Reserve support to IO: the 3431st MI Detachment [USAR] at NGIC - National Ground Intelligence Center

Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, July-Sept, 2003 by Sherwin H. Terry, Jr.

[] The fifth detachment has a unique role in approaching the IO problem: it is projecting NGIC production support to other INSCOM subcommands that will require IO intelligence production. Members of this detachment are currently drilling at Fort Belvoir, where they are augmenting the 1st IO Command (Land).

IO Products from the 3431st MID

The 3431st MID has produced a number of IO-related intelligence documents supporting the efforts of NGIC and the Army. The publications span the gamut from the short, directed assessments on particular aspects of C3 or CNO, like those described above, to comprehensive IO country studies addressing the entirety of IO. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) has used one particular series of country studies to develop scenarios for IO segments of wargames for the Army of the future. Members of the 3431st MID also made a major contribution to the IO section of a study assessing the threat to the Army's Future Combat System (FCS). Due to these two efforts alone, the 3431st MID has made a significant impact in helping to design the Army of the future. More recently, their publications in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM include assessments on Iraqi weapons and technologies and the urban defense prospects of the Iraqi forces.

Conclusion

As the 3431st MID Production Group approaches full strength, it will continue to expand its formidable presence in the IO and CNO intelligence production capabilities of the National Ground Intelligence Center. The MID will permit the Center to address the needs of its customers better, with a broader and more talented base than would otherwise be available.

Sherwin Terry (Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve, Retired) is currently an electronics engineer with the National Ground Intelligence Center. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Bucknell University and a Master of Business Administration degree from James Madison University. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and has served as a CGSC Instructor. Among his duties at NGIC, he is the NGIC point of contact for the 3431st MID.