Notes from Plan Requirements and Assess Collection ATP 2-01

Preface

ATP 2-01 establishes doctrine for the specific tasks under planning requirements and assessing collection. It expands on the principles in FM 3-55. ATP 2-01 should be used in conjunction with FM 3-55 and with FM 2-0. Readers should be familiar with fundamental doctrine contained in ADPs 2-0, 3-0, 5-0, and 6-0 and ADRPs 2-0, 3-0, 5-0, and 6-0.

This publication’s primary audience is the intelligence and operations staffs within the Army’s corps, divisions, brigade combat teams, and maneuver battalions. These staffs collaborate to develop the information collection plan. Commanders also must understand the importance of developing requirements and assessing collection as part of information collection planning and the operations process. Commanders and staffs of Army headquarters serving as a joint task force or multinational headquarters should refer joint doctrine contained in JP 2-01 or appropriate multinational doctrine. ATP 2-01 forms the foundation for instruction on planning requirements and assessing collection within the Army’s educational system.

Introduction

ATP 2-01 establishes doctrine for the specific functions under planning requirements and assessing collection. It expands on the principles in FM 3-55. ATP 2-01 should be used in conjunction with FM 3-55 and with FM 2-0. It outlines the preparation of planning requirements tools during the conduct (planning, preparation, execution, and assessment) of operations.

This publication provides details on the four continuing functions of planning requirements and assessing collection. It includes techniques for developing planning requirements tools and keeping them current throughout an operation. It addresses factors to consider when supporting offensive, defensive, and stability tasks. It also discusses considerations when operating in urban and nontemperate environments.

Although the discussions and descriptions in this manual may seem linear, planning requirements and assessing collection is a dynamic, continuous, and interactive process requiring constant interaction between the commander and staff. Depending on the mission, time available, ongoing operations, and standard operating procedures (SOPs), units may develop techniques for abbreviated information collection planning to meet the commander’s needs. The information presented is descriptive, not prescriptive or restrictive. However, it describes the optimal process. This manual complies with Doctrine 2015 guidelines.

PART ONE

Fundamentals

Chapter 1 Relationships

INFORMATION COLLECTION AND THE INTEGRATING TASKS

1-1. This chapter provides basic information regarding planning requirements and assessing collection. It starts with a brief discussion of information collection and its tasks, of which one is planning requirements and assessing collection. Then it discusses planning requirements and assessing collection across the echelons and the vital role of the commander and staff. Finally, it discusses the linkage between planning requirements and assessing collection, the MDMP, IPB, and targeting, all of which are executed to support current and future operations.

INFORMATION COLLECTION

1-2. The Army executes ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) through the operations and intelligence processes (with an emphasis on intelligence analysis and leveraging the larger intelligence enterprise) and information collection. Information collection is an activity that synchronizes and integrates the planning and employment of sensors and assets as well as the processing, exploitation, and dissemination systems in direct support of current and future operations

FM 3-55 describes an information collection capability as any human or automated sensor, asset, or processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) system that can be directed to collect information that enables better decisionmaking, expands understanding of the operational environment, and supports warfighting functions in decisive action.

INFORMATION COLLECTION TASKS

1-3. Information collection involves the acquisition of information and the provision of this information to processing elements and consists of the following tasks:

Plan requirements and assess collection.
Task and direct collection.
Execute collection.

PLAN REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESS COLLECTION

1-4. Plan requirements and assess collection is the task of analyzing requirements, evaluating available assets (internal and external), recommending to the operations staff taskings for information collection assets, submitting requests for information for adjacent and higher collection support, and assessing the effectiveness of the information collection plan. It is a commander-driven, coordinated staff effort led by the G-2/S-2. The continuous functions of planning requirements and assessing collection identify the best way to satisfy the requirements of the supported commander and staff. These functions are not necessarily sequential.

TASK AND DIRECT COLLECTION

1-5. The G-3/S-3 (based on recommendations from the staff) tasks, directs, and, when necessary, retasks the information collection assets. Tasking and directing of limited information collection assets is vital to their control and effective use. Staffs accomplish tasking information collection by issuing warning orders, fragmentary orders, and operation orders. They accomplish directing information collection assets by continuously monitoring the operation. Staffs conduct retasking to refine, update, or create new requirements.

EXECUTE COLLECTION

1-6. Executing collection focuses on requirements tied to the execution of tactical missions (normally reconnaissance, surveillance, security operations, and intelligence operations).

Information acquired during collection activities about the threat and the area of interest is provided to intelligence processing and exploitation elements. (For intelligence purposes, exploitation is defined as taking full advantage of any information that has come to hand for tactical, operational, or strategic purposes.

Typically, collection activities begin soon after receipt of mission and continue throughout preparation for and execution of the operation. They do not cease at the conclusion of the mission but continue as required. This allows the commander to focus combat power, execute current operations, and prepare for future operations simultaneously.

1-7. To provide effective support to execution, planning requirements and assessing collection must be linked to planned and ongoing operational activities. Plans and orders direct and coordinate information collection by providing information collection tasks based on validated requirements essential for mission accomplishment. Plans and orders help allocate scarce information collection assets effectively and efficiently. The intelligence staff must collaborate with higher, lower, and adjacent intelligence staffs to ensure the effectiveness of planning requirements and assessing collection.

COLLABORATION ACROSS ECHELONS

1-8. Planning requirements and assessing collection is integrated and layered across echelons. It is integrated with all other activities, systems, efforts, and capabilities associated with unified land operations to provide the information required to create intelligence. Integration occurs vertically and horizontally, with unified action partners and throughout the operations process. (See appendix A.) It also requires the intelligence staff to leverage the intelligence enterprise. (See ADRP 2-0.)

1-9. Requirements for information collection are arranged vertically and horizontally using a layered approach. Layering ensures the optimal use of limited information collection assets within a unit’s task organization. Layering allows for mutual supporting activities to share requirements. Sharing requirements across echelons helps to support commanders at all levels.

ROLES OF THE COMMANDER AND STAFF

1-10. Commanders drive information collection activities through their choice of critical information requirements and through mission command. Commanders provide planning guidance with their initial intent statement. Planning guidance conveys the essence of the commander’s visualization.

1-11. Effective planning requirements and assessing collection focuses information collection activities on obtaining the information required by commanders and staffs to influence decisions and operations. Planning requirements and assessing collection—

Includes commander and staff efforts to synchronize and integrate information collection tasks throughout the operations process.
Supports the commander’s situational understanding and visualization of the operation by—
- Identifying information gaps.
- Coordinating assets and resources against requirements for information to fill these gaps.
- Assessing the collected information and intelligence to inform the commander’s decisions.
Supports the staff during all operations process activities, integrating processes, and continuing activities (for example, during IPB and the MDMP, as well as the targeting, operations, and intelligence processes).

1-12. The direct result of the intelligence and operations staffs’ efforts is a coordinated information collection plan. The information collection plan supports the operation with the necessary information collection assets and the required PED enablers to support collection and decisionmaking. As information and intelligence are assessed and refinements to the plan are made during execution, the operations staff issues fragmentary orders to retask or assign new missions to information collection assets.

ARMY PROCESSES

1-13. In addition to its relationship to information collection, planning requirements and assessing collection relates to each of the Army’s integrating processes and continuing activities, primarily to the MDMP, IPB and targeting process.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MILITARY DECISIONMAKING PROCESS

1-14. During mission analysis, the staff develops a list of initial information requirements. (See FM 6-0.)

These CCIRs identify information critical for planning. They usually result in information collection missions executed while planning for the overall operation is underway. Commanders decide what information is critical based on their experience, the mission, the higher commander’s specified and implied intent, and the input from the entire staff.

RELATIONSHIP WITH INTELLIGENCE PREPARATION OF THE BATTLEFIELD

1-17. Planning requirements and assessing collection relies on the results of IPB. The staff’s completion of IPB provides an analysis of the operational environment and the options it presents to friendly and threat forces. It also provides information required to plan information collection activities, such as—

Characteristics of the area of interest that will influence friendly and threat operations (including civil considerations).
Enemy event templates, including decision points and matrices critical to information collection planning.
Information collection assets’ sensitivities to weather and the effects of weather on planned or potential operations.
Threat characteristics, doctrine, tactics, techniques, and behavior.
Possible and likely threat courses of action.
High-value targets. s

RELATIONSHIP WITH TARGETING

1-19. The targeting process produces requirements that are incorporated into planning requirement tools and the unit’s information collection plan. The tools and plan contain tasks for target development, target detection, and combat assessment that support the scheme of fires.

1-20. To effectively target the threat, the staff develops named areas of interest (NAIs) and targeted areas of interest (TAIs). The staff also develops a high-value target list that can include geographic NAIs or TAIs as well as organizations, networks, or individuals identified as key or critical nodes. Targeting requirements must support the commander’s objectives and intent. In certain circumstances, some requirements may not be focused on a certain geographic area.

Chapter 2
Inputs and Functions

ROLES OF THE COMMANDER AND STAFF

2-1. The commander and staff interact to provide input to planning requirements and assessing collection throughout the overall operation. Based on this input, the staff performs the planning requirements and assessing functions.

This chapter discusses how the commander provides the staff with inputs necessary to perform planning requirements and assessing collection. It then describes how the staff, using the commander’s inputs, develops their respective running estimates, requests for information, and requirements. Finally, it outlines the functions of planning requirements and assessing collection, specifically why each is important and their successful results.

COMMANDER AND STAFF INPUT

2-2. The commander is the most important participant in planning requirements and assessing collection. The initial commander’s intent, planning guidance, and CCIRs form the foundation of the information collection plan and the basis for assessing its execution. During planning and preparation, the staff, primarily the operations and intelligence working group, develops the information collection plan and the staff products required to execute it. During execution, they oversee execution of the plan, keeping the staff products current and using them to keep information collection efforts synchronized with the overall operation. The staff updates planning requirements as operations unfold and modify the plan as necessary to satisfy new information requirements that emerge.

COMMANDER INPUT

2-3. During planning, the commander’s visualization provides the basis for developing the order, including the information collection plan. Commanders and staffs continuously assess the progress of operations toward the desired end state.

2-4. When providing guidance, commanders consider that military intelligence collection assets are distinct from other Army information collection capabilities. The distinction is required because intelligence collection is enabled by and must comply with all applicable U.S. laws and policy.

2-5. After commanders visualize an operation, they communicate their visualization to their staffs and subordinates. Through collaboration and dialog, commanders ensure subordinates understand the visualization well enough to begin planning. As it pertains to information collection activities, commanders express their initial visualization in terms of—

Initial commander’s intent.
Planning guidance, including an initial concept of operations.

Initial Commander’s Intent

2-6. The initial commander’s intent links the operation’s purpose with the conditions that define the desired end state. The staff uses the initial commander’s intent statement to develop and refine requirements and assess the information collection plan throughout the operation. Usually, the initial intent statement evolves as planning progresses and more information becomes available. The information collection plan evolves concurrently.

Planning Guidance

2-7. Commanders provide planning guidance with their initial intent statement. Planning guidance conveys the essence of the commander’s visualization. Effective planning guidance is essentially an initial concept of operations that prioritizes the information collection activities. Planning guidance—

Reflects how the commander sees the operation unfolding.
Broadly describes when, where, and how the commander intends to employ combat power to accomplish the mission within the higher commander’s intent.
For planning requirements, provides the staff information to begin the steps within the planning activity of the operations process, that is, to develop an initial information collection plan, which is refined into the final plan that is incorporated into the unit order.

Requirements

2-8. Commanders base their initial information requirements on the critical gaps identified during IPB in the mission analysis step of the MDMP. Refined and updated requirements result from staff wargaming and the commander’s selection of a particular friendly course of action that becomes the concept of operations. Commanders drive planning requirements and assessing collection through their choice of critical information requirements and through mission command throughout the operations process.

2-9. For requirements management, there are two types of requirements that result from planning requirements and assessing collection: priority intelligence requirements (PIRs) that are part of the CCIRs, and information requirements. PIRs and information requirements may focus on threat units or on capabilities the threat requires to complete missions and tasks. Each requirement is further refined into discrete pieces of information that together answer that requirement. These pieces are referred to as indicators and specific information requirements (SIRs). The indicators and SIRs are used to develop the information collection plan.

Information Requirements

2-10. An information requirement is any information element the commander and staff require to successfully conduct operations. They include all elements necessary to address the mission variables (mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops and support available, time available, and civil considerations [also called METT-TC]). For the purposes of the intelligence warfighting function, validated information collection plan requirements are requirements that, when answered, will fill a gap in knowledge and understanding of the area of operations (AO) and the area of interest.

Commander’s Critical Information Requirements

2-11. A commander’s critical information requirement is an information requirement identified by the commander as being critical to facilitating timely decisionmaking (JP 3-0). The two CCIR categories are friendly force information requirements and PIRs. (See figure 2-3.) A CCIR directly influences decisionmaking and facilitates the successful execution of military operations. Commanders decide whether to designate an information requirement as a CCIR based on likely decisions and their visualization of the course of the operation. A CCIR may support more than one decision. During planning, staffs recommend information requirements for commanders to designate as CCIRs. During preparation and execution, they recommend changes to CCIRs based on assessment. A CCIR is—

Specified by a commander for a specific operation.
Applicable only to the commander who specifies it.
Situation-dependent—directly linked to a current or future mission.
Focused on predictable events or activities.
Time-sensitive—CCIR answers are reported to the commander immediately by any means available.

2-12. Priority Intelligence Requirements. A priority intelligence requirement is an intelligence requirement, stated as a priority for intelligence support, that the commander and staff need to understand the adversary or other aspects of the operational environment (JP 2-01). PIRs identify information about the enemy, terrain and weather, and civil considerations that the commander considers most important. The intelligence staff manages PIRs for the commander. Commanders limit the number of PIRs to focus the efforts of limited information collection assets. This helps staffs and subordinates identify information the commander needs immediately. A good staff expertly distills that information, identifying answers to PIRs and disseminating them to the commander immediately.

2-13. Friendly Force Information Requirements. A friendly force information requirement is information the commander and staff need to understand the status of friendly force and supporting capabilities (JP 3-0). Friendly force information requirements identify the information the commander considers most important about the mission, troops and support available, and time available for friendly forces. In coordination with the staff, the G-3/S-3 manages friendly force information requirements for the commander.

STAFF INPUT

2-14. Planning requirements and assessing collection consists of various staff functions designed to place collection assets and resources into a synchronized plan in order to leverage the various capabilities. The plan synchronizes and coordinates collection activities within the overall concept of operations. The information collection plan positions and tasks collection assets so they can collect the right information, sustain or reconstitute for branches or sequels, or shift priorities as the situation develops. Effective planning for information collection focuses on answering the commander’s requirements by translating information collection tasks into orders.

2-15. Planning requirements and assessing information collection requires full staff integration. The staff—

Prepares or updates their respective running estimates.
Develops requirements.
Participates in the operations and intelligence working group (if formed).
Develops technical channels (as required).

Running Estimates

2-16. A running estimate is the continuous assessment of the current situation used to determine if the current operation is proceeding according to the commander’s intent and if planned future operations are supportable (ADP 5-0). Intelligence staffs (or the operations and intelligence working group, if formed) use running estimates to assist with determining whether requirements have been satisfied, the need for additional requirements, and which assets are available for tasking. (See FM 6-0 for additional information on running estimates.)

Operations and Intelligence Working Group

2-17. Depending on the availability of personnel, the commander may designate an operations and intelligence working group. The primary staff officers for operations and intelligence (G-3/S-3 and G-2/S-2) should direct and manage the efforts of this working group to achieve a fully synchronized and integrated information collection plan.

2-18. The operations and intelligence working group is a temporary grouping of designated staff representatives who coordinate and integrate information collection, and provide recommendations to the commander. The purpose of the operations and intelligence working group is to bring together representatives from all command post cells to validate information requirements and deconflict the use of organic and attached assets. The operations and intelligence working group ensures maximum efficiency in information collection by carefully synchronizing all collection tasks within the information collection plan. Input is required from each member of the working group.

2-19. Unit SOPs and the operation’s tempo determine how frequently the operations and intelligence working group needs to meet. This working group should be closely aligned with both the current operations and integration cell and the future operations (or plans) cell to ensure information collection is properly integrated into the overall operation plan.

2-20. The G-3/S-3 comes prepared to provide the following:

The current friendly situation.
Current CCIRs.
The status and availability of collection assets.
Requirements from higher headquarters (including recent fragmentary orders or taskings).
Changes to the commander’s intent.
Changes to the task organization.
Future operations.

2-21. The G-2/S-2 comes prepared to provide the following:

The current enemy situation.
Current status of PIRs, and potential changes to PIRs.
The current information collection priorities and strategies.
The status and availability of intelligence operations assets.
Current planning requirements tools.
The situational template tailored to the time discussed.
Current status of the communication plan for information collection assets.
Support the G-2/S-2 must request from higher headquarters’ resources.
Weather and effects of weather on information collection assets.
Civil considerations (as applicable).

2-22. Outputs of the working group include but are not limited to—

Priorities and recommendations for latest information collection plan.
Updated CCIRs for commander approval.
Information collection input for fragmentary orders.

Technical Channels

2-24. Information normally moves throughout a force along specific transmission paths, or channels. Establishing these channels directs the flow of reported information derived during intelligence operations. Channels help streamline information dissemination by ensuring the right information passes promptly to the right people. Commanders and staffs normally communicate through three channels—command, staff, and technical.

2-25. For intelligence operations, technical channels are the transmission paths between intelligence units (to include command post cells and staff elements) performing a technical function requiring special expertise. Technical channels are used to transmit required technical data used to focus the highly technical intelligence operations collection. Establishing intelligence technical channels facilitates adherence to existing policies or regulations for information collection tasks contained within the information collection plan. Technical channels do not interfere with command and staff channels. Technical channels are not used for conducting operations.

2-26. While planning requirements and assessing collection, the intelligence staff ensures that technical channels are used to focus intelligence collectors appropriately. These channels facilitate a collaborative environment and more efficient intelligence operations. The collector or lowest level management for the collector, in turn provides feedback of a technical nature to the intelligence staff. An example of this feedback is when a collector is tasked to collect on threat communications but does not possess the equipment capable of intercepting the signal.

PLANNING REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSING COLLECTION FUNCTIONS

2-27. After receiving inputs from the commander and staff—intent, planning guidance, and requirements— the intelligence staff, in close coordination with the operations staff, performs the planning requirements and assessing collection functions. (See figure 2-4.) The planning requirements and assessing collection functions are the basis for creating an information collection plan that synchronizes activities of the information collection effort to enable the commander’s visualization and situational understanding. The intelligence staff, in coordination with the operations staff, monitors available collection assets and assesses their ability to provide the required information. They also recommend adjustments to new requirements or locations of information collection assets, if required. The planning requirements and assessing collection functions are—

Develop planning requirements.
Develop planning requirements tools.
Assess information collection.
Update planning requirement stools.

DEVELOP PLANNING REQUIREMENTS

2-28. Developing requirements involves identifying, prioritizing, and refining uncertainties concerning the threat and significant aspects of the operational environment that must be resolved to accomplish the mission. The purpose of the develop requirements function is to receive, analyze, and prioritize requirements appropriate to task to organic assets as part of the information collection plan.

2-29. An important element of developing requirements during execution is the constant collaboration between analytical personnel and staff elements of the various command post cells to refine information requirements and focus the information collection effort as the situation develops.

2-30. The result of requirements development is a prioritized list of validated requirements. Successful requirements development results in—

The information arriving in time for commanders to use.
Analysts receiving information that directly relates to the CCIRs.
Collection carried out only on requirements important to the operation.

DEVELOP PLANNING REQUIREMENTS TOOLS

2-31. The intelligence staff creates and uses planning requirements tools to track planned and ongoing information collection tactical tasks—reconnaissance, surveillance, security operations, and intelligence operations. These tools are not tasking documents or systems; they are products developed to facilitate the synchronization of collection and analytical efforts. The intelligence staff uses the tools to assist the operations staff in creating the information collection plan.

2-32. The subfunction tasks to develop planning requirements tools (see chapter 4) are—

Evaluate resources.
Develop a collection strategy.

- - Submit requests for support (collection).
  - Submit requests for information.
  - Match information collection asset capabilities to expected activity.

Develop SIRs.

- - Develop supporting tools.
  - Information collection matrix.
  - Information collection synchronization matrix.
  - Information collection overlay.

2-33. The result of develop requirements planning tools is the creation of working aids that assist in the creation and execution of an information collection plan that answers the CCIRs. Success results in the synchronization of information collection with the overall operation through the effective use of the right collection assets at the right time and place. Successful requirements planning tools result in—

Selecting a collection asset with the appropriate capability.
Focusing the collection asset on the right area at the right time to answer the requirements.

ASSESSING COLLECTION

2-34. Assessing collection involves two concurrent tasks: assessing the information collection plan and assessing tactical task execution. Commanders and staffs continuously evaluate the information collection plan based on the assessment of results from tactical tasks. Collection assessment is particularly important during execution because situations change rapidly; evaluation identifies updates for information collection activities. Together, commanders and staffs determine if CCIRs have been satisfied or are still relevant.

2-35. The subfunction tasks of assess tactical task execution (see chapter 5) are—

Monitor the tactical situation.
Screen reporting to ensure task completion.
Correlate reports to requirements.
Provide feedback to assets.
Maintain synchronization with operations.
Cue assets to collection opportunities.
Recommend retasking of assets.

2-36. Monitoring information collection tasks aids in identifying the need to retask assets as the situation changes or cue assets to collection opportunities. Effective monitoring allows the intelligence and operations staffs to keep the information collection plan current. To support this goal, the rest of the staff also monitors the situation from the perspective of their command post cell to identify possible issues that need to be brought to the attention of the G-3/S-3.

UPDATE PLANNING REQUIREMENTS TOOLS

2-37. As the situation changes, adjustments to the planning requirements tools keep information collection synchronized with the overall operation, thus optimizing the force’s collection effort. Satisfied requirements are deleted, and collectors remain focused on unsatisfied and new requirements. Success results in the collection and reporting of information when needed to support the commander’s decisions.

2-38. The subfunctions of update planning requirements tools (see chapter 6) are—

Receive inputs from the commander and staff.
Eliminate satisfied requirements.
Develop and add new requirements.
Transition to the next operation.

2-39. The functions of planning requirements and assessing collection are continuous, collaborative, and interactive. Several outputs from the various MDMP steps require collaboration with the rest of the staff, especially between the intelligence and operations staffs. Keeping the planning tools current cannot be achieved without constant coordination among the entire staff.

PART TWO

Techniques

Chapter 3

Developing Requirements

ROLE OF DEVELOPING REQUIREMENTS

3-1. Requirements development forms the foundation of the information collection plan. This chapter describes how to perform the tasks associated with this function. Developing requirements includes the following subfunction tasks:

Participate in planning.
Anticipate requirements.
Analyze requirements.
Refine requirements.

PARTICIPATE IN PLANNING

3-2. Throughout planning, requirements are developed and refined; some are consolidated, others discarded. Commanders and staffs add and delete individual requirements throughout an operation based on the information needed for specific decisions.

3-3. Requirements development begins as early as possible—in some cases before receipt of mission, when only partial information about the general location or category of a mission is known. Development continues as the intelligence staff collects initial (baseline) information and intelligence from existing sources and databases and through intelligence reach to develop the initial intelligence estimate in support of planning. Other command post cells gather information as they prepare or update their running estimates to support planning.

3-4. Maximum efficiency in information collection is achieved when all the collection tasks are carefully synchronized throughout an operation. This appropriate mix of collection tasks helps satisfy as many different requirements as possible. It also reduces the likelihood of the operations and intelligence working group favoring or becoming too reliant on one particular unit, intelligence discipline, or system.

3-5. The intelligence staff and other staff members continue to develop and refine requirements as the commander receives the mission and presents initial guidance to the staff. The commander’s guidance includes the critical information for the AO and area of interest that the commander must know to successfully conduct operations, expressed in later steps of the MDMP as CCIRs

3-7. Because developing requirements is continuous, the function occurs throughout all activities of the operations process. Developing requirements results in the production of new requirements from ongoing operations that drive new operations, branches, and sequels. Effective requirements development depends on establishing the intelligence architecture and having effective network connectivity that provides situational understanding and input from the entire staff. Command post cells and staff elements use the following products to identify gaps that may result in information requirements:

Detailed and current IPB.
Current intelligence running estimate.
Current running estimates from other command post cells and staff elements.
Enemy situation templates and course of action statements.
Event templates and matrices.
Estimates and templates of anticipated civil responses to friendly and threat operations (as applicable).

3-8. Requirements management is not a one-time effort or the sole responsibility of the intelligence staff. Each staff element that develops requirements must follow the same development process.

ANTICIPATE REQUIREMENTS

3-9. The intelligence staff and other staff members identify new requirements or refine existing ones and present them to the commander for approval. The intelligence staff must recognize when and where to shift collection assets and make timely recommendations to the operations staff. Anticipating and developing new requirements requires a detailed understanding of the unit and its operational capabilities. It also requires a detailed situational understanding, a thorough understanding of IPB products and existing intelligence holdings, and an understanding of the concept of operations—including branches, sequels, and anticipated transitions to follow-on operations.

3-10. The ability to anticipate requirements gives intelligence staffs additional time to plan the use of information collection assets, including any joint or national assets available. It requires seamless involvement with the planners and operations staff. Anticipating upcoming requirements allows intelligence staffs to communicate with higher headquarters and plan future requests for information. The more time intelligence staffs give units that control Army, joint, and national systems, the more likely they are to obtain the required support for a specified time frame. A good example is forecasting additional support needed during critical events, such as national elections while conducting stability tasks, or during the initial phases of an attack.

ANALYZE REQUIREMENTS

3-11. The intelligence staff analyzes requirements to determine the most effective use of information collection assets. Each requirement is analyzed to determine how best to satisfy it. Sometimes this does not require tasking a unit, organization, or sensor for collection. Often, a newly received requirement can be satisfied by intelligence reach or by submitting a request for information. Analyzing requirements involves separating, recording, validating, consolidating, and prioritizing each recommended requirement.

SEPARATE

3-12. Intelligence staffs place intelligence gaps into one of three categories based on how best to answer them. These categories are—

Intelligence reach. Intelligence reach allows access to resources of national, joint, foreign, and other military organizations and units. Requesters can acquire information through push and pull of information, databases, homepages, collaborative tools, and broadcast services. Intelligence reach also supports distributed analysis. (See ADRP 2-0.)
Requests for information. Submitting a request for information to the next higher headquarters or adjacent units is the normal procedure for obtaining intelligence information that available information collection assets cannot collect. Users enter requests for information into a management system where every other system user can see them. Thus, an organization several echelons above the actual requester can become aware of the request and answer it.
Request for support (collection). When a gap cannot be answered by available sources and assets, intelligence staffs submit requests for support (collection) to higher and lateral organizations for incorporation into their information collection plans.

VALIDATE

3-14. Once recorded, the intelligence staff validates the requirements. Remember the commander provides the final validation of requirements when approving the operation order or fragmentary order. A valid requirement is necessary, feasible, and complete.

- Necessity. Is this requirement really necessary? If yes, has it already been satisfied? If it has not, check databases to see if someone has already collected the information or produced the intelligence. If a product that satisfies the requirement already exists, provide the requester to the agency that produced it. If the requester does not have access to that agency’s database, then obtain and provide the product to the requester. Refer requests for production to the appropriate agency. In some cases, the intelligence already exists but not in the format the requester desires. For example, a unit may need a demographic map created from existing data. In those cases, ask the requester if the product on hand will answer the requirement. If so, provide it.
- Feasibility. Does the unit have assets with capabilities able to execute the mission in time and with the detail required to support a decision? If not, can the unit submit a request for information to the echelon owning the information collection capability with a reasonable expectation of receiving a timely response?
- Completeness. All requirements should specify—
  - Who (needs the results).
  - When (time the indicator is expected to occur and the latest time the commander needs to know).
  - What (activity or indicator).
  - Where (geolocation, NAI, or TAI).
  - Why (justification).
  - Other (specific instructions or information).

3-15. Once requirements are validated, existing information, such as a database, is examined to determine if requirements can be satisfied with existing information through either a request for information to higher or lateral units or through intelligence reach. If the requirement cannot be completely satisfied by either of these methods, the requirement is further refined and provided to the operations staff for incorporation into the information collection plan.

CONSOLIDATE

3-16. Requirements received as tasks and requests are often similar to those generated during planning. Consolidation involves identifying identical and similar requirements and combining them into a single requirement. Successful consolidation results in a smaller number of requirements to track and identification of subordinate elements that may be capable of collecting on a requirement.

3-17. Merging similar requirements simplifies the collection effort. For example, replace a poorly written requirement with the wording of the better justified or more specific requirement. However, exercise caution by—

Ensuring the intent of the original requirements is not lost when merging requirements.
Maintaining accountability of merged requirements through accurate record keeping.
Disseminating requirements to every requesting headquarters when requirements are satisfied or eliminated.

PRIORITIZE

3-18. Each requirement is prioritized based on its importance in supporting the concept of operations and anticipated decisions. Prioritization based on the commander’s guidance and the current situation ensures limited collection assets are directed towards the most critical requirements. Effective prioritization requires monitoring the operation to respond to changing situations.

3-19. When prioritizing, the significance of the requirement to the requester is considered more important than the echelon that generated the requirement. A subordinate commander’s requirement may well be more important to the success of the higher headquarters’ mission than all other requirements.

3-20. When prioritizing requirements over the course of the operation, intelligence staffs should consider their ability to meet requirements as well as the justification, specificity, significance, and time phasing of individual requirements.

Significance

3-21. Some tasks the force performs are more important to accomplishing the mission than others. During wargaming, commanders give guidance on what they consider most important. In any case, the commander’s intent is reflected in the priorities assigned to each phase of the operation. This is the basis for establishing a prioritized requirements list from which to make recommendations to the commander for approval.

3-22. After intelligence staffs prioritize the requirements and make recommendations, commanders designate some of the most important requirements as PIRs. Answering PIRs is mission-essential. In other words, failure to satisfy the PIRs endangers the command’s mission accomplishment. For maximum effectiveness, intelligence staffs and commanders should refine PIRs into specific questions. The significance of a requirement is often tied to the phase of the operation in which the information is required.

Time Phasing

3-23. Time phasing influences prioritization. Requirements time phasing, like synchronization, is a continuous process. The operation may progress more or less quickly than anticipated during wargaming. Consequently, expected timelines based on wargaming may change during the operation. Staffs monitor execution of the operation and remain alert for changes in the LTIOV based on other shifts in the operational timeline. Latest time information is of value is the time by which an intelligence organization or staff must deliver information to the requester in order to provide decisionmakers with timely intelligence. This must include the time anticipated for processing and disseminating that information as well as for making the decision. The most important requirement may have an LTIOV in a later phase of an operation.

these methods, the requirement is further refined and provided to the operations staff for incorporation into the information collection plan.

CONSOLIDATE

Ensuring the intent of the original requirements is not lost when merging requirements.
Maintaining accountability of merged requirements through accurate record keeping.
Disseminating requirements to every requesting headquarters when requirements are satisfied or eliminated.

PRIORITIZE

Significance

Time Phasing

INDICATORS

3-29. An indicator, in intelligence usage, is an item of information which reflects the intention or capability of an adversary to adopt or reject a course of action (JP 2-0). Indicators are positive or negative information regarding threat activity or any characteristic of the AO that—

Points toward threat capabilities and vulnerabilities.
Points toward the adoption or rejection by the threat of a particular course of action or activity.
May influence the commander’s selection of a course of action.

3-30. Indicators may result from previous actions or from threat failure to take action and usually do not stand alone. Indicators are typically not sent out as part of the information collection tasks but rather are used primarily by all-source intelligence analysts. All-source intelligence analysts develop indicators, integrating each one with other factors to detect patterns or signatures and establish threat intentions.

3-31. Indicators corresponding to the PIRs and groups described in paragraphs 3-27 and 3-28 might be—

- Identification of agitators, insurgents, or criminal organizations, their supporters, and sympathizers who suddenly appear in or move from an area.
- Evidence of increased foot and vehicle traffic.
- Increased travel within and into remote or isolated areas.
- Apartments, houses, or buildings being rented but not lived in as homes.

3-32. The mission statement, key tasks, and PIRs signify the initiation of developing requirements and the initial information collection plan. The G-2/S-2 identifies requirements appropriate to task to unit collection assets and recommends tasking those assets to the G-3/S-3.

3-33. After performing functional analysis and developing threat models, the intelligence staff is prepared to further refine PIRs into areas where information can be collected by collection assets and resources. For the major threat groups operating within the AO in a counterinsurgency environment, these groupings may include—

Leadership:
- Who are cell leaders?
- How do they operate within the urban areas of the AO?

Safe havens: Where are groups receiving passive and active support?
Movement: Where and how are cell members moving throughout the AO?
Logistics: Centered on weapons and weapon-making materials, how are materials obtained for offensive and defensive tasks?
Finance: How are group operations funded?
Intelligence collection: How are groups receiving information and conducting reconnaissance and surveillance of targets?
Personnel:
- How are cells structured?
- How are they receiving and incorporating new personnel?
Ideology: How are groups using the information environment?
Communication:
- How do groups communicate internally within the group?
- How do groups communicate externally with other groups?

3-34. Economic-based PIRs may have the following associated groupings:

How do telecommunications in the area of interest impact the economy?
How do natural resources in the area of interest impact the economy?
How do powerplants in the area of interest impact the economy?
How do marketplaces in the area of interest impact the economy?
What is normally traded within these markets?
What are the normal prices of food items?
What are the normal prices of clothing items?
Are new items being sold within the markets?

3-35. Economic-based PIRs based on the threat may have the following associated groupings:

What businesses are targeted by the threat?
What businesses support the threat?
What illegal products are produced, sold, or traded in the marketplace?

3-36. Information-based PIRs may have the following associated groupings:

What are the information sources, resource facilities, and organizations within the area of interest?
What are the official and unofficial information channels within the area of interest?
What are the means of communication within the civilian population?
What media representatives and organizations are in the area of interest?
Which authorities in the area of interest espouse anti-host-nation government rhetoric?

PRODUCTS

3-37. The conduct and results of initial and continuous IPB are important prerequisites to developing requirements. They provide—

Well-reasoned threat situation overlays, course of action statements, and event templates or matrices.
Thorough analysis of civil considerations (areas, structures, capabilities, organizations, people, events [often referred to as ASCOPE]) for inclusion in the information collection plan.
Continual and timely adjustment of the running estimate as the situation changes.
Information and intelligence that support the development of the commander’s decision points or actions (lines of operations or lines of effort).

3-38. The most useful product for developing requirements is the event template. A technique to better understand how the threat conducts operations is to use threat models to graphically depict their anticipated actions and related decisions.

The threat model is used to create an event template. The event template depicts the threat’s actions on a timeline showing the steps through which threat activities advance while preparing to execute a task and mission. This graphic provides the staff with ways to create requirements for collection and to possibly interdict threat operations. (See figures 7-2 on page 7-4, 7-5 on page 7-8, and 7-8 on page 7-12 for examples of event templates.)

3-39. Once developed, the event template is a key product in developing the information collection plan. Likely threat locations, avenues of approach, infiltration routes, support areas, and areas of activity become NAIs or TAIs on which information collection assets and resources focus their collection efforts.

3-40. During operations against irregular or hybrid threats, the event template must be modified to address more than the predicted threat activity. For example—

Within the AO, Army forces interact with additional organizations and the local population on a daily basis.
In addition to the tasks performed by Army units, multinational units, and the host-nation military in the AO, the commander and staff must be aware of events occurring within the area of interest.

3-41. If the commander and staff choose to expand the event template, they require input from outside of the staff. The activities of interagency partners should be considered whenever possible. The commander and staff determine the activities to depict. Activities may include—

Religious events.
Government meetings.
Reconstruction projects.
Openings of government facilities, markets, schools, and clinics.
Medical clinic activity(immunizations).
Transportation improvements (work on roads).

Chapter 4
Developing Planning Requirements Tools

ROLE OF PLANNING REQUIREMENTS TOOLS

4-1. The planning requirements tools developed by the intelligence staff begin the process of synchronizing the information collection plan with the concept of operations and are updated as the concept of operations changes. The tools are used by the operations staff (in close collaboration with the intelligence staff) to develop the information collection plan. Developing requirements tools includes evaluating resources, developing a collection strategy, and developing supporting tools.

EVALUATE RESOURCES

4-2. While reviewing collection assets during the MDMP, the staff also performs an evaluation of the collection assets using the following criteria: availability, capability, sustainability, and vulnerability.

AVAILABILITY

Corps and divisions allocate support from the apportioned assets to brigade combat teams (BCTs) and below. (See appendix B.) Staff members must understand the system of apportionment and allocation. They determine what joint assets are available by—

Conducting collaboration and coordination early in the planning process.
Analyzing the higher headquarters order and reviewing the various scheduling or tracking mechanisms.

CAPABILITY

4-4. The staff must know and consider practical capabilities and limitations of all unit organic assets. Capabilities include the following:

Range. Range deals with the collector’s ability to provide target coverage. When considering an asset’s range, it is important to consider mission range (duration and distance) and how close the collection asset must be to the target to collect against it. Additionally, intelligence staffs consider communication requirements from the asset to the command post. The staff determines—
- Ability to maneuver, including travel and support times.
- Transit and dwell times, if the best asset is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
Day and night effectiveness. Staffs consider factors such as available optics and any effects of thermal crossover.
Technical characteristics. Each asset has time factors (such as set-up and tear-down times) for task accomplishment that must be considered. Other technical characteristics include the following:
- Whether the sensor can see through fog or smoke.
- The effects of the environment on the collection asset (including factors such as urban or rural terrain and soil composition).
- Whether the asset can continue despite electronic attack.

Reporting timeliness. Each asset is assigned an earliest time and a latest time information reporting is of value to the information collection plan, based on—
The established reporting criteria for each collection asset.
How long it takes to disseminate collected information to each requester.
Geolocation accuracy. Accuracy implies reliability and precision. The asset must be capable of locating a target accurately enough to engage it with precision-guided munitions.
Durability includes such factors as—
Whether the aircraft can launch in high winds or limited visibility.
Whether the prime mover can cross restricted terrain.
Threat activity. The staff considers whether the collection asset can detect the expected threat activity.
Performance history. Experienced staff officers know which information collection assets have been reliable in meeting different information requirements. Readiness rates, responsiveness, and accuracy over time may raise one collector’s reliability factor.
PED enablers. The staff considers whether the unit has the PED enablers required to support more flexible and responsive intelligence operations. (See ADRP 2-0.)

DEVELOP A COLLECTION STRATEGY

4-7. After thorough evaluation of availability, capability, sustainability, and vulnerability of collection assets, the operations and intelligence staffs develop a collection strategy. Although the strategy adopted will vary based on the mission and the information requirements to be satisfied, tasking organic assets should be considered first. The advantage to this is that the commander has the most control over these assets and they are generally more responsive than other supporting assets. If organic assets cannot satisfy a requirement, the staff may need to submit a request for support (collection) or request for information to higher or lateral headquarters. Layering collection assets is accomplished through cue, redundancy, and mix.

SUBMIT REQUESTS FOR SUPPORT (COLLECTION)

4-8. Information requirements generated during planning often require external resources to answer. When needed, requests for support (collection) from higher headquarters—such as for joint force, combatant command, or national assets—should be prepared and submitted through appropriate channels. Although external collection resources may be more capable than organic assets, those external assets may already be tasked against other information requirements, resulting in the requester’s requirements going unmet. Various tasking documents levy information on collection resources. Some tasking mechanisms are joint force- or intelligence system-unique. Various manuals specify procedures and formats for requesting support from national systems or agencies.

MATCH RESOURCES TO INDICATORS

4-13. After evaluating available assets, the operations and intelligence staffs match these assets to SIRs. Each requirement is associated with its corresponding decision points and timelines. Starting at the point in time the commander requires intelligence to make a decision, the intelligence staff reverse-plans to account for dissemination, analysis, processing, collection, and tasking time. An effective tool used to link and synchronize the collection strategy with the expected flow of the operation is the information collection synchronization matrix. As part of matching assets to SIRs, the staff also considers cueing, redundancy, and mix.

Cueing

4-14. Cueing involves the use of one or more information collection assets to provide data that directs collection by other assets. For example, sweeping the AO electronically with a surveillance system can reveal activity that triggers direct collection by a more accurate sensor system. Cueing maximizes the efficient use of limited collection assets in support of multiple, often competing, information collection priorities. An effective strategy includes plans to create opportunities for cued collection.

4-15. For example: A BCT may plan to use a human intelligence (HUMINT) source 24 hours prior to a UAS launch to confirm or deny activity along a key corridor. If the source reports the absence of activity, the UAS may be redirected to another mission or used to confirm the absence of activity, depending on the relative priority of requirements. If the HUMINT source reports significant activity earlier than anticipated, the UAS mission may be accelerated to collect supporting details or retasked to another collection mission.

Redundancy

4-16. Redundancy planning as part of collection strategy development involves the use of several same- discipline (or same-capability) assets to cover the same target. Redundant tasking is appropriate against high-payoff targets when the probability of success by any one system is low. For example, if several signals intelligence (SIGINT) collectors target a designated emitter at different times, the probability of intercept improves, even if the emitter operates intermittently. Using redundant collection assets also improves the chance of accurate geolocation.

Mix

4-17. Mix means planning for complementary coverage by a combination of assets from multiple intelligence disciplines. Sensor mix increases the probability of collection and reduces the risk of successful enemy deception. It also can facilitate cueing and provides more complete reporting. For example, if scouts report activity within a known assembly area, SIGINT intercept of the associated logistic net might provide unit identity, subordination, and indications of future activity.

DEVELOP SPECIFIC INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS

4-18. The intelligence staff develops SIRs for each PIR based on its group, the indicators, and related information requirements. (See paragraphs 3-27 through 3-28.) Developing SIRs requires the collection manager to be knowledgeable of the following:

Capabilities of the available collection assets.
Specificity of the information they provide.
Time it takes to collect and report the information in relation to the specificity and timeliness requirements the commander and staff articulated with the LTIOV.

4-19. SIRs help the intelligence staff determine the right combinations of collection assets to provide the timely, specific, and relevant information required. SIRs also ensure that information collection taskings correlate with the PIRs and priorities for information collection. In addition, SIRs allow collection assets to work in combinations timed to achieve efficient results and reduce the possibility of being fooled by threat denial and deception efforts.

4-20. SIRs are developed for each information collection asset based on the capabilities of the asset and the expected threat activity. SIRs provide specific information about specific threat activity (or lack thereof) at specific locations. SIRs help collection assets provide information specific and timely enough to make a difference in answering the PIRs.

DEVELOP SUPPORTING TOOLS

4-21. The supporting tools are developed by the intelligence staff to help the operations staff develop the information collection plan. Both staffs work closely together to ensure the collection plan is synchronized with the concept of operations and updated as the concept of operations changes. Chapter 7 contains sample information collection matrices and information collection overlays for offensive, defensive, and stability missions. Supporting tools are—

The information collection matrix.
The information collection synchronization matrix.
The information collection overlay.

INFORMATION COLLECTION MATRIX

4-22. The information collection matrix links PIRs with indicators, SIRs, NAIs, and TAIs. Constructed in a spreadsheet format and including individual work sheets as required, the matrix provides detailed collection and reporting requirements. The information collection matrix is not a tasking document. Although not published as part of the order, the matrix is a key tool used by both the intelligence staff and the operations staff in executing the information collection plan. It is maintained on the unit Web page and assists the intelligence staff in synchronizing internal information collection activities across echelons.

4-23. To create the information collection matrix, the intelligence staff requires several outputs from the MDMP. Initial and subsequent refinements to the following are required to complete the requirements matrix:

Concept of operations. The concept of operations is a statement that directs the manner in which subordinate units cooperate to accomplish the mission and establishes the sequence of actions the force uses to achieve the end state (ADRP 5-0).
Commander’s guidance for information collection. The concept of operations, coupled with the commander’s guidance for information collection, provides the intelligence staff with how the commander intends to use information collection to support the concept of operations.
Commander’s critical information requirements. CCIRs, mainly PIRs, are those requirements for which the information collection plan provides timely answers.
Initial task organization. The initial task organization depicts assets available that the intelligence staff may consider requesting for tasking by the operations staff.
Apportionment, allocation, and distribution of Army and joint aerial assets.
- Apportionment. The joint force commander determines the apportionment of aerial assets. Apportionment, in the general sense, is distribution of forces and capabilities as the starting point

for planning, etc. (JP 5-0). Specific apportionments (such as, air sorties and forces) are described as apportionment of air sorties and forces for planning. (See JP 5-0.) Apportionment (air) is determination and assignment of the total expected effort by percentage and/or by priority that should be devoted to various air operations for a given period of time. (See JP 5-0.)

Allocation. The joint force air component commander takes that apportionment and turns it into sorties to support priority ground forces in accordance with the joint force commander’s intent. This process is called allocation, which is the distribution of limited forces and resources for employment among competing requirements (JP 5-0). Allocation (air) is the translation of the air apportionment decision into total numbers of sorties by aircraft type available for each operation or task. Thus, a corps or division is allocated joint ISR sorties.
Distribution. When the corps or division sends its allocated sorties to subordinate units, normally via the air support operations center or a tactical air control party, this process is called distribution. The distribution of joint assets provides additional information collection capabilities for inclusion into the information collection plan.

INFORMATION COLLECTION SYNCHRONIZATION MATRIX

4-24. The intelligence staff uses the information collection synchronization matrix to synchronize information collection tasks with the current threat assessment and friendly concept of operations. This product and process can synchronize and communicate information collection tasks horizontally and vertically across commands. However, it does not provide the detail needed to perform control of information collection assets through technical channels.

4-25. Figure 4-2 on pages 4-8 and 4-9 displays an example of an information collection synchronization matrix. The intelligence staff uses this matrix to accomplish the following:

Ensure collection tasks are tied to the concept of operations in time and space, effectively linking information collection to it. The matrix is typically constructed in spreadsheet format and accompanied by an information collection overlay that graphically depicts the information the matrix contains.
Synchronize information collection tasks the same way the operations staff uses the maneuver synchronization matrix to synchronize the overall unit scheme of maneuver.
When necessary, brief the information collection plan and overlay to specific information collection assets. (This usually is done during operations predominated by stability tasks.)

4-26. Intelligence staffs develop and modify the matrix based on the current intelligence running estimate, enemy situation overlay, stated requirements, and event template or matrix. The matrix generally has five parts:

Threat timeline.
Friendly timeline.
Information collection focus.
Collection assets.
Coverage timeline.

4-27. The information collection synchronization matrix coordinates the collection strategy with the planned friendly and predicted threat operations. The matrix depicts the NAIs from the event template and reflects timelines of expected threat activity from the event template and matrix. The matrix also provides the basic structure for completion of the information collection plan and is tied to a decision or decision points for the impending operation.

INFORMATION COLLECTION OVERLAY

4-28. The operations staff issues an information collection overlay depicting the information collection plan in graphic form as an appendix to annex L (Information Collection) to the operation order. (See figure 7-3 on page 7-5 and figure 7-6 on page 7-9.) Typical items on the overlay include—

Friendly boundaries and phase lines.
Reconnaissance handover lines.
NAIs and TAIs.
Limits of advance and limits of reconnaissance. (Limits of reconnaissance are constraints derived from higher headquarters orders that may designate a limit of advance affecting reconnaissance units. See FM 3-55.)
Counter reconnaissance areas.
Fire support coordination measures.
Graphics depicting zone, area, or route reconnaissance missions.
Route start points, release points, infiltration lanes, and checkpoints.
Primary and alternate observation post locations.
Ambulance exchange points and logistic release points.
Planned or existing obstacles.
Scan sectors for sensors.
UAS flight paths.
Retransmission locations.

PLANNING REQUIREMENTS BRIEFING TOOL

4-29. Many units create a graphic version of the planning requirements function for briefing purposes. The planning requirements briefing tool combines the information collection synchronization matrix, information collection overlay, and PIRs into one product.

WORKING AIDS FOR CREATING TOOLS

4-30. The intelligence staff uses several working aids that assist in creating planning requirements tools. Normally developed and refined during the MDMP, these working aids are not contained within the requirements planning tools or information collection plan.

NAMED AREA OF INTEREST MATRIX

4-31. The NAI matrix is used to synchronize information collection missions with NAIs or TAIs. The purpose of the NAI matrix is to ensure information collection assets are tasked to cover critical NAIs and TAIs during anticipated times of activity. (See figure 4-4 on page 4-12.)

NAMED AREA OF INTEREST WORK SHEET

4-32. For each NAI, the operations and intelligence staffs develop observation times and a task, a purpose, and SIRs for assets conducting information collection missions involving it. This information may be consolidated on an NAI work sheet. (See figure 4-5 on page 4-13.) It is crucial to focus the task on a clearly defined and achievable purpose.

NAMED AREA OF INTEREST OVERLAY

4-33. An NAI overlay visually depicts NAI locations. (See figure 4-6 on page 4-14.) The NAI overlay may also contain the task and purpose (what and why) of the NAI.

Chapter 5

Assessing Collection

5-1. Assessment is determination of the progress toward accomplishing a task, creating a condition, or achieving an objective (JP 3-0). Commanders, assisted by their staffs and subordinate commanders, continuously assess the operational environment, the progress of the operation, and the information collected by the assets executing the information collection plan. Based on their assessment, commanders direct adjustments to the information collection plan, thus ensuring the plan remains focused on providing information and intelligence products to assist in decisionmaking. Assessing collection involves assessing the information collection plan and assessing tactical task execution.

ASSESSING THE INFORMATION COLLECTION PLAN

5-2. The commander and staff continuously evaluate the information collection plan based on the assessment of results from reconnaissance missions, surveillance tasks, intelligence operations, and security operations. Collection assessment is particularly important during execution because situations change rapidly. Evaluation identifies updates required to keep the information collection plan synchronized with the overall operation. Together, commanders and staffs determine if CCIRs have been satisfied or are still relevant:

If CCIRs have been satisfied or are no longer relevant, they are eliminated from the information collection plan.
If CCIRs have not been satisfied but are still relevant, the intelligence staff coordinates with the operations staff during operations and intelligence working group meetings for additional assets and/or recommends adjustments to the current coverage.

5-3. The operations staff is deeply involved in assessing the operation as a whole and looks to the operations and intelligence working group’s assessment of the information collection effort to assist in that assessment. Assessment is one of the working group’s continuing activities to support directing and collecting. (See FM 3-55.) It is particularly important in enabling the evaluation of the information collection plan.

ASSESSING TACTICAL TASK EXECUTION

5-4. The staff performs the following steps when assessing the execution of tactical tasks:

Monitor the tactical situation.
Screen reporting to ensure the completion of tasks.
Correlate reporting to requirements.
Provide feedback to assets.
Maintain synchronization with operations.
Cue assets to other collection opportunities.
Recommend retasking of assets.

MONITOR THE TACTICAL SITUATION

5-5. Staffs track the progress of the operation against requirements and the information collection plan. The operation seldom progresses on the timelines assumed during planning and staff wargaming. The staff watches for changes in tempo that require changes in reporting times, such as LTIOVs. The intelligence and operations staffs coordinate any changes with all parties concerned, including commanders and appropriate staff elements.

SCREEN REPORTING TO ENSURE THE COMPLETION OF TASKS

5-6. The staff screens reporting to determine whether each collection task has been satisfied and screens each report for the following criteria:

Relevance. Does the collected information actually answer the requirements associated with the information collection task? If not, can this information be used to satisfy other requirements?
Completeness. Is essential information missing? (Refer to the original information collection task.)
Timeliness.HastheassetreportedbytheLTIOVestablishedintheoriginaltask?
Opportunities for cueing. Can this asset or another asset take advantage of new information to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the overall information collection effort? If the report suggests an opportunity to cue other assets, the intelligence and operations staffs immediately cue them and record any new requirements in the appropriate planning requirements tool.

CORRELATE REPORTING TO REQUIREMENTS

5-7. The staff tracks which specific information collection task originates from which requirement to ensure the collected information is provided to the original requester and to all who need the information. For efficiency and timeliness, the staff ensures production tasks are linked to requirements. This allows the staff to determine which requirements have been satisfied and which require additional collection.

5-8. The staff addresses the following potential challenges:

Large volumes of information that could inundate the intelligence analysis staff element. The intelligence staff may have trouble correlating each report to a requirement.
Routing information from reports that have nothing to do with the collection task to tasks the information might satisfy.
Reports that do not refer to the task that drove the collection mission.
Circular reporting or unnecessary message traffic that wastes valuable time.

5-9. Correlating information reporting to the original requirement and evaluating reports is key to

effective requirements management. This quality control effort helps the staff ensure timely satisfaction of requirements. Requirements management includes dissemination of reporting and related information to original requesters and other users.

PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO ASSETS

5-10. The staff provides feedback to all collection assets on their mission effectiveness and to analysis elements on their production. Normally this feedback is given to the military intelligence leader or commander of the asset or staff element. Feedback reinforces whether collection or production satisfies the original task or request and provides guidance if it does not. Feedback is essential to maintaining information collection effectiveness and alerting leaders of deficiencies to be corrected.

5-11. Running estimates are important tools for assessing the information collection plan. They inform the staff of the status of collection on the CCIRs. Running estimates are even more effective when compared with previous estimates that refer to the same time period. This rates the accuracy and relevancy of the prediction to what actually occurred.

MAINTAIN SYNCHRONIZATION WITH OPERATIONS

5-12. As execution progresses, the staff refines the estimate of when information is needed (the LTIOV, based on the decision point timeline in the order) with when the information is actually required. The staff stays alert to the need for recommending changes in the information collection plan because of these refinements. As the need for changes arises, the intelligence staff coordinates with the appropriate command post cells and staff elements to update products as required to refine the information collection plan. This may be as simple as updating timelines, or it may require that these products be completely redone. Sometimes it may require retasking information collection assets.

CUE ASSETS TO OTHER COLLECTION OPPORTUNITIES

5-13. The intelligence and operations staffs track the status of information collection assets, cueing them as necessary and teaming assets as appropriate. Cueing allows assets to take advantage of new information to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their collection. For example, if a Soldier reports hearing tracked vehicles but cannot observe the vehicles due to the terrain, a UAS can be cued to observe the area for the presence of tracked vehicles.

RECOMMEND RETASKING OF ASSETS

5-14. Retasking is assigning an information collection asset a new task and purpose. It is done—

Upon completion of its initial requirement.
After the LTIOV, if the original requirement has not been satisfied and the LTIOV cannot be adjusted.
On order to support a branch or sequel.
To respond to variances in the situation. (SeeADRP5-0.)

5-15. The operations staff issues orders to retask assets, normally in consultation with the intelligence staff for assets controlled by the unit. In cases where the intelligence staff is coordinating with higher headquarters for additional assets, the intelligence staff may transmit the request for retasking resources, but the operations staff typically follows up through operations channels to the higher headquarters.

Chapter 6
Updating Planning Requirements Tools

STAFF ACTIONS DURING EXECUTION

6-1. Evaluation and assessment of collection reporting, production, and dissemination together identify updates required to keep information collection activities synchronized with the overall operation. As the tactical situation changes, the staff adjusts the planning requirements tools to effect this synchronization. This optimizes the collection and exploitation effort.

6-2. Determining satisfied requirements allows the staff to redirect assets to unfulfilled requirements. Whether modifying reporting requirements because of new reporting criteria, new or modified PIRs, loss of an asset, or changes in the mission, the staff recommends modifications to the information collection plan to fit the commander’s needs. During modification of the information collection plan, the following considerations should be addressed:

What assets need to be shifted?
What is the new collection requirement?
What is the target location?
Must the asset move to a new location?
What is the risk of moving the asset? Is the risk worth the potential gain of information?
Does the collector functionally match the collection requirement based on the collector’s capabilities?
What and when does the collector report?
How does the collector report?
To whom does the collector report?

6-3. Updated IPB products and running estimates can be used as a baseline for refocusing the information collection effort. Information collection assets are retasked as appropriate for subsequent missions. Requirements are constantly updated to ensure information collection efforts are synchronized with current operations while also supporting future operations planning. As requirements are answered, the information collection plan and planning requirements tools are updated.

6-4. After receiving input from the commander and staff, the intelligence staff synchronizes new requirements with ongoing information collection activities and recommends adjustments to the information collection plan to the operations staff. The following steps are performed when updating planning requirements tools:

Eliminate satisfied requirements.
Develop and add new requirements.
Transition to the next operation.

6-5. These steps are collaborative efforts by the intelligence and operations staffs. Some steps predominately engage the intelligence staff while others engage the operations staff. Steps may require coordination with other staff elements, and the entire intelligence and operations working group may be engaged, at times.

PART THREE

Considerations for Specific Tasks and Unique Environments

Chapter 7

Considerations for Offensive, Defensive, and Stability Tasks

SUCCESS AND DECISIONMAKING DURING EXECUTION

7-1. The techniques associated with information collection do not drastically differ whether conducting offensive, defensive, or stability tasks. The difference lies in the tempo at which offensive and defensive tasks are conducted versus the tempo at which stability tasks are conducted. In operations where offensive and defensive tasks predominate, the activities of the operations process and commander’s decisionmaking are accelerated to match the quickly changing conditions.

7-2. Commanders and staffs follow the rapid decisionmaking and synchronization process to make decisions during execution. It is routinely employed when the MDMP not timely enough for mission execution. This technique is used by leaders to focus on executing rather than planning. The rapid decisionmaking and synchronization process is based on an existing order and seeks an acceptable solution, while the MDMP seeks an optimal solution. (See FM 6-0.)

7-3. Success in stability tasks is measured in far different terms from success in the offense and defense. Time may be the ultimate arbiter of a stability mission’s success: time to bring safety and security to an embattled populace; time to provide for the essential, immediate humanitarian needs of the people; time to restore basic public order and a semblance of normalcy to life; and time to rebuild the institutions of government and market economy that provide the foundations for enduring peace and stability.

ECHELONED APPROACH AND INTELLIGENCE HANDOVER LINES

7-4. In the offense or defense, the commander attacks or defends in depth. Information collection adopts this principle by using a phased, echeloned approach to collecting information to satisfy requirements. Each echelon conducting information collection plays a critical role in the success of any military operation. There are interdependencies at each echelon for the horizontal and vertical integration of collected information and the resulting intelligence, sensor feeds, and reporting in support to commanders and staffs. Interdependent relationships exist from the lowest tactical echelon to the highest strategic-level agencies and centers; no one echelon can do it all. Commanders require intelligence operations to provide information that is timely, accurate, relevant, and in sufficient detail to enable situational understanding and effective decisionmaking.

7-5. In the offense and defense, units should use an intelligence handover line to effect the echeloned approach. The intelligence handover line is a control measure that establishes areas within which each echelon is responsible for collecting information. It is much like a limit of reconnaissance and based on the unit’s AO.

OFFENSIVE TASK CONSIDERATIONS

7-9. An offensive task is a task conducted to defeat or destroy enemy forces and seize terrain, resources, and population centers (ADRP 3-0). The purpose of the offense is to impose the commander’s will on the enemy. Figures 7-2 on page 7-4, 7-3 on page 7-5, and 7-4 on page 7-7 depict samples of an event template, an information collection overlay, and part of an information collection matrix associated with an offensive task. Conducting offensive tasks may—

Deprive the threat of resources.
Seize decisive terrain.
Deceive or divert the threat.
Develop intelligence.
Fix a threat in position.

7-10. Offensive tasks are either force-oriented or terrain-oriented. Force-oriented tasks focus on the threat. Terrain-oriented tasks focus on seizing and retaining control of the terrain and facilities. A commander’s information requirements for offensive tasks commonly include—

Locations, composition, equipment, strengths, and weaknesses of the defending enemy force, including high-payoff targets and enemy information collection capabilities.
Locations of possible enemy assembly areas.
Locations of enemy in direct-fire weapons systems and units.
Locations of gaps and assailable flanks.
Locations of landing zones for friendly and enemy air assaults.
Locations of enemy air defense gun and missile systems.
Locations of enemy electronic warfare systems.
Effects of weather and terrain on current and projected operations.
Numbers, routes, and direction of movement of dislocated civilians.
Withdrawal routes for enemy forces.
Anticipated timelines for the enemy’s most likely course of action and other probable courses of action.
Locations of enemy command posts, fire direction control centers, electronic warfare sites, and target acquisition sensor and target fusion sites and the frequencies they are using.

7-12. Figure 7-4 shows a sample information collection matrix for a PIR associated with an offensive task. Information collection matrices for all decisive action tasks display information as follows:

Column 1 states the PIR. Units may determine that the best way to manage the requirements matrix is for each sheet to contain one PIR. This technique provides a single page containing the collection strategy for each PIR.
Column2 contains indicators associated with the PIR. (See paragraphs 3-29 through 3-31.)
Column 3 contains SIRs associated with each indicator. Each requirement, coupled with the collection strategy, should contain all information needed by the intelligence staff to develop supporting SIRs. As the intelligence staff develops SIRs, the staff should coordinate the BCT, division, and corps intelligence and operations staffs, including supporting analysts, to gain an understanding of the specifics required to support planning. One technique is for intelligence staffs to develop SIR sets while operations staffs develop the collection strategy for each requirement and the general scheme of maneuver. (See paragraphs 3-29 through 3-31.)
Column 4 contains the NAIs or TAIs associated with each SIR. NAIs and TAIs each have an associated task and purpose statement explaining what is to be conducted by the observer and why it is essential for accomplishment. The staff may develop several types of NAIs based on the situation in the AO and the types of activity for observation. When conducting a counterinsurgency, the following types of NAIs may be appropriate:
Counter-improvised explosive device NAIs—NAIs at tier-1 locations where improvised explosive device emplacement typically occurs.
Support zones—NAIs (Names Areas of Interest) at locations where insurgent groups have unlimited freedom of movement and where caches, safe houses, and other supplies are located.
High-value individual NAIs—NAIs at targeted high-value individuals’ pattern of life locations.
Infrastructure—NAIs at key infrastructure locations.
Column5 contains the starting time and ending time for collection. These times are based on the LTIOV and the capabilities and limitations of available information collection assets. Additionally, the time required to process and exploit the collected information (for example, translation of SIGINT intercepts, exploitation of imagery, drafting of HUMINT reports) is considered when developing the collection end time. The LTIOV is the absolute latest time the information can be used by the commander in making the decision the PIR supports. The LTIOV can be linked to time, an event, or a point in the operation.
Remaining columns contain organic resources available for the intelligence staff to recommend for tasking by the operations staff. Also included are requested collection resources whose support has been confirmed by higher headquarters.

STABILITY TASK CONSIDERATIONS

7-16. Stability is an overarching term encompassing various military missions, tasks, and activities conducted outside the United States in coordination with other instruments of national power to maintain or reestablish a safe and secure environment, provide essential government services, emergency infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief. (See JP 3-0.) Stability tasks address societal factors that may affect accomplishing a mission. In operations where these tasks predominate, these tasks are often key, if not essential, tasks. One example is when Army forces conduct stability tasks to support a host-nation or an interim government or as part of a transitional military authority when no government exists. Another is a mission where stability tasks help to establish or maintain a safe and secure environment by training or resourcing the host-nation security forces and facilitating reconciliation among local or regional adversaries. Figures 7-8 on page 7-12, 7-9 on page 7-13, and 7-10 on page 7-14 show a sample event template, information collection overlay, and information collection matrix associated with a stability task.

7-17. Information needed to accomplish stability tasks usually falls under the civil considerations mission variable. However the wide variety of societies and cultures Army forces may encounter precludes establishing a single checklist of factors to consider. That said, the following list provides a starting point for organizing this information into categories:

Culture and customs.
Threats and adversaries, such as criminals and insurgents.
Formal and informal leaders.
How people communicate.
Civil services.
Other aspects of a society.

7-18. The information collection effort provides information the entire staff uses to provide products and assessments to support situational understanding. For each stability mission, information collection is focused to provide the relevant information the commander and staff require to make decisions. The following is a basic (but not all-inclusive) description of what the information collection effort does to support conducting stability tasks:

Identify insurgents, threats, adversaries, and other impediments to the unit’s accomplishment of its mission.
Identify the natural or manmade hazards that exist with the unit’s AO.
Provide the foundational information needed to assess the establishment of a safe and secure environment.
Identify areas of conflict among social, religious, or ethnic groups within the AO. This must be done by city to be most effective.
Identify the areas of conflict among local, regional, and national organizations, groups, and factions, and how these are tied to political, social, and economic unrest.
Identify unofficial, religious, and political leaders locally, regionally, and nationally.
Provide the information needed to assess the effectiveness of civil-military operations projects.
Identify the newspaper, radio, and television services that service populations within the AO, including their ranges and any specific ethnic, religious, or political affiliation.
Provide the information needed to assess the establishment or rebuilding of political, legal, social, and economic institutions.
Provide the information needed to assess the ability of the legitimate civil authority to assume responsibility for governance.
Constant awareness and shared understanding of civil considerations are crucial to the long-term success of stability tasks. The intelligence staff classifies civil considerations into logical groups (such as, tribal, political, religious, ethnic, and government) based on the mission and situation. This information is refined further by the information collected during collection activities. These groups are evaluated, graphically portrayed, maintained, and updated. Because the populace is rarely homogeneous, sentiments exhibited by different population segments may vary in different geographical areas.
Commanders typically visualize stability tasks along lines of effort. A line of effort is a line that links multiple tasks using the logic of purpose rather than geographical reference to focus efforts toward establishing operational and strategic conditions (ADRP 3-0). For stability tasks, commanders may consider linking primary stability tasks to their corresponding line of effort.

DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES TASK CONSIDERATIONS

7-19. Army defense support of civil authorities operations encompass all support provided by the components of the Army to civil authorities within the United States and its possessions and territories. This includes support provided by the Regular Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. Army forces frequently conduct defense support of civil authorities operations in response to requests from federal, state, local, and tribal authorities for domestic incidents, emergencies, disasters, designated law enforcement support, and other domestic activities. (See ADRP 3-28.)

7-20. When Army intelligence personnel, assets, or capabilities are needed to provide intelligence support to defense support of civil authorities operations, specific authorization from the Secretary of Defense is required for both the mission and use of those military intelligence resources. The Secretary of Defense authorization will stipulate that a military intelligence element supporting defense support of civil authorities operations is subject to Executive Order 12333, applicable Department of Defense and Service regulations and policies, and intelligence oversight rules, as well as any other mission-specific restrictions.

Chapter 8
Considerations for Unique Environments

SIGNIFICANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

8-1. The geographic range of U.S. interests in the world today requires Army forces to be prepared to fight and win in all types of environments. Army tactical units may be committed to battle in areas where severe weather, climate, and terrain affect military operations, including the intelligence mission. In addition to the physical effects on the individual Soldier, environmental extremes limit information collection capabilities. Regardless of environmental conditions, commanders need information for decisionmaking. This chapter covers environments in which operations may require special tactics, techniques, or equipment.

SUPPORT IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

8-2. Urban operations are military operations conducted in a topographical complex and adjacent natural terrain where manmade construction and high population density are the dominant features.

INFORMATION SOURCES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

8-3. As in any environment, every Soldier in an urban environment is an information collector. Soldiers conducting patrols, manning observation posts, manning checkpoints, or even convoying supplies along a main supply route can serve as the commander’s eyes and ears. The challenge for intelligence professionals is to understand what types of information Soldiers performing different tasks and missions can provide to an understanding of the overall situation, how to get them to report, and how to leverage that information into situational understanding.

8-4. This discussion briefly addresses some of the types of information Soldiers with different specialties can provide to the intelligence staff during urban operations. It is essential to properly brief Soldiers so they are aware of their information collection tasks prior to their missions and to debrief them immediately upon completion of their missions. Prompt debriefing captures information while it is still current in their minds. It also places the information into the intelligence system sooner, increasing the likelihood that it can be used for further action. Some examples of debriefing techniques are listed in FM 2-91.6. This cycle (brief- mission-debrief-intelligence/understanding of the current situation) is continuous throughout operations.

INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

8-6. The fluid nature of the urban environment creates a need for reliable and timely intelligence. Information needed to develop this intelligence is difficult to acquire. The effects of concentrations of buildings on information collection efforts, the complexity and difficulty of providing specific details on the urban threat, and the lack of cultural information can compound the challenges to the collection of information in an urban environment.

8-7. With knowledge of U.S. collection techniques, threats can use the environment to impede information collection efforts. The amount of detail that needs to be collected in the urban environment and constant attention to focusing on the details that are significant in urban analysis in a particular situation creates further challenges for intelligence professionals. Current analysis tools and methods must be appropriately focused and developed to the level of detail required for the urban environment.

Table 8-3. Considerations for intelligence operations in an urban environment (continued)

Open-source intelligence

Academia. Courseware, dissertations, lectures, presentations, research papers, and studies in both hardcopy and softcopy on economics, geography (physical, cultural, and political-military), international relations, regional security, science, and technology.
Governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organizations. Databases, posted information, and printed reports on a wide variety of economic, environmental, geographic, humanitarian, security, science, and technology issues.
Commercial and public information services. Broadcasted, posted, and printed news on current international, regional, and local topics.
Libraries and research centers. Printed documents and digital databases on a range of topics, as well as knowledge and skills in information retrieval.
Individuals and groups. Handwritten, painted, posted, printed, and broadcasted information (for example, art, graffiti, leaflets, posters, and Web sites).
The Internet offers quick access to numerous types of information on urban environments, such as Intelink.

Cyber-enabled intelligence is a complementary intelligence capability providing the ability to collect information and produce unique intelligence. Cyber-enabled intelligence is produced through the combination of intelligence analysis and the collaboration of information concerning activity in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum. The use of cyber-enabled intelligence facilitates an understanding of the threat’s—

Potential actions.
Impact on the environment.

Appendix A
Joint, National, and Multinational Planning

JOINT INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS

A-1. Joint intelligence supports joint operations by providing critical information and finished intelligence products to the combatant command, subordinate Service and functional component commands, and subordinate joint forces. Commanders at all levels depend on timely, accurate information and intelligence on a number of an adversary’s dispositions: among them, strategy, tactics, intent, objectives, strengths, weaknesses, values, capabilities, and critical vulnerabilities. Joint intelligence must focus on the commander’s mission and concept of operations.

A-2. An understanding of joint ISR is required to understand the relationship of Army intelligence operations and information collection to joint ISR.

JOINT INTELLIGENCE PROCESS

A-4. Joint doctrine defines intelligence operations differently from Army doctrine. Joint doctrine defines intelligence operations as the variety of intelligence and counterintelligence tasks that are carried out by various intelligence organizations and activities within the intelligence process (JP 2-0). The joint intelligence process describes how the various types of joint intelligence operations interact to meet the commander’s intelligence needs. The process includes the following intelligence operations:

Planning and direction.
Processing and exploitation.
Analysis and production.
Dissemination and integration.
Evaluation and feedback.

JOINT TERMINOLOGY

A-5. Service-specific and joint terms describing management of information collection may differ, based on the respective Service. In joint intelligence doctrine, collection management is the process of converting intelligence requirements into collection requirements, establishing priorities, tasking or coordinating with appropriate collection sources or agencies, monitoring results, and retasking as required (JP 2-0). In the joint lexicon, collection management has two distinct functions: collection requirements management and collection operations management.

A-6. Collection requirements management—

- Defines what intelligence systems must collect.
- Focuses on the requirements of the customer.
- Is all-source- (all-intelligence-discipline-) oriented and advocates (provides and supports) what information is necessary for collection.

A-7. Collection operations management—

- Specifies how to satisfy the requirement.
- Focuses on the selection of specific intelligence disciplines and specific systems within a discipline to collect information addressing customers’ requirements.
- Is conducted by organizations to determine which collection assets can best satisfy customers’ product requests.

A-8. Collection requirements management and collection operations management are performed at all joint levels. Each level interacts with levels above and below, as well as among units, agencies, and organizations on the same level. The further up the chain of command, the broader the perspective and scope of responsibility; the lower the chain of command, the more specific the function and narrower the scope. Organizations possessing collection assets or resources perform collection operations management.

A-9. Tasking, processing, exploitation, and dissemination (also called TPED) is the joint expression used to describe associated activities that support a joint task force commander’s collection strategy and subsequent ISR operations. Similarly, Army intelligence officers consider the analysis, production, and dissemination effort as part of planning requirements and assessing collection. Much of tasking, processing, exploitation, and dissemination occurs outside the theater of operations via reachback (what the Army calls intelligence reach) and is distributed through the intelligence architecture so requirements do not overwhelm in-theater assets. Service organizations and joint organizations provide reachback capabilities to forward-deployed joint forces. Service organizations include the National Ground Intelligence Center, National Maritime Intelligence Center, Marine Corps Intelligence Agency, and the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency (which includes the National Air and Space Intelligence Center). Joint organizations include the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Center for Medical Intelligence.

A-10. Two other important joint terms are collection asset and collection resource. A collection asset is a collection system, platform, or capability that is supporting, assigned, or attached to a particular commander (JP 2-01). A collection resource is a collection system, platform, or capability that is not assigned or attached to a specific unit or echelon which must be requested and coordinated through the chain of command (JP 2-01). A collection asset is subordinate to the requesting unit or echelon, while a collection resource is not.

A-11. In joint collection management, all requests for support (collection) are referred to as target nominations. From the joint collection resource perspective, an NAI or TAI is a target for collection. Target nomination boards are responsible for prioritizing collection requests and allocating resources against those requirements.

JOINT COLLECTION MANAGEMENT PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS

A-18. In joint collection management operations, the collection manager, in coordination with the operations directorate, forwards collection requirements to the Service component commander exercising tactical control over joint force ISR assets. A mission tasking order is issued to the unit selected as responsible for the collection operation. The selected unit, sometimes called the mission manager, makes the final choice of specific platforms, equipment, and personnel required for the collection operation, based on operational considerations, such as, maintenance, schedules, training, and experience.

COLLECTION MANAGEMENT MISSION APPLICATIONS

A-19. Collection Management Mission Applications is a Web-centric information system architecture that incorporates existing programs and is sponsored by several commands, Services, and agencies. It provides tools for recording, gathering, organizing, and tracking intelligence collection requirements for all intelligence disciplines. It facilitates the rapid and secure exchange of collection management data and applications and provide

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT TEAMS

A-23. National intelligence support teams are formed at the request of a deployed joint task force commander. These teams comprise intelligence and communication experts from the Defense Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and other agencies, as required to support the joint force commander’s specific needs. The Joint Staff intelligence directorate is the executive agent for the national intelligence support team program and has delegated this mission to the Deputy Directorate for Crisis Operations (also called the J-2O). This office manages daily operations and interagency coordination for all teams. The Defense Intelligence Agency is the executive agent for all national intelligence support team operations. Once on station, a team supplies a steady stream of agency intelligence on local conditions and potential threats. Mission needs dictate the team’s size and composition.

A-24. National intelligence support team personnel are often sent to support corps- or division-level organizations. However, during recent operations, national agencies placed personnel at the BCT level.

NATIONAL PLANNING RESOURCES

A-25. The following national databases and Intelink sites contain information applicable to the IPB process and planning. They should be reviewed and evaluated to determine the availability of current data, information, and intelligence products that might answer intelligence or information requirements:

Modernized Integrated Data Base. Accessible via Intelink, this database contains current, worldwide and theater threat characteristics (previously order of battle factors). This data is organized by country, unit, facility, and equipment.
National Exploitation System. Managed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and accessible via Intelink, this resource permits users to—
- Research the availability of imagery coverage over targets of interest.
- Access historical national imagery archives and imagery intelligence reports.
Country knowledge bases and crisis home pages. Many combatant commands and joint force commands have Intelink Web sites containing the best and most up-to-date intelligence products available from the intelligence community.
SIGINT On-line Information System. This resource is a database containing current and historical finished SIGINT products.
Secure Analyst File Environment. This resource comprises structured data files. The following databases are accessible:

Intelligence Report Index Summary File. This resource contains index records and the full text of current and historical intelligence information reports.
All-Source Document Index. This resource contains index records and abstracts for hardcopy all-source intelligence documents produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

HUMINT collection requirements. This is a registry of all validated HUMINT requirements and tasking.
Modernized Defense Intelligence Threat Data System. This resource is a collection of analytical tools that support the retrieval and analysis of information and intelligence related to counterintelligence, indications and warning, and counterterrorism.
Community On-Line Intelligence System for End-users and Managers. This database application (also called COLISEUM), allows users to identify and track the status of all validated crisis and noncrisis intelligence production requirements.

ALLIANCES

A-34. Army units frequently perform intelligence operations in a multinational environment within the structure of an alliance, which presents many additional challenges for intelligence personnel. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (also called NATO) and the United Nations Command in the Republic of Korea are examples of highly structured and enduring alliances. Intelligence architectures, organizations, and procedures are well defined in alliances. Therefore, Army staffs must learn to operate within the parameters of an alliance, maintaining SOPs and standards in accordance with their unit policies but also complying with the alliance’s standardized agreements.

A-35. An alliance’s existing international standardization agreements (for example, NATO standardization agreements [also called STANAGs]) establish rules and policies for conducting joint intelligence operations. Since each multinational operation has unique aspects, such standing agreements may have to be modified or amended based on the situation. However, these agreements provide a starting point for establishing policies for a specific operation.

Similarities and Differences

A-41. There are differences in intelligence doctrine and procedures among multinational partners. A key to effective multinational intelligence is extensive coordination, training, and liaison, beginning with the highest levels of command, to make the adjustments required to resolve these differences:

Major differences may include—

How intelligence is provided to the commander (jointly or by individual Services or agencies).
Procedures for sharing information among intelligence agencies.
The degree of security afforded by different communication systems and procedures.

Administrative differences that need to be addressed may include—

Classification levels.
Personnel security clearance standards.
Requirements for access to sensitive intelligence.
Translation requirements.

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