Secrecy News -- 01/24/07
Aftergood, Steven
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2007, Issue No. 9
January 24, 2007
Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
Support Secrecy News:
http://www.fas.org/static/contrib_sec.jsp
** ARMY SEEKS TO CATALYZE OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE
** SOME NEW INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY DIRECTIVES
** SPECIAL FORCES USE OF PACK ANIMALS
ARMY SEEKS TO CATALYZE OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE
A new U.S. Army Field Manual is intended to advance the
development and use of open source intelligence (OSINT), which
is intelligence that is derived from publicly available data
legally obtained.
"The value of publicly available information as a source of
intelligence has... often been overlooked in Army intelligence
operations. This manual provides a catalyst for renewing the
Army's awareness of the value of open sources; establishing a
common understanding of OSINT; and developing systematic
approaches to collection, processing, and analysis of publicly
available information."
The growing military appreciation of open source intelligence
arises from the ever-increasing quality of public sources and
the evident limitations of traditional classified approaches.
"Open source research is the most effective means of retrieving
authoritative and detailed information on the terrain, weather,
and civil considerations as well as external variables that
affect or influence the operational environment."
Yet "our reliance on classified databases... has... often left
our soldiers uninformed and ill-prepared to capitalize on the
huge reservoir of unclassified information available from open
sources."
OSINT is naturally not the solution to all problems or without
limitations of its own, the manual says.
"More than any other intelligence discipline, the OSINT
discipline could unintentionally provide indicators of US
military operations [to hostile observers]."
Furthermore, "Deception and bias are of particular concern in
OSINT operations. Unlike other disciplines, OSINT operations do
not normally collect information by direct observation of
activities and conditions within the area of interest."
Characteristically, perhaps, the new Army manual on OSINT is
marked "for official use only" and it has not been approved for
public release. As such, it would not have qualified as an
"open source." Until now.
A copy of the manual was obtained by Secrecy News and posted on
the Federation of American Scientists web site.
See "Open Source Intelligence," U.S. Army Field Manual Interim
FMI 2-22.9, December 2006 (161 pages, 2 MB PDF):
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fmi2-22-9.pdf
The management of open source intelligence activities across the
U.S. intelligence community was addressed in a July 2006
Intelligence Community Directive (ICD 301) on the National Open
Source Enterprise:
http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/icd/icd-301.pdf
SOME NEW INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY DIRECTIVES
Several recent Intelligence Community Directives (ICDs) were
released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
on January 22 in response to a Freedom of Information Act
request from the Federation of American Scientists.
Though mostly dry and uninformative, they are nevertheless
important as expressions of bureaucratic definition and
control.
The newly released directives include:
ICD 105, "Acquisition," August 15, 2006
ICD 300, "Management, Integration, and Oversight of Intelligence
Collection and Covert Action," October 3, 2006
ICD 602, "Human Capital -- Intelligence Community Critical Pay
Positions," August 16, 2006
ICD 900, "Mission Management,"December 21, 2006
These and other publicly disclosed Intelligence Community
Directives are available here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/icd/index.html
SPECIAL FORCES USE OF PACK ANIMALS
U.S. special operations forces typically make use of some of the
most sophisticated military and intelligence gear available.
But sometimes a "no tech" solution is the right one.
So, for example, Special Forces "may find themselves involved in
operations in rural or remote environments... using pack
animals," including horses, donkeys and mules.
"Pack animal operations are ideally suited for, but not limited
to, conducting various missions in high mountain terrain,
deserts, and dense jungle terrain."
An Army Special Forces manual provides instruction and doctrinal
guidance for using pack animals in training and combat
missions.
"This manual provides the techniques of animal pack transport
and for organizing and operating pack animal units. It captures
some of the expertise and techniques that have been lost in the
United States Army over the last 50 years."
The 225 page manual provides a basic introduction to the
characteristics of each of the various pack animals, some
rudiments of veterinary care, and miscellaneous lore.
"Mules are intelligent and possess a strong sense of
self-preservation. A packer cannot make a mule do something if
the mule thinks it will get hurt, no matter how much persuasion
is used.... many people confuse this trait with
stubbornness." (p. 2-1)
"Elephants are considered an endangered species and as such
should not be used by U.S. military personnel... Elephants are
not the easygoing, kind, loving creatures that people believe
them to be. They are, of course, not evil either." (p. 10-8)
The Special Forces manual has not been approved for public
release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
See "Special Forces Use of Pack Animals," Field Manual FM
3-05.213, June 2004 (in a very large 16.5 MB PDF file):
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-05-213.pdf
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to
secrecy_ne...@lists.fas.org
with "subscribe" in the body of the message.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a blank email message to
secrecy_n...@lists.fas.org
OR email your request to safte...@fas.org
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Secrecy News is available in blog format at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
SUPPORT Secrecy News with a donation here:
http://www.fas.org/static/contrib_sec.jsp
_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: safte...@fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691