Competitive Intelligence

What is Military Intelligence

Military Intelligence is vital, along with anti-terrorism training, for the safety of our country. It is basically a discipline within the military which utilizes and exploits various methods of collecting and analyzing data in order to give our military commanders and government the information necessary for them to make the best possible decisions in order to keep the country and its citizens safe. 

Military Intelligence data is collected from a very wide range of sources, by a very wide variety of people. The first thing to do is to identify the specific information which is required by the commander for a certain mission, then all of the necessary information is analysed and disseminated.  This can include intelligence about the environment where the operation will take place, as well as the hostile, neutral and friendly forces which may be involved, and the civilians which may be affected during the mission. 

Levels of Military Intelligence

There are three basic levels of military intelligence:

Strategic Intelligence – concerned largely with broad issues like political assessments, economics, intentions of such foreign nations and of course, military capabilities. This military intelligence may be:

• technical
• scientific
• tactical
• sociological
• diplomatic

and any information is analyzed alongside the known facts such as demographics, geography and industrial capabilities of the area in question.

Operational Intelligence - on the other hand, is focused on supporting a force commander and his troops which are in the center of operations, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Tactical Intelligence - is an attachment of a battlegroup on a tactical level, with briefings to determine current threats and priorities. Tactical intelligence patrols are involved in debriefing analysis, information and communication to all concerned.

The Process of Military Intelligence

Military Intelligence is processed in four ways:

Collection – information can be collected from many different sources and in many different ways. Open source intelligence is a term which encompasses all of this gathering of information,  maps, the major industries in a region, capabilities of weaponry etc. Much of this information is gathered by simply reading all of the daily newspapers of a region or country. This information does not become intelligence however, until it has been analyzed and verified by an analyst.

Analysis – is the next step in collecting and utilizing military intelligence. All of the above information must be assessed, with the purpose of identifying the adversary’s weaknesses, and therefore opportunities. They seek out the most fragile area for any important military capabilities – this is often identified as the fuel supply of the military unit in mechanized warfare, for example.

Packaging – this intelligence is then packaged by intelligence personnel who then forward it to war-fighters and policy makers so that they can make an informed decision.  Any critical threats are generally prioritized. Intelligence officers do not actually formulate a plan of attack, but are on hand to provide any necessary intelligence for the commanders to make an informed decision.

Military Intelligence, or what is regarded as the failure of it has really come under fire in the last few years, particularly since the tragedies of 9/11. Historically military intelligence was much easier to read in many ways, were we at risk of being attacked by land or sea? These days, however, there are many more areas which we need to be aware of, and when your attackers are just as smart as you are, with as much technology and military intelligence of their own, and with so many different areas of attack it really is a very difficult topic to tackle. We could be attacked by land, sea, air, computer virus, germ warfare . . . the list really is endless.