Company Level Intelligence Led Operations

[Coldstreamer]

Not wanting to be all take and no give, this is the simple Int Collection plan we're using. It appears cyclical but is not; several phases take place in parallel, but it gives a framework (with thanks to Dave Kilcullen's 28 Articles..).

Phases. The following Phases will be executed to direct intelligence gathering efforts:

Phase 1.

Confirm what we think we know.

Take over existing relationships

Assess atmospherics and consent.

Report changes.

Phase 2.

Pursue answers to unknown questions.

Identify potential targets.

Develop Target Packs.

Identify Pattern of Life.

Phase 3.

Confirm Targets.

Establish Triggers

Exploit information from operations.

Reassess (return to Phase 1 Q 1)

Patrol Taskings. The Coy IO will generate specific intelligence tasks which will be allocated to patrols by Coy HQ.

Patrol Preparation. Detailed research on all available information held prior to patrols deploying is vital to ensure the patrol is able to judge developments in their target areas. The POC for area info is the IO.

Reporting. An initial hot debrief will be conducted by the IO following each patrol’s return. Patrol reports are to be submitted within 3 hrs of conclusion of hot debrief.

Very basic indeed, but basic is good in a rifle company where complex processes get bypassed or ignored. I've tried to distill the various areas of good advice into something more manageable.

C

[Coldstreamer]

Targeting follows from collection, and merely serves to review:

Kinetic (kill or capture) targets (who? where? what evidence? what effect?)

Effects - 4 D's - Deter,Disrupt, Detain, Develop (more intel for subsequent ops - either by us or other agencies)

Non Kinetic targets (HA dropoff, CIMIC/CMA activities)

Effects - 4 Rs - Reassure (that we're there in local interests), Relieve (suffering, poverty), Regain (trust, consent, support, lost networks), Reinforce (Own FP through local sympathy/goodwill)

Harmonisation of the two (use NK activity to gather info on objectives or to conduct consequence managament after harder activities) and deconfliction to ensure mixed messages aren't being sent.

Slight risk of inventing my own doctrine on the hoof, but it seems to work for us!

[Jedburgh]

Marine Corps Times, 18 Jan 08: Corps Creates Intel Cells at Rifle-Company Level

....The C-LIC initiative, launched under the direction of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Va., will soon be battle-tested by California-based 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, on its next Iraq deployment, slated for early 2008.

Today’s irregular warfare, with its lack of a uniformed enemy, makes intelligence gathering vital for enemy identification. To adapt to the emerging threat, infantry companies often create their own versions of ad hoc intelligence cells, said Vince Goulding, director of experimentation plans at the Warfighting Laboratory. But those individual efforts have been piecemeal, because the Corps had no standard training or equipment available, he said.

The new initiative for pushing intelligence analysis know-how down to the lower echelons, however, is about to change all that. Rifle companies will now be able to assess, analyze and disseminate information that they typically had relied on battalion or regimental command to produce.....

[Tom Odom]

Got the word that Company-level Stability Ops, VOL 7, COIN is going up today (maybe tomorrow) at CALL. It contains 2 SWJ contributions: the first is an extract of the long piece we did on Kicullen's 28 articles Captains Kranc and Holzbach contributing; the second was CPT (nopw MAJ) Gwinn's Organizing for COIN at the Company and Platoon, first published on SWJ blog.

Best

Tom

[Jedburgh]

Jan-Feb 08 Fires Bulletin: Organize for Intelligence: Company Intelligence Cells in COIN

....More military intelligence Soldiers are needed to support companies within tactical battalions. Further, the need for enough “boots on the ground” to maintain effective coverage of and presence in a company AO makes it unlikely that a company commander could pull enough personnel away from line platoons to maintain a robust company intelligence cell. The solution to this dilemma lies in the company fire support team (FIST).

It is the company FIST’s versatility that makes it ideal to form the foundation of a company intelligence cell. In the COIN operations currently underway in Iraq and in addition to their traditional fire support tasks, FSOs and fire support NCOs (FSNCOs) are expected to assume responsibility at the company level for any or all of the following: targeting, air-ground integration, information operations, civil-military operations, psychological operations, employing enablers, public affairs and other functions. Effectively, company FSOs and FSNCOs in a COIN environment are fusion cells unto themselves. That being the case, it is not at all a stretch for the FSO or FSNCO to assume the intelligence role within the company.....

[Cavguy]

Had this discussion at the last SWC Leavenworth get-together.

Agree a company needs an intel cell. In a pinch, and if available, the FS Team can fill it. Unless your FSNCO is not up to the job, like mine was.

Very few companies have an FSO in OIF. They've all been changed into platoon leaders of artillerymen acting as dismounted infantry.

I'd really like to see an analyst and a HUMINT guy added into each company - the first to process info higher and lower, and the second would give the commander the ability to run sources legally.

[William F. Owen]

I'd really like to see an analyst and a HUMINT guy added into each company - the first to process info higher and lower, and the second would give the commander the ability to run sources legally.

One man cannot run a source. He can't identify, recruit, train, operate (task, monitor and debrief) and protect/recover an agent. All one guy can do is debrief someone once in a while. That means sit and chat. - what is more, a few armies cannot legally engage in agent handling operations, because of human rights legislation.

IMO Companies should focus on gathering for higher analysis and exploiting what is fed down to them. Coy level int is really a liaison task. There is no harm in having a specialist detachment at the Company level, but they are specialists, trained in Intelligence.

[George]

Got the word that Company-level Stability Ops, VOL 7, COIN is going up today (maybe tomorrow) at CALL. It contains 2 SWJ contributions: the first is an extract of the long piece we did on Kicullen's 28 articles Captains Kranc and Holzbach contributing; the second was CPT (nopw MAJ) Gwinn's Organizing for COIN at the Company and Platoon, first published on SWJ blog.

Best

Tom

It seems CALL is only available for US Military, not for civilians nor Soldiers from abroad. Is there a way to access these pages anyway?

George
Royal Netherlands Army

[Tom Odom]

It seems CALL is only available for US Military, not for civilians nor Soldiers from abroad. Is there a way to access these pages anyway?

George
Royal Netherlands Army

Through your military attache in the US. Takes some effort and time but it happens.

Tom

[Jedburgh]

The initial draft of TC 2-19.603 Company Intelligence Support Team, dated 13 Mar 09, is now available for review.

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