Today's Article
An Army report
clearly explains why
our right to know
what's being done in
our name is such a
necessity.
clearly explains why
our right to know
what's being done in
our name is such a
necessity.
The American Spark
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Importance Of Open Source Intelligence
By Cliff Montgomery - May 11th, 2007
The American citizen's right to know what is being done in their name is not only necessary for liberty, but for
security as well.
We quote from this December 2006 Army report below:
"American military professionals have collected, translated, and studied articles, books, and periodicals to gain
knowledge and understanding of foreign lands and armies for over 200 years. The value of publicly available
information as a source of intelligence has, however, often been overlooked in Army intelligence operations.
"Though always available, the exponential growth in computer technology and the Internet over the past two
decades has placed more public information and processing power at the finger tips of soldiers than at any
time in our past. A body of knowledge on culture, economics, geography, military affairs, and politics that was
once the domain of grey-beard scholars now rest in the hands of high school graduates.
"For intelligence personnel, this combination of technology and information enables them to access a large
body of information that they need to answer their unit’s intelligence requirements. As the following quote
illustrates, our reliance on classified databases and external support has, however, often left our soldiers
uninformed and ill-prepared to capitalize on the huge reservoir of unclassified information available from open
sources.
"'I am deploying to El Salvador in a few months, and will be serving as the S2 Noncommissioned Officer in
Charge for the task force there. I need to put together some information for the Task Force Commander on the
country and the situation there. Although I have served in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM I, I have no idea how to
go about this, for when we deployed to Iraq the country brief was pretty much handed to us.'
––Sergeant, S2 Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, Engineer Group
"From El Salvador to Iraq, the US Army operates in diverse operational environments around the World. These
diverse operational environments mean the development and use of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) is not a
luxury but a necessity.
Open sources possess much of the information that we need to understand the physical and human factors of
the operational environments in which we conduct or may conduct military operations. In truth, much of our
understanding of these environments, our World, is based on publicly available information that we learned
from educators, journalists, news anchors, and scholars.
"The US Army Intelligence and Security Command’s (INSCOM) Asian Studies Detachment demonstrates the
characteristics and the power of sustained OSINT operations. Since 1947, the Detachment has collected,
processed, and analyzed publicly available information on capabilities, disposition, and readiness of military
forces of China, North Korea, and other potential adversaries. It has also reported on the economic,
environmental, political, and social conditions within the region.
"In recent years, the Asian Studies Detachment has reported on elevated tensions between China and Taiwan
during the Taiwan presidential elections in 2004; security threats to US, allied forces conducting humanitarian
relief operations in Indonesia following the December 2004 tsunami devastation; and strategy and tactics
employed during the August 2005 Sino-Russian combined counterterrorism Exercise PEACE MISSION 2005.
"As testimony to the high value of OSINT analysis and reporting, Asian Studies Detachment’s intelligence
information reports since 2003 have received 28 "Major Significance" evaluations from the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), and the US Air Force's National Air
and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) on topics ranging from North Korean underground facilities to Chinese
Peoples Liberation Army Air Force air and space science and technology (S&T) developments.
"At the tactical level, some units are task organizing their assets into OSINT organizations. The following is an
example from the 3d Infantry Division’s deployment to Iraq in 2005. It illustrates how intelligence personnel
adapt to and succeed at new missions. In the example, the company commander task organized his common
ground station (CGS) team into an OSINT team.
"'With their four to five interpreters (two of which are American citizens) and a steady flow of radio, television
and newspaper reports, the open source intelligence team produced a daily rollup with analysis. Their office
consisted of one television with local and international cable, one laptop connected to the non-secure Internet
protocol router network, an amplitude and frequency modulated radio and the daily newspapers, usually ten to
fifteen papers per day.
'Also, the team acquired a video camera recorder and digital video device player to study confiscated
propaganda and other media. They understand the importance of local reporting to the success of the brigade
combat team campaign and have made it a point to conduct thorough research on topics of local importance.
Their product was studied and further analyzed by the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance analysis
team at the brigade combat team tactical operations center prior to submission to the brigade combat team
S2 and dissemination to battalions or division.'
–– Captain, MI Company Commander, Brigade Combat Team"
By Cliff Montgomery - May 11th, 2007
The American citizen's right to know what is being done in their name is not only necessary for liberty, but for
security as well.
We quote from this December 2006 Army report below:
"American military professionals have collected, translated, and studied articles, books, and periodicals to gain
knowledge and understanding of foreign lands and armies for over 200 years. The value of publicly available
information as a source of intelligence has, however, often been overlooked in Army intelligence operations.
"Though always available, the exponential growth in computer technology and the Internet over the past two
decades has placed more public information and processing power at the finger tips of soldiers than at any
time in our past. A body of knowledge on culture, economics, geography, military affairs, and politics that was
once the domain of grey-beard scholars now rest in the hands of high school graduates.
"For intelligence personnel, this combination of technology and information enables them to access a large
body of information that they need to answer their unit’s intelligence requirements. As the following quote
illustrates, our reliance on classified databases and external support has, however, often left our soldiers
uninformed and ill-prepared to capitalize on the huge reservoir of unclassified information available from open
sources.
"'I am deploying to El Salvador in a few months, and will be serving as the S2 Noncommissioned Officer in
Charge for the task force there. I need to put together some information for the Task Force Commander on the
country and the situation there. Although I have served in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM I, I have no idea how to
go about this, for when we deployed to Iraq the country brief was pretty much handed to us.'
––Sergeant, S2 Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, Engineer Group
"From El Salvador to Iraq, the US Army operates in diverse operational environments around the World. These
diverse operational environments mean the development and use of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) is not a
luxury but a necessity.
Open sources possess much of the information that we need to understand the physical and human factors of
the operational environments in which we conduct or may conduct military operations. In truth, much of our
understanding of these environments, our World, is based on publicly available information that we learned
from educators, journalists, news anchors, and scholars.
"The US Army Intelligence and Security Command’s (INSCOM) Asian Studies Detachment demonstrates the
characteristics and the power of sustained OSINT operations. Since 1947, the Detachment has collected,
processed, and analyzed publicly available information on capabilities, disposition, and readiness of military
forces of China, North Korea, and other potential adversaries. It has also reported on the economic,
environmental, political, and social conditions within the region.
"In recent years, the Asian Studies Detachment has reported on elevated tensions between China and Taiwan
during the Taiwan presidential elections in 2004; security threats to US, allied forces conducting humanitarian
relief operations in Indonesia following the December 2004 tsunami devastation; and strategy and tactics
employed during the August 2005 Sino-Russian combined counterterrorism Exercise PEACE MISSION 2005.
"As testimony to the high value of OSINT analysis and reporting, Asian Studies Detachment’s intelligence
information reports since 2003 have received 28 "Major Significance" evaluations from the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), and the US Air Force's National Air
and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) on topics ranging from North Korean underground facilities to Chinese
Peoples Liberation Army Air Force air and space science and technology (S&T) developments.
"At the tactical level, some units are task organizing their assets into OSINT organizations. The following is an
example from the 3d Infantry Division’s deployment to Iraq in 2005. It illustrates how intelligence personnel
adapt to and succeed at new missions. In the example, the company commander task organized his common
ground station (CGS) team into an OSINT team.
"'With their four to five interpreters (two of which are American citizens) and a steady flow of radio, television
and newspaper reports, the open source intelligence team produced a daily rollup with analysis. Their office
consisted of one television with local and international cable, one laptop connected to the non-secure Internet
protocol router network, an amplitude and frequency modulated radio and the daily newspapers, usually ten to
fifteen papers per day.
'Also, the team acquired a video camera recorder and digital video device player to study confiscated
propaganda and other media. They understand the importance of local reporting to the success of the brigade
combat team campaign and have made it a point to conduct thorough research on topics of local importance.
Their product was studied and further analyzed by the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance analysis
team at the brigade combat team tactical operations center prior to submission to the brigade combat team
S2 and dissemination to battalions or division.'
–– Captain, MI Company Commander, Brigade Combat Team"