Lessons learned from OJF: an SF battalion S2's perspective

Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, April-June, 2004 by Brian Gellman

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Departments of the Army and Defense, or the U.S. Government.

The purpose of this article is to offer some lessons learned from my tour in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF). Due to the unique nature of my job as a Special Forces battalion S2, I had the opportunity to observe and participate in the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of intelligence. The observations below are not restricted to any specific part of the country or any specific phase of the war; rather, they are general observations noted by the author and others in the theater.

While the target audience of this article is tacticallevel intelligence professionals operating or planning to operate in the Iraq Theater of Operations (ITO), many of these lessons are applicable at all levels of the intelligence community. This article begins with some comments that are generally applicable to S2s and then moves to some specific to the ITO. The topics covered include networking, selling your assessment, intelligence support to information operations, dissemination versus fusion, targeting and exploiting, insurgency targeting cycle, reporting standards, conveying locations in populous areas, naming conventions in OIF, and spotting foreign fighters. Networking

Networking is an invaluable tool for an intelligence officer in OIF. After eight months in theater, the author developed contacts in almost every intelligence element in theater, to include coalition partners and interagency personnel so when an issue or problem arose, a contact was available in nearly every case who could work with us to solve it. I made it a point to meet everyone with whom I corresponded via E-mail on a regular basis (when practical), which aided the flow of information.

Networking is not an easy task to accomplish in a nonpermissive environment (that is, where we lack freedom of movement). Take every opportunity available to get out of the work area to visit other units. Find a good reason to visit your higher headquarters and any other intelligence-producing element in theater.

Selling Your Assessment

An S2 section does an analysis of the city of Baghdad and determines that a specific highway is critical to coalition operations. The S2 then recommends that efforts focus on the least stable district(s) along the highway to ensure the route remains open. However, no action is taken until after an improvised explosive device (IED) attack shuts down the highway for a 12-hour period.

Intelligence is useless if your commander does not accept it. One can discover the "golden nugget" of intelligence that will lead to the capture of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden and a suit-case nuclear device, but if you cannot sell it to the commander, one will never truly know what could have happened.

Here are some tips for making your first "sell:"

Establish Credibility. There are multiple ways to establish credibility and rapport with your commander. The first, and most obvious way is to make correct assessments. This will come with time but will not help your first sell. As an intelligence professional, you will be wrong more times than you are right. However, here are some things that S2s can do to establish credibility without being right all the time.

[] It is imperative to speak the language of the commander. Generally, that language is doctrine. Impress the commander with your understanding of operations and of doctrine.

[] Understand operations and the decisions your commander has to make. If your reporting and assessments are not relevant to the commander's mission, why are you briefing them to him or her?

[] Tell the commander what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear. A commander must understand the situation from different perspectives, and the S2 brings the commander the threat's perspective. If the commander does not agree with your assessment, do not back down but respectfully "agree to disagree."

[] Prepare yourself and the S2 analysts for the brief. Rehearsals are important for anyone conducting the brief. Rehearse the brief with others and "sharp shoot" each other. One goal of this rehearsal is to predict any follow-up questions the commander will ask you. Be prepared to answer these questions when asked, or simply brief it before the commander has the chance to ask.

[] Know your commander as you know your enemy. Know what your commander expects. For example, some commanders want to know the source of every report. Every commander also has pet peeves, quirks, and peculiarities. Be aware of them and try to minimize their impact.

Presentation. Presentation is everything. A poorly presented assessment will affect your credibility and will greatly decrease your chance of getting the assessment accepted by the decision makers. Keep it simple, logical and easy to follow. Explain your thought process step-by-step, leading the commander to the most logical, threat-based assessment available, yours.