2003 Hardee (US) Special Operations Panel on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
Historic Contributions, MilitaryJim 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.