will get someone killed so let's begin with step one which is planning and Direction first we have to know what our end goals are why are we conducting analysis in the first place this might seem fairly simple but I assure you more time is spent at this step than at any other point in the process this step is what usually causes a lot of the headaches for Intel dudes like I mentioned intelligence is really more of an art than a science but we can very Loosely think of the Intel cycle like we think of the scientific method think of step one as sword of the formation of a hypothesis or the asking of a question that needs to be answered that's one of the reasons why step one takes so long you have to get the questions just right in the field of intelligence we phrase these as questions they're not going to be a statement like hypothesis and we call them priority intell t right in the field of intelligence we phrase these as questions they're not going to be a statement like hypothesis and we call them priority intelligence requirements or pirs basically a long list of very specific questions that must be answered in military circles where we get almost all of this Doctrine pirs come from the commander or some higher authority the analyst uses this list of pirs to determine sirs or specific information requirements sirs are basically another more specific list intended to help us break down the usually very broad pirs into something that we can work with we don't like to take chances we break everything down Barney's style to its most simple form for instance a PIR might be which bridges are Over the Rhine River are intact and still usable by the enemy seems fairly specific but we can get even more specific with sirs which might be what is the battle damage assessment of bridges one two and three what bridges are currently being used by the enemy what repairs have been conducted on Bridges one two and three and what does the engineers take on the structural rating of bridges one two and three all of these questions are even more specific and can r d three and what does the engineers take on the structural rating of bridges one two and three all of these questions are even more specific and can really help out during reconnaissance or other Intel collection later in short pirs are the questions your boss gives you and sirs are your way of breaking down those requests into easily digestible questions that can be answered by people that aren't necessarily intelligence Personnel pirs are for the Intel folks and sirs are a way of Translating that Intel speak into something that an average person can understand this gets really crazy in the real world and there's a lot of debate as to what actually constitutes a PIR versus an sir and things like that but for now just think of planning and direct section as the first step that gets us set up for collection which is next that's right step two is collection and it actually takes place very early on in the intelligence process that is because we can't really proceed with our full-blown analysis until we collect some information in step one we formulated our questions that need to be answered and now we collect raw data in order to move on to the next steps of answering those questions ne we formulated our questions that need to be answered and now we collect raw data in order to move on to the next steps of answering those questions if done correctly intelligence collection should be quick and painless but in the real world it is rarely so easy in this step we must take care to match the right sensor to the question being asked if we don't do this we'll get information that does not help us answer our questions we must have really good pirs and preferably good sirs as well or else we're going to miss a lot of important information bottom line is for the collection phase we are collecting raw information that we need to process into intelligence which is the next step step three is processing once we have collected our raw information we need to organize it a lot of the times you're going to get a handful of SD cards or CDs full of pictures you might also even have a stack of intelligence debrief forms or have to conduct an intelligence debriefing yourself at this stage we have to organize all of the pictures Signet data after action reports salute reports and everything else we have how you might want to do this varies quite widely and is usually personal prefer data after action reports salute reports and everything else we have how you might want to do this varies quite widely and is usually personal preference guided somewhat based on your mission there are many different ways of organizing your data and some ways are better than others depending on what information you have the most common basic ways are are sorting chronologies matrices weighted ranking link analysis charts and event trees these examples are structured analytical techniques that are straight out of the manuals in the interest of time we'll have to talk about structured analytical techniques another day this stuff gets really complicated and every analyst has their own way of doing things there's very little standardization as to what method you might want to choose and we can get into the strengths and weaknesses of these different methods another day for now let's keep things super simple and say that in step 3 we process and organize a lot of raw data a lot of raw information by organizing this data we start to turn information into intelligence which will make it easier to start detecting patterns which is step four step four is analysis and production now that we nformation into intelligence which will make it easier to start detecting patterns which is step four step four is analysis and production now that we have identified what our goals are we've collected our raw information and we have organized that raw information we can begin to sink our teeth into the analysis bit and really start making sense of things in this up we do a whole lot of writing this is where we write our intelligence reports on a variety of topics if necessary this step is where a lot of different processes come together and the party really gets started if you are wondering when ipb or intelligence preparation of the battle space might turn up this is where a good chunk of that work gets done the targeting cycle also Pops in at this phase if necessary and Military deception or Mill deck also swoops in to make an appearance too operations and planning usually sticks their head in the door at this phase as well to get a beat on how they might be affected by the Intel assessment of an area bottom line is that the majority of analytical work it gets done at this phase and the analysis should be in line with what the operation is going to support up next is step 5 diss ty of analytical work it gets done at this phase and the analysis should be in line with what the operation is going to support up next is step 5 dissemination finally we arrive at the sort of final step dissemination which is just a big word for sharing your analysis with everyone or at least the people that need to know right obviously intelligence is a trade where secrecy is Paramount to Mission success so so we must be careful to send our intelligence products to only those who need to know that information in any case once we've sent out or briefed our analysis we're done sort of like every other process in the Intel world the Intel cycle is just that a cycle this is a continuous process that should constantly be going on throughout an operation as such the analyst frequently finds themselves at the dissemination phase multiple times per day briefing Personnel or sending reports out after the Intel cycle spins around constantly throughout the day plans change new raw information comes in and the analyst is constantly kept busy with processing and analyzing their own stuff while operations staff keeps CS2 shop decently irritated by constantly shifting their planning processes w th processing and analyzing their own stuff while operations staff keeps CS2 shop decently irritated by constantly shifting their planning processes which is not unexpected or wrong it just means that even at the final stage the analyst is constantly playing catch-up to everyone else as an operation goes on so that's the Intel cycle the five-step process that is in all of the textbooks and warfare Publications if you wanted a textbook definition of how things work there you go but my phrasing things that way we can detect the hammer about to drop which is that this process rarely works out to be this clean and efficient in real life I stated at the beginning that in military circles the intelligence cycle is the very first thing that is taught in intelligence training schools and that is true however the Intel cycle rarely leaves the Schoolhouse as it currently stands nice and neat in the pages of warfare manuals so let's not dwell too long on the five-step Intel cycle that's taught in most textbooks and let's jump right to what is most likely to be helpful to a prepared citizenry which is the combat intelligence cycle the combat intelligence cycle is sort of a parallel process tha st likely to be helpful to a prepared citizenry which is the combat intelligence cycle the combat intelligence cycle is sort of a parallel process that cuts out a lot of the bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo and leaves us with the meat and potatoes of how intelligence should be conducted at the lowest level in combat conditions as a result the combat Intel cycle is much more useful to the average citizen operating in today's world so let's take a look at this simplified process the first step is to develop or re-evaluate sirs in plain English think about what you know and what you need to find out in this step we shift a lot of the work that is usually done later up front because we are assuming that a person is already in a combat zone and they're for adapting to it unlike the traditional Intel cycle we're not stuck in a laboratory or a vacuum we might be thrust into a combat situation and dealing with a jumble of information right to start with start with what you know this is where ipb would be helpful having ipb products available is Handy to understand what's going on where the enemy are likely to be and so on start developing targets early if you know where the enemy are at you're gol to understand what's going on where the enemy are likely to be and so on start developing targets early if you know where the enemy are at you're golden from a more civilian perspective you might develop targets for collection instead of outright lethal targeting that's fine too because it helps you start prioritizing collection early you are likely to have a fire hose of information pointed your way so do what you can to use it to your advantage you might not have time to work scientifically through a process each time somebody walks up to you with a salute report or hits you up on the radio with some information this is why it's absolutely crucial to stay organized even if that organization comes at the expense of slowing down the process or not taking in all the information you have things tend to get out of hand very quickly and soon you'll be swamped with information that you probably don't need and that can complicate things later what good is that juicy report if it's at the bottom of the pile on your desk staying organized is very very important as we can see at this point we're really working on multiple levels of the traditional Intel cycle so we must always keep the nex very very important as we can see at this point we're really working on multiple levels of the traditional Intel cycle so we must always keep the next steps in mind step two of the combat Intel cycle is to pre-brief the sensor whether you're using drones cameras long range Optics electronic surveillance tools or anything else at some point there's going to be a human controlling these sensors therefore you must take the time to brief your human sensors whatever your reconnaissance element looks like the number one thing to keep in mind is to be specific this is why we create sirs because a pilot or a turret Gunner or anybody else is not going to care about a PIR it was written by some general nobody cares the traditional Intel cycle is really based around inductive reasoning start with a wide net collecting any and all information that is available and assuming that anything could happen and then from that information that you collect start narrowing down your conclusions to figure out what course of action is most likely this is obviously the goal but it doesn't work out like that in the real world if you tell a Recon element to go out and record everything they see they're going iously the goal but it doesn't work out like that in the real world if you tell a Recon element to go out and record everything they see they're going to know you're full of it and you have no idea what you're doing so you have to use your Noggin and give them something more why are you sending out a Recon element in the first place there has to be a reason that they are going to a specific place unless it's just a general area Recon to get guys familiar with the terrain if the mission is a dedicated recon mission to look for something to help out the S2 up then form your sirs using common sense at this point you really have to understand the culture of combat arms jobs it sounds a bit insulting to break it down like this but it really does help everyone in the end tell your guys to be on the lookout for specific things in terms so simple a child could understand the mission how many vehicles are parked inside this compound at this grid how many tanks crossed this bridge today did you see any radio antennas on this specific building Mark all of the caves and tunnels you find on this map stuff like that also be realistic with your request don't give your recon team something to look ark all of the caves and tunnels you find on this map stuff like that also be realistic with your request don't give your recon team something to look for that is utterly ridiculous a commonly repeated anecdote in the Intel world is the story of the analyst who was laughed at by his Recon element when he asks them to be on the lookout for a white car with orange side panels in Baghdad not knowing that this description fit every single taxi cab in the city give your reconnaissance teams the best best chance for success by simplifying the requests you give them but if you can also don't leave out the Tactical significance for instance you might send out a dismounted patrol to go sit on a Hilltop and look for an aircraft that has a weird bulge on the top well that team might be perfectly fine with doing that but if you tell them that this kind of aircraft is the one that was flying over their city and spying on them last week they might be a bit more inclined to pay attention obviously in more literal combat missions your recon team should not know all of the details of an operation in case they get captured but in certain scenarios like this one adding a bit of context can make or br ld not know all of the details of an operation in case they get captured but in certain scenarios like this one adding a bit of context can make or break a recon mission even in the military where orders are to be followed to the letter humans still naturally need a reason to be motivated to do something much more justification is needed in the civilian sector where the risk is much higher if you ask someone to get information for you you at least owe them a bit of the reasoning behind it far too often in the military and prepare third citizen circles the art of reconnaissance gets really old really quickly once you've gone on so many missions looking for the same old stuff for some unknown or sketchy reason the risk you are taking by going out on a recon mission starts to not be worth it or at least that's what the team thinks sometimes you aren't going to know where to start and you might be forced to send out your guys with little guidance or Direction but that's obviously a last resort reconnaissance should always have intent and it's the S2 Shop's responsibility to provide that intent up next is step 3 which is sensor collection now it's time to send out the Recon team on thei it's the S2 Shop's responsibility to provide that intent up next is step 3 which is sensor collection now it's time to send out the Recon team on their patrol or if using aerial sensors it's time to put that collection plan into action if you did your job right the analysts shouldn't have anything to do at this point except a whole lot of hurry up and waiting for the Recon team to get back however since things rarely work out that way it might be a good idea to stay by the radio just in case somebody needs something or has a question who knows maybe you were a little too spot on with your analytical work and your team stumbles upon a really big Target and don't know what to do with it anything can happen during a mission so keeping alert to any changes that might occur is a good idea as the mission goes on otherwise this is the step where we must prepare the debriefing space this is a step that otherwise gets forgotten In the Heat of the Moment but is no less important this sort of goes back to some of the little administrative details that we discussed in our video on talks but the analysts must keep their workplace professional intelligence again may be an art it may be a science s that we discussed in our video on talks but the analysts must keep their workplace professional intelligence again may be an art it may be a science but it is most certainly an art of relationships treat your people right and they will treat you right there's nothing worse than operations staff that have disdain for intelligence staff and if operators are going out to do your bidding so to speak you might find that an olive branch works wonders if you know the Recon team will be back soon put a pot of coffee on not the garbage they have at the dfac but some good stuff of course you don't want to create a culture of servitude but sometimes the analyst needs information and a tired and mentally checked out team isn't going to be the best to debrief so don't make a big deal out of it and take care to not let these habits get out of control but some bit of placating is going to be necessary at times to ensure you get the information you need keep a tidy workplace so that people that come in to debrief have plenty of space to move around remember this combat Intel cycle is built around the analyst working in a temporary or makeshift workplace in a combat zone if you are expecting to d remember this combat Intel cycle is built around the analyst working in a temporary or makeshift workplace in a combat zone if you are expecting to debrief Personnel make sure there are enough chairs for everyone you will be interviewing make sure you have SD card readers cables for devices or any number of other things you might need on hand ready to go it also pays to have a map handy as well so the Personnel can more easily reference events and information that they might have gathered in any case you better have this stuff ready ahead of time you do not want to be the nerd monkeying around with a TV screen and an SD card reader when your office is full of sweaty Jews who just lost a team member to get you this information remember this is some pretty serious stuff even though it may not seem like it at times from behind a desk finally step four consolidate data from the sensor at last the debriefing your reconnaissance element has returned and has to debrief all of the information they collected the debrief itself is fairly simple you can generate forms to help guide the conversation but by and large your job is just to listen humans naturally like to tell stories so let your e you can generate forms to help guide the conversation but by and large your job is just to listen humans naturally like to tell stories so let your team tell theirs ask questions when necessary and guide the conversation if it gets off topic follow a linear timeline starting at the beginning of the mission and ending when the mission is complete you may or may not have time for a very thorough debriefing and in some situations you may not have to debrief at all this debrief can vary widely but remember that you the analysts are in charge this is going to be very difficult to enforce in a military environment but you really do need to press the idea that everyone should participate having one dude from a squad come by and drop off a salute report isn't going to cut it especially if the mission was a long one again this is going to be like pulling teeth and you don't want to be the guy that runs and tattles to the Ops officer for him to get his people in the S2 shop for a debrief nobody wants that at some point if the team has enough experience or if they have someone experienced enough on that team they will usually recognize that if they don't debrief properly all the time they j experience or if they have someone experienced enough on that team they will usually recognize that if they don't debrief properly all the time they just spent all that risk conducting a reconnaissance mission that's going to be of waste so there's certainly some give and take there even though a lot of times it is the S2 shop trying to make this shaky marriage work our other half the operations staff will absolutely meet us halfway most of the time to get the mission done and if both sides of the aisle both Ops and Intel are professional and good at their jobs what sometimes starts out as a staunch rivalry will in the end turn out to be an unbreakable Bond and the debriefing space is is often where these relationships are forged in any case keep the debrief as casual as you can if you are in a military organization establish a no rank policy during debriefs if you can unit order and discipline will not collapse because you let the guys talk freely in a casual atmosphere for 20 minutes it is your job to get information not protect the egos of leadership don't let anyone speak for anyone else especially the younger lesser experienced Personnel frequently lesser experienced Personnel egos of leadership don't let anyone speak for anyone else especially the younger lesser experienced Personnel frequently lesser experienced Personnel will not speak up in front of their more experienced friends in order to avoid embarrassment but most of the time it's the younger or more inexperienced Personnel who notice something different fresh eyes and all that right on the prepared citizen side of things you might have to coach and talk through some things if your recon element is not as experienced in that case you will have to help a person make sense of what they saw but be careful to not put words in their mouth remember there is an entire field of study dedicated to studying witness testimony so if you debrief someone who might not be as tactically minded you might want to make sure you are getting the right information remember a huge chunk of U.S military Doctrine was very strongly influenced or outright developed because of the global war on terrorism counterinsurgency is not the only style of warfare so you may find that you need to shape your debriefs to fit the situation and sometimes you're just going to have to trust the team leader when they say they didn't see t you need to shape your debriefs to fit the situation and sometimes you're just going to have to trust the team leader when they say they didn't see or find anything of value sometimes this is a cop-out to avoid debriefing but as the relationship between a team and their S2 shop develops trust becomes a key part of the whole process delving more into the military culture a little bit the military analysts might find themselves stuck in a bad command climate where everyone hates their job and each other this absolutely can and does happen in the prepared Citizen Community as well in situations like that you may have to go out and find people to debrief because they're just not interested in participating as a team I personally have had to walk across many compounds many times to find people and debrief them at their bunk with a notepad in my hand it really sucks sometimes when you're working 16 hour days trying to keep your unit alive and a ground Patrol goes out for an hour but makes you track them down all over the fob to come get some information that may well save the lives of the next Patrol it's pretty frustrating you may have people that don't want to debrief or just don't l ome information that may well save the lives of the next Patrol it's pretty frustrating you may have people that don't want to debrief or just don't like you personally because they have a certain Prejudice towards people who work in the talk any number of negative things can happen and sour the relationship between Ops and Intel but that comes with the job proving that Recon missions are not a waste of time is challenging especially since ninety percent of the time you will find nothing of value it's very disheartening to have a young soldier who doesn't know any better come up to you thinking they just found bin Laden's compound because they saw a TV dish on a rooftop and they remembered that the S2 said to look out for satcom equipment it takes a lot of tact and special care to talk the lad down and explain that you appreciate his hard work and attention to detail but he didn't really find anything of value many times an analyst might not have the heart to tell someone that last part but on the off chance that your debriefing goes well and someone did find something interesting it is absolutely crucial to stress this importance during unit briefings for military organizations if well and someone did find something interesting it is absolutely crucial to stress this importance during unit briefings for military organizations if you have the whole unit together for a daily briefing or something print out and show what they found I give handouts for the for the audience or put things up on the big screen absolutely make sure to give credit instead of saying we discovered this or that say first Squad second platoon Bravo Company found this if working with the Air Force or Army Aviation use their call signs and put their unit flash up on the Intel product that you create for citizen-based groups that use a similar organization or hierarchy you can do the same make it absolutely clear that without these sharp eyes of blank person or blank unit we would not have found this and after a bit of digging the S2 shop has now used that information to put together a local network of bad guys for us to go after action result and credit all around demonstrates that the mission matters in the most direct way possible let me tell you nothing will put a grin on a soldier's face quite like seeing the picture they took up on a screen in front of the whole unit with the S2 shop ll you nothing will put a grin on a soldier's face quite like seeing the picture they took up on a screen in front of the whole unit with the S2 shop explaining how that mattered on the rare occasion that this can be done it is so worth it even if you have to exaggerate how much something helped a tiny bit it may be a bit patronizing for the older more experienced guys who know what you're doing but it keeps the younger guys interested focused and motivated to keep carrying out missions and perhaps most importantly it keeps them motivated to provide high quality debriefings when they come back from a mission you cannot summon intelligence into the air you have to have something to work from and and if you're stuck behind a desk nobody will let you go out and get the intelligence yourself you have to rely on somebody else and giving credit where credit is due helps grease these wheels and make everything work a lot more smoothly another consideration specific to a more domestic U.S population is children as tragic as it sounds you may have to debrief children who might be the only Witnesses left alive after a very traumatic event obviously we do not want to make things worse so if a have to debrief children who might be the only Witnesses left alive after a very traumatic event obviously we do not want to make things worse so if at all possible we should not debrief sensitive demographics and instead leave them in the care of medical personnel who are much much better suited to help them but sometimes to save more lives we need to know what happened quickly in that case extreme care must be taken you aren't exactly going to be conducting a military style debriefing in that situation it's one thing to debrief a soldier about the Ambush they walked into but it's another thing entirely to ask a young child what the bad people's uniforms looked like as horrific as this thought is being prepared for this is the unfortunate reality of being a citizen in Many Nations around the world today all in all once the debriefing is complete you can take that information and feed that back into the very first step of developing sirs and running through this process all over again so that's it the combat Intel cycle it's pretty short isn't it the end of the cycle seems quite abrupt you know what about processing analysis and production and dissemination aren't those steps impor ort isn't it the end of the cycle seems quite abrupt you know what about processing analysis and production and dissemination aren't those steps important too oh yes they certainly are but the careful Observer will note that all of these steps are being conducted at all times during the cycle there isn't one moment where we sit down and say all right I have all the information I need now to make some intelligence it doesn't work like that in the real world in the combat Intel cycle we focus on collections quite a lot because most of the time we are you guessed it in combat our job is to remove targets from the battle space and prevent the enemy from doing the same to us we don't need to sit down and think about strategic goals so much and are dugout on the fob use what you know to find out what you don't know and figure out how to get the information that you don't know send a team out to get that information bring it back work on it for a bit and then move on to the next Target if it sounds kind of confusing and jumbled to describe things that way it's because that's the way the real world Works no one in any intelligence organization will ever come up to somebody and ask them hey hings that way it's because that's the way the real world Works no one in any intelligence organization will ever come up to somebody and ask them hey what step of the Intel cycle are you on right now nobody's gonna ever ask you that it's never going to be done because it's just assumed by everyone from the lowest levels all the way up to the very top that this process is ongoing multiple times per day and you don't necessarily explicitly have to sit down and work through each specific step it's all kind of done at the same time the processing phase well that step is being done in the analyst head as he or she listens to the debrief the analysis and production phase well that's pretty much done at All Phases of the cycle but it's also done when the analyst takes notes on during a debriefing same thing with planning and direction if you hear something during a debrief that makes you go hmm you can start thinking about planning again and figuring out okay maybe we need to schedule some more collection for this area so so that we can figure out what's going on over there so as we can see it all gets rolled into one big thing you're not going to be doing this in order so much other tha ure out what's going on over there so as we can see it all gets rolled into one big thing you're not going to be doing this in order so much other than turning pirs into sirs which is more of a formal military thing when it comes down to the to the combat Intel cycle and the truth on the ground we're just not going to have time for that stuff we're going to work with what we know what we don't know and what we need to find out dissemination usually occurs anytime during this whole process really whenever it's needed sometimes it's not even sending out an email sometimes it's just sticking your head in the operations room and reading off a GPS coordinate to the S3 and explaining what it is sometimes that's all it means you know going over to the plans guys and saying hey I've got five targets for you guys to go uh to go hit here's the Intel behind it supporting the bad guys being at this location see what you can do with it if you need more let me know as we can see this whole thing happens really fast sometimes you don't have much sometimes all you have is a grid coordinate and the reason you got that grid coordinate is probably pretty trivial at first who knows maybe it was writte etimes all you have is a grid coordinate and the reason you got that grid coordinate is probably pretty trivial at first who knows maybe it was written in somebody else's report or maybe it's just common sense a lot of times you're not going to have very much to go off of and that is very very dangerous if you don't really have the experience to recognize when the manuals don't help you very much since the dawn of warfare but really coming into play out of sheer desperation during World War One experienced soldiers have tried to teach younger inexperienced troops in the ways of War Warfare is not really what the manual say it is and the first war which really acknowledged that was the war to end all wars senior non-commissioned officers took it as their responsibility to keep their soldiers alive in the trenches and in doing so ushered in a new era of military education on-the-job training that wasn't in the manual and you didn't learn at boot camp over the years the exact same thing has happened time and time again Korea Vietnam Afghanistan Iraq Syria all of these conflicts share the same story experienced troops trying to keep their soldiers alive and in doing so teaching them th anistan Iraq Syria all of these conflicts share the same story experienced troops trying to keep their soldiers alive and in doing so teaching them things that are not in the manual this is difficult enough as is but within the field of intelligence the same idea applies there is no way to teach critical thinking skills and the manuals are so broadly written that most of the time they're not helpful when you're getting shot at but therein lies the analysts curse it's not often the analyst that's getting shot at it's not a pleasant feeling to know that your friends are going to get shot at because of what you think while you are safe behind a desk so we're kind of in a pickle aren't we the manuals cannot possibly reflect what Warfare is really like and reference Publications can't tell us what to do in our specific situations and unlike combat arms the S2 shop can only watch the Drone feeds and listen to the radio as people die because of their mistake when the shooting starts there's not much the Intel shop can do at that point so the challenge then becomes that of all other combat enablers living with the mistake that put people in danger while you yourself were safe behind the wi challenge then becomes that of all other combat enablers living with the mistake that put people in danger while you yourself were safe behind the wire there's no changing this situation sometimes bad things happen and sometimes those bad things are the analysts fault we have to accept this because it's going to happen no matter what however at the minimum we can learn from our mistakes we can re-examine what we are doing and learn what analytical mistakes we made hopefully preventing them next time no Warfare manual reference publication or YouTube video can drive this point home the way that combat does but hopefully we can get as close as possible experienced warfighters can share tips and tricks they have learned in hopes of saving one of their soldiers lives Warfare manuals can provide General experience gained over generations of War Memoirs and history books can help clear things up provide a back story and help bring a lot of different topics together for a better understanding of the situation at hand all we can do is hope that these meager efforts can help keep a Tommy from peeking over the trench parapet or keep Joe from picking up that AK in the jungle today as technol hat these meager efforts can help keep a Tommy from peeking over the trench parapet or keep Joe from picking up that AK in the jungle today as technology and in politics Drive Warfare we find out how little Warfare itself actually changes fifth generation Warfare may be the new hotness around town but deep down we all know that sometimes these new tactics are just a new means to the same end and as we move forward into this Brave New World the average citizen is going to naturally start taking interest in things they previously didn't have to think about such as Logistics medicine Communications and intelligence analysis though very few of us will have to guide Apache Pilots to Targets in the torobora mountains understanding how all of this works can help us out in the mountains here at home from Disaster Response to Simply surviving attacks by malign actors here at home understanding some of the more basic functions of intelligence analysis is beneficial for everyone especially since average Americans might have to live and fight in the shade