New Army Intelligence Interoperability Course is on the horizon
Imagine you are in a foreign country conducting retrograde operations. You are an Army Military Intelligence (MI) Soldier working in the intelligence and security section, commonly referred to as the S2 or G2. Your job is to help coordinate efforts and intelligence between the Army, our sister services and five different allied and partnered nations to help get everyone out of the country as safely and efficiently as possible.
Could you do it? Do you even know where to begin?
Despite years of historical operational experiences working with allies and partners, the hard-learned lessons from numerous campaigns and operations are sometimes lost once it's all over and must be re-learned during the next campaign or operation. Currently, there is no formal course or instruction to train and enable Army MI Soldiers to work with allies and partner nations.
The U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, in conjunction with other organizations in the Army Intelligence and Security Enterprise, is working to change that and prevent the loss of expertise and experience.
The Intelligence Interoperability Course
Course developers from INSCOM, Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G2, U.S. Army Forces Command's G2, and U.S. Army South's G2 are working on launching an official intelligence interoperability course as part of INSCOM's Foundry Program. The purpose of the IIC will be to educate, inform and empower Army MI Soldiers to integrate more effectively with ally and partner nation intelligence forces.
Among the course developers from INSCOM is David Chadbourne, training support management chief, G-37 Training Support Division. Chadbourne says the IIC can prevent the loss of hard-earned lessons learned but will also better prepare Army MI Soldiers who will deploy within an intelligence coalition environment.
"The IIC addresses a significant intelligence training gap," Chadbourne said. "The IIC will not only prevent this loss of expertise but will also ensure the U.S. Army intelligence Soldiers remain abreast of latest changes in interoperability doctrine, policy and techniques, tactics, and procedures."
The IIC will be added to the course catalog of INSCOM's Foundry Program.
The Beta Test
After months of planning, developing and assessing, the team of course developers and subject matter experts (SME) were ready to test the course they created with a beta test.
ARSOUTH hosted the IIC beta test at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from July 23-24. The purpose of the beta test was to test the feasibility of the curriculum and to see if it added value to Soldiers on the ground.
Canadian Army Maj. Kevin E. Klein, liaison officer, G3, INSCOM, says the main purpose of the beta was to help identify any shortfalls the course curriculum had.
"The beta test aimed to identify areas for improvements in the IIC curriculum, assess the effectiveness of the course in preparing intelligence Soldiers for interoperability, and gather feedback," Klein stated. "Essentially it was a stress test for the questions: 'is this course needed, and can we provide something valuable that will make Soldiers better?'"
Klein, a co-creator of the IIC, was surprised during the beta test by the level of engagement and enthusiasm from both students and instructors.
"Before the beta test, every command and formation who heard about the IIC – FORSCOM to every Army Service Component Command – told us how much everyone needed interoperability training," Klein said. "But even more surprising was the tactical intelligence Soldiers who wanted information on interoperability so badly. They all had stories and expressed how this course would have prepared them even more."
By and large, the beta test was a success. All the hard work and countless hours spent developing the curriculum was worth it. The validation was there. The students loved it. Maj. Michelle Sharp, intelligence security cooperation chief, G2, ARSOUTH, was shocked by the overwhelming positive feedback.
"Throughout the development of the course, it was verified that there was no Army training that provides this course material," Sharp explained. "From the student feedback, it was clear that not only is there a demand for the course, but it should be expanded."
Thoughts From the Field
The beta test featured a vastly diverse student population. The students in attendance ranged from specialist to captain, active duty to Army National Guard, and from various Army MI career fields.
Nearly every student who attended the beta test raved about the IIC. Comments ranged from, "I have been to several beta courses and this by far has been the best," to "every deploying Soldier should take this course."
At the end of the beta test, Soldiers were allowed to provide on-the-spot feedback to the team during an after-action review.
Spc. Almog Hovav, geospatial intelligence imagery analyst, 312th MI Battalion, 470th MI Brigade, INSCOM, was among the 21 Soldiers who participated in the beta test. Hovav spoke during the AAR about how valuable the course was for him and how he wished he received the training sooner.
"This is such a valuable course for everybody, and it should be a mandatory course for any intelligence Soldier that's deploying," said Hovav. "The advice that I learned here, and the methods of how to think, and the questions to ask would have been greatly beneficial to my situation when I was deployed."
First Lt. Olivia Fisher, deputy collection manager, U.S. Army North, is no stranger to interoperability. Every day, Fisher works with many different agencies and says the IIC has given her the perspective needed to be more successful at interoperability.
"Knowing what questions to ask, I think, is the biggest thing I will take back to my unit," Fisher said. "We have to think about interoperability at all levels and try to make sure that we understand at our level what we need to do for interoperability, but also what we need to look at for the higher headquarters."
Fisher says the IIC highlighted interoperability in a clear and uncomplicated way.
"We need to know how to work with people from all walks of life," said Fisher. "The IIC provided me with a semi blueprint to interoperability I can immediately take back to my unit and get after it."
One of the big questions for Sharp and the team of IIC curriculum developers was, 'Will this course add value to their daily requirements, deployment or exercise preparations, or overall intelligence professional development?'
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Isaac Copeland, MI system maintenance and integration technician, D. Co., 5th Battalion, 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade, heartily believes the IIC is value-added and would like to participate in the course once the IIC goes live.
"I would say this class is worth it. What you're going to get on the back end is significantly more than what you're going to put into it," said Copeland. "I would recommend it to others. Once the course goes live, I would like to attend it again."
Phase II and III
Phase II of the project will be focused on revisions and updates. The goal is to take the valuable feedback from the students and instructors and create a more refined course. Setting up the course developers to execute a pilot course.
"We will go over the valuable feedback we gained from the beta test and during this next development phase, we will revise and update the IIC curriculum," Chadbourne stated. "Once the revisions are done, we will look for a venue in which a formal pilot course could be conducted."
Chadbourne hinted at possibly conducting the pilot course during a warfighter exercise next fiscal year.
After reviewing the student surveys and completing an AAR for the IIC, Col. Jarrod Moreland, assistant chief of staff, G2, ARSOUTH, believes the IIC should be a permanent course offered to Soldiers.
"I feel the Army intelligence and security enterprise has a winner here that truly needs to become a permanent Foundry course," Moreland said. "All the students wanted more training and information on this topic, but even as a beta course, the IIC clearly exceeded initial expectations."
Phase III will be the implementation phase. Chadbourne isn't sure when the IIC will become an official course within Foundry. He is hopeful the course will go live sometime near the end of the fiscal year 2025.
The Foundry Program, established in 2006 to meet the Army Chief of Staff's directive to provide MI Soldiers with the most current intelligence training prior to deploying, provides Commanders the means to meet required technical intelligence training requirements and maintain necessary individual and collective intelligence certifications. Soldiers participating in the Foundry Program receive unique technical training that: builds on institutional, unit, and individual training; reflects the current and changing operating environment; produces required certifications; and increases functional and regional expertise while developing and expanding contact with the Intelligence community.
