United States Army Weapons Intelligence Teams (WIT) play a crucial role in the intelligence gathering of the weapons systems that the enemy employs on today’s battlefield. It is because of these specialized teams of Soldiers and the unique skills they possess that we, as an Army, have been able to develop and implement Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) that have saved countless American and Coalition Forces lives.
The very first Weapons Intelligence Teams began their initial training at Fort Gordon, GA. These teams consisted primarily of volunteers from all across the United States Army (Brittain, 2011). These first teams of personnel were mainly made up of linguists who performed in this function on their first rotation in the
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One analyst acts as a liaison to the Brigade Headquarters. This analyst primarily focuses on the threats posed by Improvised Explosive Devices by providing the Brigade Intelligence Officer with WTI support. They also coordinate and share intelligence with outside agencies. The other analyst assists the team on the ground during the on-site exploitation actions and the follow-on actions in order to provide the team with an intelligence aspect. Both analysts are fully qualified to carry out the duties and responsibilities of both roles. The Weapons Intelligence Team also has an investigator. The Investigator, usually a Military Police Investigation Officer or Criminal Investigation Division Officer assists with the evidence collection. They ensure that the chain of custody is properly maintained with any evidence gathered from the scene. In addition to those duties, they also conduct on-site questioning of any witnesses or potential witnesses. Another member that makes up the Weapons Intelligence team is the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) technician. The EOD technician provides not only post blast analysis, but also provides their expertise with munitions identification. They also help determine the components and composition of the munitions and their functionality. The fifth member of the Weapons Intelligence Team will usually be a Soldier with a Combat Arms Military Occupational Specialty. These …show more content…
As part of the Technical Intelligence Operations (TECHINT) community, Weapons Intelligence Teams often work with outside agencies such as the United States Air Force and the United States Navy. At times the teams work closely with intra-agency elements like in-country exploitation teams (ICE) and technical escort units. It has also become a common practice to work with Coalition partners to conduct Multi-national operations (FM 2-22.401, 2006). These operations are sometimes difficult to conduct do to command and control (C2) requirements, the need to conduct intelligence sharing and the coordination of combat service support (CSS). These agencies work together to collect forensic evidence that is sent off site to be analyzed and documented in order to give legal teams the material they need to build cases and prosecute the individuals connected to the building, emplacing and use of the weapons used against U.S. and Coalition forces in United States or host nation courts (Boland,
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Battle of Kamdesh and provide an alternate outcome based on the utilization of intelligence and intelligence assets. Many battles could have had a different outcome if they would trust intelligence reports without needing to validate the intelligence with another source or simply have other intelligence assets available. The Battle of Kamdesh was certainly one of those battles. The battle started just before 0600 on October 3, 2009 on Combat Outpost (COP) Keating and nearby Observation Post (OP) Fritsche in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. About 70 Soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, along with 30 Afghan National Army Soldiers (ANA), fought an enemy force of about 300 Anti-Afghan Forces (AAF) fighters. (Nordland, 2010) The battle took place in the Consolidation II portion of the Operation Enduring Freedom Campaign in Afghanistan. The AAF likely
...D.INFO. (1993, June 1). US Army Manuals (Field/Training Manuals). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://www.enlisted.info/field-manuals/fm-100-5-operations.shtml
...vival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) level C+, and helicopter overwater survival training (Dunker School) just to name a few of the school these soldiers will go through. They use special equipped helicopters that include AH-6, MH-6, MH-60’s, and MH-47 helicopters. Soldiers in this unit also have to maintain a SECERT security clearance.
Clay Dillow’s “To Catch a Bombmaker” was published by Popular Science in October 2015. This article educated the reader about the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center— a key aspect in the fight against terrorism. Dillow focused on ethos and logos to strengthen the validation of his claim concerning the importance of the TEDAC and was successful in persuading the reader to believe in its significance as well. He used expert quotes from FBI agents to give the article credibility; In addition, he presented statistical data in a clear and concise manner and gave many factual cases in which the TEDAC facilitated the government in their pursuit of terrorist and bomb makers. As proven by Dillow in “How to Catch a Bombmaker,” the Terrorist
US, Army Training and Doctrine Command. (2008). Field Manual 3-11.21: MULTISERVICE TACTICS, TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES FOR CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL, AND NUCLEAR, CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT. Fort Monroe, Virginia: US, Army Training and Doctrine Command.
The Technical Escort Unit (TEU) now provides the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to include the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with an immediate response capability for chemical and biological warfare material. Its mission is to provide a global response for escorting, packaging, detection, rendering-safe, disposing, sampling, analytics, and remediation missions. This does not only include chemical weapons for which it was originally created, but now incorporates biological weapons, state sponsored laboratories, small independent laboratories and small non-weaponized radioactive materials. Most recently, they have been task organized to assist Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) as a force multiplier; the objective of this is to give the Battle Field Commander instant on the ground intelligence regarding Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) hazards within their Area of Operations (AO). With this new mission with the BCT, the TEU is becoming an expeditionary force.
In order to transform a local police agency into an intelligence-led organization, they go through several steps. The first, after strict training and funding, is to task and coordination processes. The second is to develop the intelligence products to be used in the operations. Next is to begin the use of standardized training for all the people involved. Since some local agencies cannot afford to train every employee in this method, they may designate one or two officers to be the ones working with the FBI and the other agencies in the Fusion Center.
Wirtz, James J. The Tet Offensive: Intelligence Failure in War. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1991. Print.
...these intelligence failures, more emphasis is now placed on the creation of intelligence products used on the battlefield. All possible enemy courses of actions are now red teamed in an attempt to produce a much accurate analytical product.
...Force Special Operations Command.” Air Force Special Operations Command. U.S. Air Force, 2012. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. .
...uch information as possible before going into a conflict. The ability to get to know your enemy and figure out the scheme of maneuver is impressive.
The most difficult barrier to conducting initial individual training is the varying backgrounds of all of the soldiers. In ...
Frater, Elisabeth. "Can The Fbi Switch Gears?." National Journal 33.40 (2001): 3106. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Homeland security was developed by the United States government to protect the country from external aggression, reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks and manage the damage that occurs in case of attacks. To this end, the government set up and reconstituted numerous agencies to aid in the fight against terrorism in the United States. The United States Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security constitute the most prominent departments under the United States law to champion the fight against any attacks by extremist groups. Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the United States’ military also have a role to play in homeland security. With the increasing cases of attacks and acts of aggression towards the United States, the government sought to strengthen the resolve to curb any attacks aimed at killing or maiming the citizens or destruction of government institutions and installations. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, it was apparent that stringent measures were needed to prevent attacks on American soil and protect the citizens of the country. This paper examines the duties; responsibility and intelligence methods used by the military, federal, State and local law enforcement agencies, as well as homeland security agencies in the fight against terrorism, with the aim of drawing similarities and differences.
There are many agencies that have the ability to perform Signals Intelligence, electronic reconnaissance and most of all signals intelligence from all available sources inducive to the environment. The United States Army uses the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) as its main entity for signals collection. The Joint STARS platform was designed to provide a highly effective, real-time, collection tool to the ground task force commanders during battlefield engagements, but for the past ten years, the sensor has been used for peacekeeping missions. Army analysts can predict the enemy’s behavior by identifying choke points, potential avenues of approach and operating patterns such as supply routes and logistical points. The analysis gives the ground commander a more complete view of the enemy’s weaknesses. The United States Air Force employs the Joint STARS in a different mission than the Army. The Air Force uses Joint STARS as a battlefield management tool versus a collection tool as used for by the Army. The Air Force uses the platform to provide immediate and direct support to the Air Component Commander and continue to observe the enemy’s movement from a far distance in the sky. Providing essential data to commanders such as size, direction, and speed of the adversaries, with minimum casualties while under battlefield conditions, makes the Joint STARS an extremely effective tool. The Air Force also employs the Predator vehicles, which are unmanned aerial vehicles that are used for reconnaissance.