The National Imagery and Mapping Agency: Harnessing Geographic and Imagery Intelligence in Support of the 21st Century Joint Force Commander.

Abstract

The current explosion of information technologies has had a broad impact on the manner in which all of the Service and Intelligence community organizations conduct business. The use of geospatial information and services in the geographic intelligence arena is in its infancy, but growing rapidly. The formation of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in October 1996, fundamentally changed the means by which the National Command Authority (NCA) and Commander-in-Chiefs (CINC's) exploit national information resources. Historically, commanders have used hardcopy cartographic products with grease pencil overlays for data fusion and decision making. Today, the ability to disseminate and exploit digital information on the battlefield provide the same commanders with a wealth of geospatial information fusible to other intelligence, enabling them to better plan courses of action and perform battle assessments. This paper is intended to make the Joint Force Commander aware of MMA as an important new asset in the quest for total battlespace awareness. NIMA can be an effective force multiplier, or a frustrating operational constraint based on how well the commander understands NIMA's mission, capabilities, strategic vision and structure. The value of information about the earth is perhaps the only constant in this era of change. With its vision of global geospatial information and services, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency stands ready to support the Joint Force Commander today and into the 21st century. There is a need now for the Services to implement appropriate doctrine and for the Joint Force Commander to acquire the knowledge necessary to exploit the powerful new intelligence tools NIMA makes available.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 07, 1997
Accession Number
ADA324984

Entities

People

  • Douglas J. Eyes

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Databases
  • Department Of Defense
  • Digital Information
  • Geography
  • Imagery Intelligence
  • Information Systems
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Geospatial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Analytics
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.