In U.S. Army doctrine, intelligence is one of six warfighting functions (WfFs) — the others being command and control, movement and maneuver, fires, protection, and sustainment. A warfighting function is a group of related tasks and systems that commanders use to accomplish missions and training objectives. Intelligence as a WfF encompasses the tasks of collecting, processing, and disseminating information about the adversary, terrain, weather, and civil considerations to enable decision-making at every echelon.
The intelligence warfighting function’s tasks
Conduct intelligence preparation of the battlefield / operating environment (IPB/IPOE)
IPOE is the systematic process by which the intelligence staff analyzes the threat and environment in a specific geographic area. It produces:
- Threat templates — doctrinal models of how the adversary organizes and fights
- Situational templates — how the adversary is likely to deploy given the specific terrain and operational situation
- Event templates — named areas of interest (NAIs) where adversary activity will confirm or deny specific courses of action
- Modified combined obstacle overlay (MCOO) — terrain analysis showing avenues of approach, key terrain, observation and fields of fire, cover and concealment, and obstacles
IPB is the foundation of all subsequent intelligence operations — it drives collection, analysis, and the intelligence support to the commander’s decision-making.
Conduct information collection
The intelligence staff plans and directs information collection — the coordinated acquisition of information and intelligence through collection management. This includes:
- Reconnaissance operations — patrols, surveillance, and other tactical activities that observe the adversary and terrain
- Surveillance — systematic observation of a specific area or target
- Intelligence collection from national and theater assets — SIGINT, IMINT, HUMINT, and MASINT tasked through the intelligence architecture
- Security operations — screening, guard, and cover operations that simultaneously provide intelligence and protect the force
Process, exploit, and disseminate (PED)
Raw collected information must be processed into usable intelligence: imagery must be analyzed, signals must be decrypted and translated, documents must be exploited, prisoners must be interrogated. PED converts raw collection into finished intelligence products that support decision-making.
Analyze and produce intelligence
The intelligence staff integrates information from all sources — all-source analysis — to produce assessments of the adversary’s composition, disposition, strength, capabilities, and probable courses of action. At the tactical level, the primary analytical products are:
- Intelligence summary (INTSUM) — periodic report of the adversary situation
- Threat assessment — evaluation of adversary capabilities and probable courses of action
- Intelligence estimate — formal intelligence contribution to operational planning
Conduct intelligence operations
Intelligence units (military intelligence companies and battalions) conduct tactical SIGINT, HUMINT, and reconnaissance operations in support of maneuver commanders. At higher echelons, MI brigades coordinate theater-level collection and analysis.
Integration with the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP)
The MDMP is the Army’s formal planning methodology for operations. Intelligence integrates at every step:
Step 1: Receipt of mission. The intelligence staff begins IPB, identifies intelligence gaps, and develops initial information requirements.
Step 2: Mission analysis. The intelligence staff identifies the adversary’s most likely and most dangerous courses of action (MLCOAs and MDCOAs), presents IPB products to the commander, and proposes Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs).
Step 3: Course of action (COA) development. The intelligence staff war-games adversary responses to each friendly COA — “red-teaming” the plan to identify vulnerabilities.
Step 4: COA analysis (wargaming). The intelligence staff role-plays the adversary, testing each friendly COA against realistic adversary reactions. This is the step where the intelligence officer’s understanding of the adversary directly shapes operational planning.
Step 5: COA comparison. Intelligence assessments inform the evaluation criteria for comparing friendly COAs.
Step 6: COA approval. The commander selects a COA; the intelligence staff refines PIRs and the information collection plan to support the selected COA.
Step 7: Orders production. Intelligence requirements are encoded in Annex B (Intelligence) of the operations order (OPORD), including the information collection plan, PIRs, and intelligence synchronization matrix.
Commander’s Critical Information Requirements (CCIR)
The commander designates CCIRs — the information the commander needs to make timely decisions. CCIRs include:
Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs). Information about the adversary and environment that the commander needs to support decision-making. PIRs are stated as questions: “Will the adversary reinforce the defensive position at Hill 304?” “Has the adversary repositioned its artillery?”
Friendly Force Information Requirements (FFIRs). Information about friendly forces the commander needs: “Has 2nd Brigade completed its movement to the line of departure?”
PIRs drive the information collection plan — they determine what collection assets are tasked to observe and what questions those assets must answer. The intelligence staff translates PIRs into specific indicators and assigns collection assets to named areas of interest (NAIs) where adversary activity will answer the PIR.
Decision support
Intelligence enables two doctrinal constructs that link intelligence to operational decision-making:
Decision points. Points in time and space where the commander must decide between branches of the plan, based on information the intelligence system provides. “If the adversary reinforces at Hill 304 (PIR 1), execute Branch Plan Alpha; if not, continue the main effort.”
Named Areas of Interest (NAIs) and Targeted Areas of Interest (TAIs). NAIs are geographic areas where adversary activity will confirm or deny specific indicators; TAIs are areas where the commander intends to engage the adversary. The intelligence staff identifies NAIs through IPB; the operations staff designates TAIs based on the scheme of maneuver.
Echelons of intelligence
Intelligence operations scale with organizational level:
| Echelon | Intelligence Staff | Collection Assets | Primary Product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battalion | S-2 section | Scouts, patrols, UAS | Threat assessment |
| Brigade | S-2 section + MI company | HUMINT, SIGINT, UAS | Updated IPB, PIR answers |
| Division | G-2 section + MI battalion | All-source + theater feeds | Intelligence estimate |
| Corps | G-2 + MI brigade | Theater collection | Operational assessment |
| Theater | J-2 + theater MI assets | National + theater | Theater intelligence |
Related concepts
- Intelligence preparation of the battlefield — the foundational analytical process
- Collection management — translating requirements into collection activities
- Order of battle — the analytical product most central to tactical intelligence
- Targeting — the operational function intelligence supports