One-Stop Shop for Intelligence
Written by INSCOM Public Affairs Office
In the Army, INSCOM is the only outfit charged with
coordinating intelligence efforts for the military
commanders and national decision-makers.
Now more than ever, U.S. military and civilian leaders around the world rely on accurate, timely and focused intelligence information to make strategic and tactical real-time decisions that directly impact military and civilian personnel in hundreds of locations worldwide.
This has never been more critical to mission success than today, as hundreds of thousands of military, civil service and contract employees are deployed globally supporting contingency and strategic military operations.
One-Stop Shop for Intelligence
While there are many ways to collect intelligence, much of the information-gathering techniques used by the Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) rely on geospatial technology and applications.
If troops are planning to assault a building believed to house a large number of known terrorists, their commander will want to know some basic information to plan his assault: What are the terrorists’ names? What do they look like? What are they wanted for? How many people live there? What type of security do they use? Are there weapons in the house? Are there any non-combatants in the house or nearby? Do the residents follow a schedule? How do they communicate? What are the safest routes to and from the location? How will we identify the terrorists once we assault the house?
This is a very basic example of battlefield intelligence requests, but the implication of the desired information is significant. The accuracy and reliability of the responses could be the difference between mission success and unintended harm to civilians or jeopardizing the safety of coalition personnel.
All of these questions and more are answered daily by highly trained intelligence professionals equipped with the most advanced systems and training techniques available today. Any combination of intelligence methods may be used to collect, analyze and employ the requested information.
Traditional intelligence methods, including human and counterintelligence, work well in providing this type of information to mission planners. But more recent technology allows intelligence professionals to capitalize on an array of digital tools that quickly and reliably collect realtime data, compare data over time and provide with confidence the most accurate information to commanders and decision-makers in the field.
COORDINATING OUTFIT
In the Army, INSCOM is the only outfit charged with coordinating intelligence efforts for military commanders and national decision-makers. INSCOM is strategically designed to provide military commanders around the world with multidisciplined intelligence support tailored to specific mission needs. Its personnel provide everything from signal and human intelligence, to linguists, to scientific and technical intelligence and information assurance.
Their efforts are coordinated with organizations such as the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and other military and government entities.
There is no way to overstate the value of the INSCOM personnel’s work and the direct impact their efforts have on the effectiveness and safety of real-world missions for Americans and coalition partners around the world.
“We’re the Army’s one-stop shop for intelligence,” said INSCOM Command Sergeant Major Joseph J. Paul. “INSCOM is the part of the Army’s force that brings intelligence down to the tactical user, and from that tactical level, all the way up to national consumers.”
Charged with providing the warfighter the actionable intelligence needed to understand the battlefield and to focus and leverage combat power, INSCOM collects intelligence information in all disciplines. INSCOM also conducts a wide range of production activities, from intelligence preparation of the battlefield to situation development, signals intelligence analysis, imagery exploitation and science and technology intelligence production. The command has major responsibilities in the areas of counterintelligence and force protection, electronic warfare, information warfare and support to force modernization and training.
Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., INSCOM is a global command with major subordinate commands that tailor their support to the specific needs of different theaters.
The command synchronizes the intelligence operations of all INSCOM elements to ensure multidisciplined intelligence support to theater/component warfighters, the intelligence community and other national agencies. INSCOM has 10 subordinate commands and a variety of smaller units with personnel dispersed worldwide.
“INSCOM conducts multidisciplined intelligence operations and cyber network operations around the world,” said Major General David B. Lacquement, INSCOM’s commanding general. “We have personnel in approximately 180 different locations. Truly, the sun never sets on INSCOM.”
INSCOM was organized in 1977, with its headquarters at Arlington Hall Station, Va. Its mission was to support the Army by conducting intelligence, counterintelligence, and electronic warfare operations at the echelon above corps level. The command consisted of field stations located around the globe, multidisciplined military intelligence groups in overseas theaters and a variety of specialized elements performing production, counterintelligence and human intelligence missions. Mp>“Across every discipline, whether it’s counterintelligence, HUMINT or signals intelligence, INSCOM soldiers are producing information that’s relevant not only to Army, but also to strategic consumers of intelligence,” Lacquement said.
In response to the Army’s changing needs, INSCOM organized intelligence brigades and groups, stood up new units to make use of state-of-the-art technologies and became a major player in the emerging field of information operations.
“INSCOM will continue to transform because we have to,” Paul said. “When the enemy changes, when technology changes, INSCOM has to move and change along with that in order to be able to continue to prosecute that enemy.” ♦
INSCOM Subordinate Units
66th Military Intelligence Brigade, Germany: provides timely, relevant and actionable intelligence to joint/combined contingency operations in support of U.S. Army Europe and U.S. European Command, as well as forward stationed and deployed commanders throughout the world.
116th Military Intelligence Group, Fort Gordon, Ga.: provides personnel, intelligence assets and technical support to conduct signals intelligence operations within the National Security Agency/ Central Security Service Georgia and worldwide.
470th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Sam Houston, Texas: provides timely and fused multidisciplined intelligence in support of U.S. Army South, U.S. Southern Command and other national intelligence agencies.
500th Military Intelligence Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii: provides multidisciplined intelligence support for joint and coalition warfighters in the U.S. Army Pacific area of responsibility.
501st Military Intelligence Brigade, Korea: has a legacy of service as the eyes and ears for the longest-standing stabilization force mission in U.S. military history. The brigade is dedicated to supporting combined forces operations upholding the armistice agreement that ended hostile action on the Korean Peninsula in 1953.
513th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Gordon, Ga.: deploys in strength or in tailored elements to conduct multidisciplined intelligence and security operations in support of Army components of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Southern Command and other theater Army commanders.
704th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Meade, Md.: conducts synchronized full-spectrum signals intelligence, computer network and information assurance operations directly and through the National Security Agency to satisfy national, joint, combined and Army information superiority requirements.
902nd Military Intelligence Group, Fort Meade, Md.: provides direct and general counterintelligence support to Army activities and major commands. The group also provides general support to other military department counterintelligence and intelligence elements, unified commands, defense agencies and national agency counterintelligence and security activities and organizations.
National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), Charlottesville, Va.: the primary Department of Defense producer of ground forces intelligence. NGIC produces scientific and technical intelligence and military capabilities analysis on foreign ground forces and systems required by war fighting commanders, force modernization, and research and development communities, DoD and national policymakers.
1st Information Operations Command (Land): the only Army full-spectrum information operations organization engaged from information operations theory development and training to operational application across the range of military operations. The command has regionally focused information operations and IO-related intelligence planning teams assigned to provide reach-back planning and special studies support.
Army Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Company, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.: provides Army aircrew members aboard JSTARS aircraft to support surveillance and targeting operations of Army land component and joint or combined task force commanders worldwide.
Army Operations Activity: conducts human intelligence operations and provide expertise in support of ground component priority intelligence requirements using a full spectrum of human intelligence collection methods.
Central Clearance Facility (CCF): serves as the Army’s executive agency for personnel security determinations in support of Army worldwide missions. The CCF mission is to grant, revoke and deny eligibility based on personnel security background investigations and continuing evaluation reports.