assassinations, and propaganda or psychological operations, etc. Unless
precise objectives are determined, data will be collected unsystemati-
cally, and decision makers do not receive the intelligence product that they require for decisions.
Human Intelligence
19
Evaluation of intelligence data is critical to determining the reliability of sources and information. A standardized system is used to rate the reliability of sources and the accuracy of the information they provide. Information
may be relied upon once it is confirmed by other sources. Sources may be
neutral, friendly, or hostile and may or may not be aware of their contribution to the collection of information.
Human Sources: Interviewing and Interrogation
HUMINT operations and activities involve selecting people who may be
sources of meaningful HUMINT, positively identifying them, and conducting interviews of various types. Properly recording and cross-indexing the results of interviews is essential. Interviews and interrogations with persons having access to information consist of formal, structured conversations with friendly or open sources to elicit information. This includes briefings and debriefings.
Briefings occur before an operation, giving details of the EEI that are
critical to accomplishing the mission. Debriefing occurs after the mission and involves getting feedback on intelligence information observed or gathered during the mission that may be exploited afterward. The acronym SALUTE
is used by combat units to determine part of the information that can be useful. SALUTE stands for
• S ize: How many men in the unit?
• A ctivity: What are they doing?
• L ocation: Map grid coordinates, if available, or the best description available.
• U nit: Identity, uniforms, descriptions, etc.
• T ime: When did you see them?
• E quipment: Weapons, vehicles, communications, anything else
distinctive?
Interrogations differ from interviews in that they usually involve subjects who are unwilling to provide information and may even be hostile, such as prisoners. Obtaining information from unwilling and uncooperative subjects may involve a range of tactics and techniques ranging from persua-
sion (as in criminal investigations) to coercive (as in enemy combatants and espionage agents). Legal considerations may also be involved.
Interrogation is an interaction, and, even before considering the different attitudes the subject may have, the interrogator needs to know his or her own style, strengths, and weaknesses. The interrogator needs to assess whether he or she needs cultural advice, how to handle language issues, and if he or she needs specialized or technical assistance. (More on this in the section on Linguistic Skil s.)
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Advanced Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Operations
Security Clearances
A National Agency Check (NAC) with Local Agency Check and Credit
Check (NACLC) is a type of background check required in the United
States for granting of security clearances. STANDARD FORM 86, 86A,
and 86C are the security questionnaire forms for security clearances.
(See also Figures 2.1 and 2.2, Standard Form 312 Classified Information
Nondisclosure Agreement.) There are three basic levels of clearance:
• Confidential (Level 1)—The screening procedure requires RS checks and screening of foreign employments, immediate relatives, and
marriages or common-law relationships.
• This level of clearance authorizes access to designated and classi-
fied information up to confidential level on a need-to-know basis.
• Also known as a public trust clearance, this level typically
requires a few weeks to a few months of investigation.
• A confidential clearance requires a NACLC investigation, which dates back 7 years on the applicant’s record and must be renewed
(with another investigation) every 15 years.
• Applicants are required to complete federal Standard Form 85P.
• Secret (Level 2)—The screening procedure is the same as for confidential, and this level of clearance authorizes access to designated
and classified information up to secret level on a need-to-know
basis.
• A secret clearance, also known as collateral secret or ordinary secret, requires a few months to a year to fully investigate,
depending on the individual’s background.
• A secret clearance requires a NACLC and a credit investigation
and it must be renewed every 10 years.
• Top Secret (Level 3)—In addition to the checks at the secret level, foreign travels, assets, and character references must be given.
• A field check will also be conducted prior to granting the
clearance.
• A top secret (TS) clearance is often designated following a sin-
gle scope background investigation (SSBI) and must be renewed
every 5 years.
• This level of clearance authorizes access to all designated and
classified information on a need-to-know basis.
Control ed unclassified information is not a clearance, but a level at which information distribution is controlled. It involves information
that may be illegal to distribute, is available when needed, but should not
21
Figure 2.1 Standard Form 312: Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement.
be redistributed. An example of this type of information is the operational details of a noncritical system. Similarly, information may be marked
FOUO or for official use only.
Sensitive compartmented information (SCI) clearances are assigned
after a single scope background investigation (SCBI) and a special adjudication process for evaluating the investigation. SCI access is assigned only in compartments, which are separated from each other, so someone with access to one compartment may not have access to another. Each compartment may
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Advanced Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Operations
Figure 2.2 Standard Form 312 (Back): Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement.
include additional special requirements and clearance process. Information that may require compartmented access includes the following:
• Cryptography ( crypto)
• Overhead reconnaissance from aircraft, UAVs, or satellite IMINT
• Communications intelligence from SIGINT
• Design or stockpile information about nuclear weapons
• Nuclear targeting
Human Intelligence
23
The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) have a different designation for security clearances. The need for
security clearances became an issue at the end of World War II when the
Manhattan Project was transferred to a new entity, the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC). Thousands of civilians were going to be hired, and the
newly drafted Atomic Energy Act of 1947 required controls over access to
restricted data and nuclear materials. The U.S. Department of Energy has
two types of security clearances that it uses:
• Q clearance is the DOE equivalent to a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) TS clearance and Critical Nuclear Weapon Design
Information (CNWDI) designation. DOE clearances are for access
specifically relating to atomic- or nuclear-related
materials
( Restricted Data under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954) and are
issued to nonmilitary personnel only.
• In 1946 U.S. Army CIC Major Bud Uanna, the first Chief of the
C
entral Personnel Clearance Office at the newly formed AEC,
named and established the criteria for the Q Clearance.
• As of 1993, Q clearances required a single-scope background
investigation covering the previous 10 years of the applicant’s
life by both the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (which, as of 1998, cost $3225).
• L clearance is the DOE and NRC equivalent to a U.S. DoD Secret (S) clearance for civilian access relating to nuclear materials and information under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
• The DOE L clearance provides less access than the Q Clearance.
L-cleared persons are allowed unescorted access to limited and
protected areas, as well as access to confidential restricted data, confidential and secret formerly restricted data, confidential and
secret national security information, and Category III special
nuclear material.
• As of 1989, the NRC required the Q clearance for employees in
the most important and sensitive positions, while most employ-
ees in positions deemed noncritical-sensitive held L clearances.
U.S. Intelligence Community
The U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) is a coalition of 17 agencies and organizations within the executive branch that work both independently and
collaboratively to gather the intelligence necessary to conduct foreign relations and national security activities. Their primary mission is to collect and convey the essential information required by the president and members of
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Advanced Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Operations
the policymaking, law enforcement, and military communities to execute
their appointed duties. The 17 member agencies of the U.S. Intelligence
Community are as follows:
• Air Force Intelligence—Air Intelligence Agency (AIA)
• Army Intelligence—Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
• Coast Guard Intelligence (USCG)
• Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Department of State (DOS)
• Department of the Treasury (DOT)
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Marine Corps Intelligence (USMC)
• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
• National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
• National Security Agency (NSA)
• Navy Intelligence—Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
Members of the U.S. Intelligence Community collect and assess informa-
tion regarding international terrorist and narcotic activities; other hostile activities by foreign powers, organizations, persons, and their agents; and foreign intelligence activities directed against the United States. As needed, the President may also direct the IC to carry out special activities to protect U.S. security interests against foreign threats.
British Security Service MI5 and Secret
Intelligence Service MI6
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5, was established in 1909 and is the UK’s national security intelligence agency. The Security Service plays a vital but secret role in countering the activities of spies and terrorists. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, evolved from the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau, established by the Committee of Imperial Defence in October 1909. The first head of the Foreign Section, Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming (Royal Navy), wrote his signature as MC
or C in green ink. Thus began the long tradition of the head of the Service adopting the initial C as his symbol.
Human Intelligence
25
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 brought the virtual integration
of the Foreign Section within the Military Intelligence Directorate of the War Office. After the end of hostilities, Cumming returned the Service to the Foreign Office. By 1920 it was referred to as SIS, a title that was used in the Intelligence Services Act 1994. MI6 has become an almost interchange-able title for SIS, at least outside the Service. The origins of this title are from the 1930s when it was adopted as a convenience. It was used during
World War II, especially if distinction needed to be made between MI5
(the Security Service) and MI6 (the Secret Service). Although MI6 fell into official disuse years ago, many writers and journalists continue to use it to describe SIS.
Linguistic Skills (Languages)
One of the most valued skills among intelligence officers and investigators is the ability to speak the indigenous language of the area of operations. This is essential to both HUMINT and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT).
The List of Official Languages of the United Nations (by Institution) (UN/
ONU), under the Charter, are Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish,
and Arabic (added in 1973).
Other common, but not as prolific, languages include Ukrainian, Czech-
Slovene, Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Tagali, Chaldean, Yiddish, Zulu, and Swahili.
In the Middle East, Arabic and Persian ( Farsi) (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.) are the most widely spoken languages. Arabic and Kurdish (Iraq and Turkey) are the official languages of the Iraqi government. Assyrian (Syriac) (a dialect of Aramaic) and Iraqi Turkmen (a dialect of Turkish) are official in areas where the populations are more representative of the respective language. Other languages spoken in the region include Azeri, Berber languages, Circassian,
Dimli (Zaza), Gagauz, Gilaki, Greek, Hebrew (in its numerous variations), Kabardian, Luri, Mazandarani languages, Somali, Turkish and other
Turkish languages, etc.
Urdu is spoken in many Middle Eastern countries, such as Arab states the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Qatar, which have large numbers of
Pakistani immigrants. It is common to be bilingual in Afghanistan, but the most common languages spoken in Afghanistan are Dari ( Eastern Persian) (Afghanistan) (49%–80%) and Pashto (Afghanistan) (35%–50%). Hazaragi, spoken by the Hazara minority, is a distinct dialect of Persian. Other languages spoken include the Turkic languages Uzbek (6%) and Turkmen (3%), as well as 30 minor languages, including Balochi, Nuristani, Pashai, Brahui, Pamiri languages, Hindko, etc.
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Advanced Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Operations
Number of Countries with the Same Official Language
This is a ranking of languages by number of sovereign countries in which
they are official.
• English: 55 countries: largest—United States, Nigeria, United
Kingdom, India
• French: 29 countries: largest—France, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Canada
• Arabic: 24 countries: largest—Egypt, Sudan, Algeria
• Spanish: 20 countries: largest—Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina
• Russian: 10 countries: largest—Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus
• Portuguese: 10 countries: largest—Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique,
Angola
• German: 7 countries: largest—Germany, Austria, Switzerland
• Dutch: 5 countries: largest—the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname
• Albanian, Italian, Serbian: 4 countries
• Malay, Persian (Farsi), Swahili, Tamil, Urdu, Hungarian, Mandarin
Chinese: 3 countries
• Aymara, Bengali, Croatian, Greek, Hindi, Korean, Quechua,
Romanian, Sotho, Swati, Swedish, Tswana, Turkish: 2 countries
The thirty most widely spoken languages in the world are listed in Table 2.1, a
long with their families, scripts used, number of speakers, and regions in which they are spoken.
Learning Languages Fast
HUMINT operations may require the sudden immersion into an environ-
ment and culture that is unfamiliar to a mission essential operative. The rapid assimilation of basic language skills may be critical to an operative.
The Defense Language Institute (DLI) teaches military, intelligence, for-
eign service, and other government personnel several languages. Some are
more difficult than others, requiring anywhere from 6 to 18 months of step-by-step learning processes. Books, videos, CDs, computer programs, etc., are all good resources, as are watching TV and listening to the radio in the target language. Immersion into the culture by interacting with native speakers is even better.
Language is the capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of verbal, written, symbolic, or other forms of communications and a
language is any specific example of such a system. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into
Human Intelligence
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Table 2.1 Thirty Most Spoken Languages in World, by Number of Speakers Speakers
Where Commonly
Language
Family
Script(s) Used (Millions)
Spoken
1 Mandarin
Sino-Tibetan
Chinese
1051
China, Malaysia, Taiwan
characters
2 English
Indo-European Latin
510
United States, United
Kingdom, Australia,
Canada, New Zealand
3 Hindi
Indo-European Devanagari
490
North and Central India
4 Spanish
Indo-European Latin
425
The Americas, Spain
5 Arabic
Afro-Asiatic
Arabic
255
Middle East, Arabia,
North Africa
6 Russian
Indo-European Cyrillic
254
Russia, Central Asia
7 Portuguese
Indo-European Latin
218
Brazil, Portugal,
Southern Africa
8 Bengali
Indo-European Bengali
215
Bangladesh, Eastern India
9 Malay,