Introduction
In combat zones, military commanders rely heavily on the field of tactical military intelligence to acquire intelligence and offer vital insights. For decades, counterterrorism efforts have been viewed as essential to maintain peace around the world and protect civilians (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021). By employing various techniques such as reconnaissance, surveillance, analysis of enemy movements, and making tactical decisions, military units can gain a significant advantage over their adversaries and even prevent attacks.
Reconnaissance
The first tactical military intelligence technique is connected to reconnaissance. Gathering intelligence on the locations, capacity, and objectives of the enemy is the purpose of this technique (Davis, 2019). Usually, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones are used to carry out the task. UAVs are able to strike without the need for a human operator to guide them to a predetermined place, select their own targets, and execute their attacks (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021).
Since the 1950s, the United States Department of Defense has employed drones to supply opponents with intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance in almost every combat campaign (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021). It is claimed that about 100 nations use military drones at the moment (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021). They are utilized in warfare and rescue operations and provide a precise topography of the ground owing to their modern cameras (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021). As a result, due to precision and the ability to gather large amounts of data, such a tactic is effective.
The military can attack the adversary with drones while reducing damage and losses, which is their main benefit. In March 2020, there was the first known instance of an autonomous drone attacking an individual (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021). The Second Libyan Civil War security report from the United Nations claims that in order to stop the enemy from utilizing their own drones, Libyan troops employed Turkish-made drones to track down and interfere with their retreating soldiers (Konert & Balcerzak, 2021). Moreover, aerial drones were used in around 14 planned or attempted terrorist strikes between 1994 and 2018 (Pledger, 2021). However, the local security forces prevented Al-Qaeda from carrying out a planned drone assault in Pakistan in 2013 (Pledger, 2021).
Surveillance
Another military technique that is often used in connection with surveillance. The methodical monitoring of the fighting zone to deliver combat intelligence and information promptly is known as battlefield surveillance (Shimoni et al., 2019). The main distinction between surveillance and reconnaissance is that the former refers to ongoing, multi-temporal observation, whereas reconnaissance typically involves a single observation (Shimoni et al., 2019). The intelligence process consists of the planning and direction, collection, processing, exploitation, production, dissemination, and integration phases (Mills, 2003). Surveillance is a crucial tool that is used for long-term observations.
An example can be provided to demonstrate the successful use of surveillance. Jordan’s border defensive structures and surveillance capacities were strengthened in 2021 in reaction to terrorist and criminal activities originating from its border with Iraq and Syria (U.S. Department of State, 2021). General Intelligence Directorate (GID) Director Ahmed Husni Hatuqay said in an interview that since he took his position in May 2019, GID has stopped 120 activities, comprising 52 terrorist plots, and detained 103 people who were organizing attacks in Jordan (U.S. Department of State, 2021).
Moreover, the GID helped thwart 68 more terrorist schemes around the world (U.S. Department of State, 2021). For instance, in March, the GID intercepted a terrorist plot by followers of ISIS to use weapons to launch an assault on a GID facility in the northern city of Irbid (U.S. Department of State, 2021). The three defendants had served prior jail terms for offenses related to terrorism, and the scheme came about while the accused were incarcerated (U.S. Department of State, 2021). In this case, ongoing surveillance had proven to be effective when it came to terrorist attack prevention.
Analysis of Enemy Movements
Moving forward, analyzing enemy movement is another important aspect of tactical military intelligence. Lessons from terrorist groups’ war zones highlight how crucial it is to examine the strategies and patterns these groups use (Clark, 2019). ISIS and other terrorist organizations were prevented from operating in the Maghreb in 2019 owing to Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia’s counterterrorism initiatives and analysis of their activities (U.S. Department of State, 2019).
Figures from the Algerian armed forces and internal security services revealed a rise in terrorist arrests or terrorist suspects detained in comparison to 2018 (U.S. Department of State, 2019). Meanwhile, Tunisia boosted the number of successful counterterrorism operations, which included the assassination of Jund al-Khilafah’s leader (U.S. Department of State, 2019). Targeting ISIS cells in southern Libya, the U.S. launched precision airstrikes that destroyed important ISIS members and disrupted the organization’s organizational presence in the region (U.S. Department of State, 2019). Thus, one can see the importance of ongoing analysis of enemy movements, which is crucial to detecting any suspicious activity.
Tactical Decisions
Lastly, realistic and timely intelligence is the basis of tactical decisions, which are essential to accomplishing military goals. Terrorist-related conflict zones have brought attention to how crucial it is to incorporate intelligence into decision-making. One example can demonstrate how a lack of timely reaction can lead to poor tactical decisions. A vehicle bomb attempt against the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was initiated on April 18, 1983 (Kruys, 2006). It was reported that 17 US citizens and around 30 persons from different nations lost their lives as a result of the tragedy (Kruys, 2006).
According to an FBI study, the terrorists employed hazardous active gas bottle bombs, which produced a blast multiplier effect and were said to be easy to use (Kruys, 2006). This report was not provided to the U.S. Department of Defense, and only the CIA and the State Department were given access to it (Kruys, 2006). Such a mistake often leads to further attacks that can become more elaborate.
The following terrorist acts occurred due to poor preparedness and management of information. A truck collided with the U.S. Marine complex at Beirut International Airport on October 23, 1983 (Kruys, 2006). Over 200 American soldiers lost their lives as a result of it breaking into the headquarters of the Battalion Landing Team (Kruys, 2006). This suggests that a large amount of irrelevant information was improperly gathered for the commander. It also increases the possibility that, despite the attack on the Embassy in April, intelligence analysts at more senior levels than the intelligence officer were not analyzing data with the express goal of determining the terrorist danger.
Conclusion
In summary, through the utilization of diverse tactics including reconnaissance, surveillance, movement analysis, and tactical decision-making, military units might attain a notable edge over their rivals and potentially avert attacks. The goal of reconnaissance is to obtain information about the enemy’s whereabouts, capabilities, and goals. Battleground surveillance is the systematic observation of the war zone to provide combat intelligence and information as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the lessons learned from terrorist groups’ combat zones emphasize how important it is to look closely at the tactics and patterns these groups employ. Finally, tactical decisions—which are critical to achieving military objectives—are based on timely and realistic intelligence.
References
Clark, R. M. (2019). Intelligence analysis: A target-centric approach. CQ Press.
Davis, Z. (2019). Artificial intelligence on the battlefield. Prism, 8(2), 114-131.
Konert, A., & Balcerzak, T. (2021). Military autonomous drones (UAVs)-from fantasy to reality. Legal and Ethical implications. Transportation Research Procedia, 59, 292-299.
Kruys, G. P. (2006). Intelligence failures: Causes and contemporary case studies. University of Pretoria.
Mills, G. H. (2003). Intelligence process. Air University Press.
Pledger, T. G. (2021). The role of drones in future terrorist attacks. The Association of the United States Army.
Shimoni, M., Haelterman, R., & Perneel, C. (2019). Hypersectral imaging for military and security applications: Combining myriad processing and sensing techniques. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine, 7(2), 101-117.
U.S. Department of State. (2019). Country reports on terrorism.
U.S. Department of State. (2021). Country reports on terrorism 2021.