Asking Questions: Will Army Tactical Interrogation be Ready for War?

Abstract

This monograph addresses a perceived imbalance in U.S. Army tactical force structure between technical means of intelligence collection and non- technical means, specifically interrogators. It proposes to provide a judgement on whether or not, in light of historical experience, currrent tables of organization and equipment (TO&Es) provide an adequate interrogation capability. The monograph first examines the historical importance of interrogator derived information (IDI) and concludes that it has least through the Vietnam War. The monograph next discusses IDI's likely usefulness on battlefields of the near to mid term (five to ten year) future. It concludes that IDI will in all probability be important on almost all foreseeable battlefields of the future and that its importance will vary indirectly with the intensity of the conflict. Thirdly, the monograph compares and contrasts Twentieth Century U.S. Army requirements and authorizations for interrogators with the Army of Excellence (ADE) tables currently beaing introduced. ADE tables for division and below are found to meet likely minimum requirements, while authorizations above division level, especially outside Europe, are judged inadequate. Finally, this monograph concludes that while there are encouraging trends in resourcing, it is ultimately the careful and intelligent use of the assets by commanders and staffs which will determine whether or not Army interrogators are ready for war.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 17, 1986
Accession Number
ADA179420

Entities

People

  • Mark S. Partridge

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Personnel
  • Civil War
  • Combat Areas
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Geography
  • Human Intelligence
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Personnel Management
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Signals Intelligence
  • Surveillance
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design