RELEVANT TERMS AND
DEFINITIONS
Intelligence: The product
resulting from the collection,
processing, integration, evalua-
tion, analysis, and interpretation
of available information con-
cerning foreign nations, hostile
or potentially hostile forces or
elements, or areas of actual or
potential operations.
1
Intelligence community: All
departments or agencies of a
government that are concerned
with intelligence activity, either
in an oversight, managerial,
support, or participatory role.
Also called IC.
2
Human domain: The people
(individuals, groups, and
populations) in the environment,
including their perceptions,
decision-making, and behavior.
3
Information: Any communi-
cation or representation of
knowledge such as facts, data,
or opinions in any medium
or form, including textual,
numerical, graphic, cartograph-
ic, narrative, electronic, or
audiovisual forms.
4
Influence: The act or power to
produce a desired outcome or
end on a target audience.
5
Interagency: Of or pertaining to
United States government agen-
cies and departments, including
the Department of Defense.
6
e vital importance of good, sound intelligence cannot be stressed enough. Without it, there
is nothing; with it, there is something. It’s the dierence between failure and success, between
humiliation and pride, between losing lives and saving them. Intelligence is to special opera-
tions as numbers are to a mathematician.
—Charles A. Beckwith and Donald Knox, Delta Force, 1983
Intelligence support functions primarily focus on “adversary military capabilities,
violent extremist organization (VEO) threat capabilities, centers of gravity, and
potential courses of action in order to provide commanders with the necessary in-
formation to plan and conduct operations.”
7
Intelligence support to special oper-
ations is unique because their missions are inherently dierent from conventional
operations requiring unique modes of employment, tactics, techniques, proce-
dures, and equipment. Additionally, special operations activities “are typically
conducted in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments” and “are oen
time-sensitive, clandestine, require low visibility, are (when necessary) conducted
with or through indigenous forces, require regional expertise, and involve a high
degree of risk.”
8, 9
Performing these critical and unique missions, are uniquely trained and qualied
personnel. ey, in turn, generate intelligence requirements to support the broad
spectrum of missions they must perform. Intelligence requirements are oen de-
tailed, specialized, and unique. Additionally, more so than other consumers of
intelligence, special operations are guided by the operations and intelligence syn-
ergy where operations is intelligence and intelligence is operations. Each enables
the other to maximize inuence and eect.
While unique by necessity, intelligence support to special operations is rooted in
the joint intelligence principles found in Joint Publication 2-0 Intelligence and JP
2-01.3 Joint Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment. e long-
standing intelligence process—planning/direction, collection, processing/ex-
ploitation, analysis/production, and dissemination/integration—is foundational
to supporting both conventional and special operations. In addition, doctrinal
analytic frameworks used throughout the intelligence and military community
(e.g. intelligence preparation of the battlespace) provide context to any operation-
al environment. Special operations missions and activities, however necessitate
greater delity and deeper analysis on a key operational factor.
Special Operations Forces (SOF) Intelligence and the Human Domain
Human Domain understanding enables SOF to focus on relevant actor’s needs when seeking
to develop inuence.
—Operating in the Human Domain (V1.0)
Special operations missions and activities require a granular understanding of
the operational environment and most importantly, the people that make up the
environment. e human domain is the primary operational environment for
JSOU Quick Look
Intelligence Support to Special Operations
The JSOU Quick Look is intended to provide
a brief overview of a complex topic.
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