Page 50 - NAVAL SCIENCE 3 TEXTBOOK

II Naval Intelligence

Intelligence, or information about an actual or potential enemy, can The Intelligence Cycle
give government and military leaders the knowledge they need to
The intelligence cycle is the process by which information is
make good decisions. Intelligence can reduce the possibility of sur-
acquired, gathered, transmitted, evaluated, analyzed, and made
prise, evaluate enemy strength, and predict an enemy area of opera-
available as finished intelligence for poLicy makers and military
tion. It can mean the difference between peace and war. In the event
commanders to use in decision making and action. There are five
of war, it can be the difference between victory and defeat.
steps in the intelligence cycle:
Planning and direction. This involves the management of the
General Definitions entire intelligence effort from identification of tile need for data
In general terms, intelligence is knowledge upon which a political to the final delivery of an intelligence product to a consumer.
or military decision or course of action may be based. Intelligence Collection. This involves the gathering of raw information
information covers many subjects: geography, transportation, tele- from which finished intelligence will be produced. There are
communications, political and economic conditions, armed forces, many sources of this information. Open sources include such
technical developments, and biographical data on leaders. All these things as radio and TV broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals,
different areas fit together like parts of a puzzle. It is necessary to and books. Covert sources are agents and spies and, on occa-
consider each part in relation to others. sion, defectors who are willing to provide valuable informa-
The Encyclopedia Britannica defines military and political intel- tion obtainable in no other way. Technical collection, such as
ligence as "that information acquired on a national scale, usually by the use of surveillance electronics and satellite photogra-
about a rival, but sometimes about an ally or a neutral country." phy, has also come to play an indispensable part in modern
There is an important difference between information and intel- intelligence collection.
ligence. Raw information is the material collected from all sources
Processing. This step involves the conversion of tile vast
about a given subject or country. This information becomes intel-
amount of information coming into the system from aU
ligence after it is gathered together and analyzed in order to be use- sources to a form more suitable for producing finished intel-
ful to a political or military leader in making decisions. ligence, such as through decryption and language translations.
Intelligence is often considered to be a mysterious and danger-
Information that does not go directly to analysts is sorted and
ous activity undertaken by glamorous spies. The famous story of made available for rapid computer retrieval. Processing also
Mata Hari, the beautiful German spy of World War I, and the fic-
refers to data reduction and interpretation of information
tional adventures of James Bond, Agent 007 of the British Secret gathered on film and tape through the use of highly refined
Service, have given intelligence gathering a "cloak-and-dagger" photographic and electronic analysis processes.
image. Intelligence collection has had its moments of intrigue,
Analysis and production. This refers to the conversion of basic
mystery, and danger, but most such work is like work in any other
information into finished intelligence. It includes the assem-
military staff job. The main difference is that governments do not
bly, evaluation, and analysis of all available data, and the
disclose how their intelligence organizations work. The practice has
preparation of a variety of intelligence products. Intelligence
been to protect intelligence activity by strict security regulations.
data is frequently incomplete and at times can be confusing.
Espionage is the attempt to obtain information about a for-
Various analysts who are subject-matter specialists in vari-
eign government covertly (in secret), through the use of spies and
ous areas weigh the information in terms of reliability, validity,
other undercover operations. Counterintelligence, or seCllrity, is the
and relevance. They integrate the various pieces of data into a
protection of a nation's secrets. It is designed to prevent foreign
meaningful whole, put the information in context, and pro-
countries from getting vital diplomatic, economic, and indus-
duce finished intelligence tllat includes assessments of events
trial information as well as military information of intelligence
or developments and judgments about the implications of the
value. Counterintelligence, therefore, is a continuing need in peace
information to tile end user.
and war.
55