Category: References

I will not replicate all that is at www.oss.net and to a much lesser extent, www.earth-intelligence.net, but do want to recognize a handful of extraordinary individuals by isolating their especially meritorious contributiions to the long-running debate about national intelligence reform and re-invention.

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Reference: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report on The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Intelligence Enterprise–Operational Overview and Oversight Challenges for Congress

Congressional Research Service

In our view the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) went down the wrong road, trying to create a “mini-me” secret enterprise.  The Joint Fusion Centers have all collapsed because–as we anticipated and articulated–there is nothing really valuable that can be done with a one-way saline drip from the top to the bottom.  Instead, DHS needs to create a robust bottom-up Community Infomration Sharing and Sense-Making Architecture, and as we have pointed out in the past, the unclassified concepts, doctirine, tools, and training are precisely analogous to what we need for multinational information sharing and sense-making for early warning, stabiliztion & reconstruction, achievement of the Millenium Goals, and so on.

Below is an excellent overview from CRS–the one failing of CRS is that they do not know what they do not know, and hence evaluate on industrial-era benchmarks rather than information-era bvenchmarks.

CRS on DHS Intel
CRS on DHS Intel

Follow the Frog to see our briefing to DHS Intel at the invitation of LtGen Pat Hughes, USA (Ret), the first Assistant Secretary for Intelligence there.  he continue to hold him in the highest esteem, as with his successor, Charlie Allen (since retired)–when such great men fail, we must conclude that we have a pathological system, not that they lacked in any way.

OSS CEO at DHS
OSS CEO at DHS
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2009 Defense Science Board Report on Creating an Assured Joint DoD and Interagency Interoperable Net-Centric Enterprise

Defense Science Board

See the General Accountability Office (GAO) report on the DoD “grid” of the future as being unaffordable, unachievable, unrealistic in its aspirations, and generally a waste of the taxpayer's money.  This is a great report, especially for the techno-inclined, and it has exactly one phrase that sums it all up but is not fully appreciated:  “We are no longer network-enabled, we are network dependent.”  So this report begs the question, why are we persisting in trying to fund, build, and maintain unilateral secret systems that do not allow multinational and interagency information-sharing and sense-making?  Why are we not addressing the complexity, congestion, and easily disrupted global commerce grid upon which we rely so heavily?  [See Stephen Carmel's brilliant presentation on this point.}

Network-Dependent
Network-Dependent
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2009 Defense Science Board Report on Understanding Human Dynamics

Defense Science Board, Military

This report is so out-of-character for the Defense Science Board (DSB), and yet so vital to the emerging concept of “full-spectrum” Human Intelligence (HUMINT), that we consider it a “must read.”  It may well be one of the most important DSB reports of the decade.  It inventories the mish-mash of endeavors that presume to collect, process, analyze, and exploit intelligence about humans and their social networks.  Reading between the lines, it is clear that a) DoD has no idea what it is doing in this area; and b) DoD has no bench, anywhere.  The report is beautifully put together and  provides a fine high-level review of the importance of leadership, inter-agency sharing and understanding, internal education, the importance of recovering lessons learned from the past and not lsing the hard-earned lessons re-learned.  We've had this report printed, it will be read more than once.  Of greatest interest from a Public Intelligence point of view as well as a HUMINT point of view (see our draft paper HUMAN INTELLIGENCE (HUMINT): All Humans, All Minds, All the Time), is the repeat–that's important–they are repeating prior recommendation in prior repor(s) of the need for a Center for Global Engagement.  The downside is that this will become another Human Terrain Team (HTT) turd in the punchbowl.  However, if it were handled properly, as a sister element to the emerging Defense Intelligence Open Source Program (DIOSPO), and it were fully multinational as briefing to the Coalition Coordination Center (CCC) in Tampa, then it might be a huge help to the Secretary across all fronts including acquisition and Whole of Government Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Campaigning (PPBC).

HUMINT 101
HUMINT 101