Transforming USMC Intelligence to Address Irregular Warfare

Abstract

Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the world has become significantly less polarized. The consequences of this condition have dynamically altered the balance of power that had existed after World War II and have left many countries without the economic and security blanket to which they had grown accustomed. This global instability, in addition to a dramatic increase in Islamic terrorism, has forced the United States to become increasingly involved in small conflicts around the globe. These conflicts have ranged in complexity as well as intensity, but the one consistent theme is that they rarely involve military action with a conventional foe. Another aspect of these conflicts is that they have a tendency to emerge quickly and with little warning. The Marine Corps' role as the nation's "911 force" demands that it be prepared to face these irregular warfare challenges with little or no preparation time. This presents a daunting challenge when considering that the deployed Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) will more than likely be expected to function both in a military capacity and as a conduit for other elements of national power. This places an extremely heavy burden on the intelligence units supporting these efforts. Intelligence support in irregular warfare demands precision, restraint, cultural familiarity, and linguistic competence that exceed what is required for conventional conflicts. These skills take a significant amount of time to cultivate as well as maintain. Fortunately, the preponderance of the new challenges can be achieved with existing resources; they revolve around building the capabilities of the individual Marine. To conduct intelligence collection and analysis in irregular warfare the Marine Corps will need to change certain aspects of intelligence structure, training, and doctrine. This will require staunch support from the Marine Corps' senior intelligence leadership to be successful.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA490714

Entities

People

  • Matthew A. Reiley

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Combat Areas
  • Electronic Intelligence
  • Employment
  • Geography
  • Human Intelligence
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Intelligence Collection Disciplines
  • Intelligence Cycle
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Signals Intelligence
  • Surveillance
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Strategic Security Studies