The motive of a military intelligence officer is to obtain information and analyze it according to the battlefield environment. The details are then passed on to military forces on a cordial ground to develop the odds of victory.
The intelligence officer is a military official who is trained to detect threat levels, obtain information through keeping eye on enemy lines and war zone, direct security activities and other operations that involve secret empirical operations regarding menace to the country or the military. Though intelligence officer responsibilities may be similar in various branches of armed services, they are also shaped by the institution where these official are employed.
Mostly, this officer conducts the operations that will be performed during interrogations of suspected foreign invaders or terrorists. He/she presents their detection reports to the commander in chief to assist them plant out for the critical actions needed to be taken regarding security procedures and war tactics.
Working condition for this military officers is extremely variable and may change often. Some officials work in an office where they draft reports of their findings and operate surveillance equipment that is created to stag on border patrol areas and places at risk of foreign invasion or terror attacks.
On the other hand, a few others perform directly in a combat area as interrogation officers or spies where they question the suspects. Intelligence specialists rarely have the same type of work in their routine. Some work solely in an office, whereas some work initially in the field, but there are always new findings to report and variety of jobs to conduct.
These officers work 24 x 7; many of them work in rotating shifts between evening, morning and mid night hours; however, many personnel become accustomed to work for days at a time when they are working on a dangerous or large mission. Some will operate directly in a combat area and risk their life to find the required information.
The military intelligence of army is responsible for reporting all collective intelligence details during Army mission. The information provided by them is often helpful to plan out strategies that will save the operational soldiers on front lines. These intelligence officials specialize in the following areas.
Intelligence officer's routine work involves typical activities and for executing them efficiently, they need to have an excellent knowledge of technical advancements and strategies. Some of their responsibilities are discussed in brief.
Intelligence officials are responsible for preparing collection strategies. This operation can be executed in several ways depending on the expertise of the officer. For instance, imagery specialist intelligence officer plans operations to collect footage and satellite information from aerial vehicles. Signal specialists use special devices to capture enemy electronic communications and radio. Human intelligence personnel leads a team that interrogates non-combatants and enemy soldiers for critical data. In all these tasks, officials set the target of the mission, ensure that the required equipment is available and decide which personnel should be engaged in the team.
The personnel who work as analysts also need to conduct briefing and prepare reports of their findings. This is a significant task because it provides the information to those who need it. For instance, Marine or Army Corps intelligence official would report battalion commanders and infantry companies about the threats to the patrols during a mission. Air force intelligence personnel would brief pilots regarding the locations of anti-aircraft gun and rocket. Naval personnel would brief commanders of the ship about the potential risks such as smugglers, rough weather or even mines.
Intelligence personnel also have to analyze the information collected by the other officials. Usually, officials operating in assemblage of information will create a report with some preliminary settlement. These details are then transferred to the primary analyst. These analysts further collect all the data assembled by the intelligence from various different sources (imagery, human, signal) to develop an overall scenario of enemy forces. This picture helps to provide a crucial information (strength, location, composition of enemy forces) to the field commander.
Training Assistance
Some office intelligence personnel such as all military officers have to provide training to their subordinates. All these personnel have to peruse a formal course training; however, they also get on the job training when they join a new unit. These officials in military intelligence department are also responsible for scheduling training programs that evaluate analytical ability and data collection of the unit as a whole.
Unit Security
These offices also have to maintain security of the unit. Generally, there is an in-charge who makes sure that classified documents are appropriately stored. They also find out the eligible person for a security clearance and usually operate with military law enforcement to make certain that the security of unit personnel, facilities and equipment is optimal.
To work as an intelligence officer, the candidate must be a citizen of the US and should be already enlisted in a specific military branch. He/she should have completed basic training and also pursued a series of courses, graduate programs, and tests. They get the advanced training from the Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course at the United States. They also undertake post graduate training from the Defense Intelligence College.
Training for the post of an intelligence official varies as per the military branch they are working with. They have to qualify several levels of certification and training to reach at this position and pass a series of exams to carry the intelligence officer responsibilities tactfully.