Stability Operations and Intelligence

[qwerty1971]

Folks,
What have been the biggest failures or problems with Stability Operations Intelligence? I am writing a paper for grad school and this issue came up in class.
Thanks.
Qwerty

[davidbfpo]

We like to know who we are arguing or indeed helping; within OPSEC and personal reservations. The introduction thread is:
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...6954#post66954

So go on introduce yourself!

davidbfpo

[Entropy]

Your question is very general, but I think the biggest failure is the failure to develop the most basic, on-the-ground intelligence on the operating environment. Intel people (and I say this because I am one of them) are great at telling you about what happened yesterday in PPT format and we excel in supporting kinetic operations, but our toolset, training and resources failed to provide the kind of critical information necessary for "stability ops" - things like demographic data (where is the neighborhood and who lives there?), cultural intelligence, etc. I'm in the Air Force and we have gotten a bit better on some of that, but it's still woefully inadequate IMO, though most of our intel resources have shifted toward ISR support. While acknowledging that my experience is limited, it seems to me the Army and Marines have done much better, though much of the "infrastructure" (training, tools, resources, networks etc.) that support intel weenies everywhere have lagged.

Fundamentally, we did not understand the societies in which we operated and that ignorance was paid for in blood. That's my perception and 2 cents, for what it's worth.

[Cavguy]

Folks,
What have been the biggest failures or problems with Stability Operations Intelligence? I am writing a paper for grad school and this issue came up in class.
Thanks.
Qwerty

Look up the "A-ha" moments in Intel paper.

Bottom line, an inordinate focus on collecting intel only on the enemy rather than the environment that hosts the enemy.