Engineer presents professional information designed to keep U.S. military and civilian engineers informed of current and emerging developments within their areas of expertise for the purpose of enhancing their professional development.
Issue link: https://engineer.epubxp.com/i/145930
By Captain Bradley W. Diebold A s the war in Afghanistan concludes, more is being asked of the units still fghting there—a phenom.enon that is typical near the end of a long military campaign. This article describes the effects of this phenomenon on one engineer unit from the perspective of its intelligence (S-2) section, with a focus on how engineer battalions can better prepare deploying personnel who will be working with S-2 sections. As a combat effects engineer battalion headquarters, the 20th Engineer Battalion has adapted its training and equipment to prepare for a deployed mission that is different from its original mission. Deployed with short notice to Regional Command–South to support Operation Enduring Freedom, the battalion mission became that of a multifunctional engineer battalion responsible for construction effects and mobility assurance for theater level-controlled and operational environment (OE)-specifc routes. For a small S-2 section, which was authorized only two military intelligence specialists, this new mission set translated to the OE equivalent of a division. While the battalion S-2 section did not have the full responsibilities or resources of a 90-member division analysis and control element, functioning with a staff of only two school-trained military intelligence specialists was a distinct disadvantage. The section was able to acquire another lieutenant to help increase the analysis and overall capacity of the section. It is highly recommended that other engineer battalions acquire more intelligence capacity before deploying. The company intelligence support team (CoIST) offers intelligence support at the company level, which is a huge advantage when companies are not colocated with their higher headquarters. Among its functions, CoISTs provide routine intelligence requirements such as patrol prebriefs and debriefs at remote locations. Formulated at the battalion level, prebrief and debrief formats become a collaboration of efforts throughout the OEs as additional threats are 16 Engineer identifed and disseminated. CoIST training before deployment presents its own challenges, especially for separate brigades and Army National Guard units. While units within brigade combat teams usually have CoIST training scheduled well before deployment, individual company deployments often require an ad hoc training schedule. CoIST training for these units is often scheduled whenever time is available, rather than in conjunction with signifcant "The company intelligence support team (CoIST) offers intelligence support at the company level, which is a huge advantage when companies are not colocated with their higher headquarters." predeployment training exercises. The result is that a new and perishable skill may not be used for several months between conducting the training and performing the mission in-theater. Predeployment planners should try to incorporate CoIST training into their major training exercises to improve their teams. When this is not possible, smaller CoIST training sessions are offered in-theater. Team members should attend these sessions whether or not they conducted predeployment training. There are multiple Internet-based, data-mining tools to assist intelligence analysts and CoISTs. While the military intelligence program of record remains the Distributed Common Ground System–Army, it is rarely available in engineer battalions and is nonexistent at the company level. Because this system requires extensive training and is lacking in many units, intelligence collection requires a more practical May–August 2013