Journal ISSN 1078-1935 – Page 3120 – Public Intelligence Blog

Jim Hardee was the senior civilian in the Joint Intelligence Center (JIC) of US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) during the 1990's, and was instrumental in ensuring that General Peter Schoomaker, then Commander-in-Chief of USSOCOM, received a briefing from Robert Steele in 1997, at which point General Schoomaker ordered the creation of the USSOCOM Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Branch, today still the only truly effective OSINT unit inthe US Government, with global reach across all languages and mediums. In our view, Mr. Hardee's contributions to the establishment of OSINT as a foundation for today's all-source analysis have not been properly recognized by his Command or his Government. He is one of a tiny handful of original pioneeers still standing and we hold him in the very highest regards. Below are the slides he used in introducing a panel on the application of OSINT to special force needs.

2003/12/222009/07/30

2003 Harrison (US) Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Requirements, Collection, and Production Management

Historic Contributions, Military

Ben Harrison

PLATINUM LIFETIME AWARD Mr. Ben Harrison, OSINT Pioneer

Mr. Ben Harrison is a master of both the military bureaucracy, and the global open source intelligence (OSINT) world. He has been a pioneer in all respects–helping the larger Department of Defense Community understand OSINT; creating innovative solutions for his own Command, the U.S. Special Operations Command; and helping teach otherss about the basics of OSINT. Within the U.S. Department of Defense, he is the tip of the spear for DoD OSINT.

The USSOCOM unit today answers 40% of all (ALL) Global War on Terror (GWOT) Essential Elements of Information (EEI) from all (ALL) Special Forces world-wide. The OSINT they produce is specific, timely, and actionable. Below is the low-key public presentation given by Ben Harrison at OSS -03. He cannot talk about the concept we pioneered in the late 1990's, Black OSINT, but he it is safe to say that he is the one person in the US Government that has achieved “dominance” on both White OSINT and Black OSINT.

2003/12/212009/07/30

2003 Hock (US) The Open-ness of the Open Internet

Historic Contributions, Methods & Process, Tools

Ran Hock

PLATINUM LIFETIME AWARD, Dr. Ran Hock

Dr. Ran Hock has done more than any single individual to educate both government and private sector parties with respect to the value of the deep web. He has single-handedly trained hundreds of individuals in the nuances of this major new intelligence resource base. Emphasizing individual analytic skills and common sense rather than arcane expensive and generally unproductive technologies, he represents the intersection of integrity, intelligence, and intuition in the service of all legitimate governments and organizations.

The Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) revolution began in 1988, and one could say that the Internet revolution began to sweep seriously into government in 1993 or so, that is the year that both DDCI Bill Studeman and Robert Steele both got emails and websites. Dr. Ran Hock has been “the” online access trainer of choice for the multinational audience choosing to attend the annual conferences, and the handbooks he created, new each year, have been prized references.

Below is his presentation to OSS '03 (actually just the summary), and on the right, click on the Frog to go to the current up-to-date OSINT Handbook Online that he maintains.

2003/12/202014/04/09

2003 Lewis (UNIDIR) Creating the Global Brain: The United Nations

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Historic Contributions, Peace Intelligence

United Nations, Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)

IOP '06. Under the leadership of Dr. Patricia Lewis, and in pursuit of the basic mission of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the development of “ideas for peace and security,” this organization has demonstrated sustained excellence in the exploitation of open sources of information, and in the development of new forms of internal information management and external information sharing, that suggest it is a potential catalyst for a surge in United Nations capabilities to leverage information to deter and resolve conflict, to reduce weapons of mass destruction as well as small arms and other contributing capabilities to genocide and instability, and to increase the prospects for peace across the many regions beset by complex emergencies that reduce human security.

Along with Lakhdar Brahimi (AF), Louise Frechette (CA), and Patrick Cammaert (NL), Dr. Patricia Lewis was among a tiny handful of United Nations (UN) professionals who understood in the 1990's that the UN, like the World Bank and other organizations that seek to create a prosperous world at peace, is in the information business, and that Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) was both the common language and the coin of the realm.

Below are her remarks to OSS '03, still the best overview available from any UN official.

2003/12/192009/07/30

2003 Manwaring (US) War & Conflict: Six Generations

Historic Contributions, Military, Peace Intelligence

Col Dr. Max Manwaring is one of America's greatest scholar-warriors and especially valuable to all of us for his understanding of gangs and other asymmetric froms of organization that are vastly more adatable, imaginative, and resources than any bureaucracy.

He has been among a handful of patriotic souls speaking truth to power about the urgency of getting a grip on emerging threats that are non-state in nature. Below is his presentation of the six generations of warfare–on a good day the US is lucky to get past fourth generation warfare, and completely unsuited–not trained, equipped, or organized–for generations five through seven (we added the seventh, see Graphics).

2003/12/182009/08/02

2003 Markowitz (US) Open Source in Support to All-Source Intelligence

Budgets & Funding, Government, Historic Contributions

PLATINUM LIFETIME AWARD Dr. Joseph Markowitz

Dr. Joseph Markowitz is without question the most qualified Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) pioneer in the ranks of those presently in or retired from U.S. government service. As the only real chief of the Community Open Source Program Office (COSPO) he tried valiantly to nurture a program being systematically undermined by both the leadership and the traditional broadcast monitoring service. When he moved on to advise the Defense Science Board, he served America well by helping them fully integrate the need for both defense open source information collection and exploitation, and defense information sharing with non-governmental organizations. His persistent but diplomatic efforts merit our greatest regard.

Clicking on the photograph leads to the 1995 Strategic Plan that was rejected by a series of Directors of Central Intelligence (DCI) for all the wrong reasons. Since then Dr. Markowitz has written the Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) elements of all the major Defense Science Board (DSB) reports, and it is to his credit, as well as that of Don Gessaman, that the most senior civilians in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) fully understand both the draconian short-falls in our capaiblity, and the ease with which they could be resolved.

2003/12/172009/07/31

2003 Medina (US) 21st Century Analysis–The Coming Revolution in Intelligence Analysis: What to do when the Traditional Model Fails

Analysis, Government, Historic Contributions

Carmen Median retired–her brilliance and innovative spirit surfaced at the top too late in the game. She is, however, like General Peter Schoomaker, USA (Ret), one of those bright lights that in our view should be brought back in to manage a global multinational information sharing and sense-making grid. She is not forgotten, and we hold her in the very highest esteem.

Below is the presentation she made to OSS '03, and a link to the article in Studies in Intelligence that remains, along with everything written by Jack Davis, seminal.

Carmen Medina What to Do When Traditional Models Fail

Category: Journal ISSN 1078-1935

2003 Hardee (US) Special Operations Panel on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)