Sources

Another shorthand commonly used by the military services and the intelligence community refers to the source of any given piece of intelligence. Changed Environment

Most of today's military equipment and organization was originally designed to fight the Soviet Union. (7)
Outside observers, including other members of the national intelligence community, generally agree with DOD's characterization of the threat. In addition to the changed threat, the U.S. military along with the rest of society also has experienced major changes in the technologies available. Theseofficials point to examples such as the change in the military's ability to attack targets from the air,comparing Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in 1991 to Operation Enduring Freedom againstAfghanistan in 2001. (12)

		Transformation Criteria

Regardless of how transformation may be defined, retired Vice Admiral (USN) Arthur Cebrowski, the chief of the Defense Department's Office of Force Transformation, has identifiedsome criteria by which military programs may be judged for their transformational qualities. Somecommonly recognized characteristics include a world-wide perspective, fusion, detail, andpersistent surveillance . Some experts express caution about these characteristics. DOD Plans for Future Forces

To assess the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aspects of military transformation, it is useful to have a basic understanding of the military forces which the future ISR structure willbe expected to support. All of the services are planning their forces in light of thechanged threat and new information technologies. Taken together, they do appear to be helping improveinteroperability while supporting changes in the way warfare is conducted against a wide range ofthreats. How this will be manifested is not yet determined. One of these mission capability packages is dedicated to ISR. As noted earlier, many observers believe significant transformation of ISR has already occurredand has been practiced in Afghanistan. The military's ability to move data from the reconnaissanceplatform to the weapon system able to take action, the so-called "sensor to shooter" sequence,generally required at least a full day in Operation Desert Storm, as imagery from a satellite orreconnaissance aircraft had to be analyzed, identified as a target, turned into hard-copy, andintensively studied by the aircrew before a weapon could be dropped accurately. Some outside observers, however, believe that in addition to these changes, the military intelligence community needs to establish a whole new method for analysis. (91) In addition,several other issues involving the cost and qualityof intelligence, as well as leadership, military intelligence's role in homeland defense and the impactof potential intelligence community reform may be considered. HUMINT Deficiencies

Congress also sees a national security imperative to improve HUMINT. All of the services report that analysis requires more attention. (101) Congress will then have the opportunity todetermine whether the programs still make sense. Appendix: Acronyms

AC2ISRC Aerospace Command and Control and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center
ACTD Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration
ASD/C3I Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence
ASDS Advanced SEAL Delivery System
BDA Bomb Damage Assessment
C2ISR Command, Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
CEC Cooperative Engagement Capability
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Project Agency
DCGS Distributed Common Ground System
DCI Director of Central Intelligence
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency
DOD Department of Defense
GPS Global Positioning System
HUMINT Human Intelligence
IMINT Imagery Intelligence
ISR Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance
JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff
JFCOM Joint Forces Command
JROC Joint Requirements Oversight Council
MASINT Measurement and Signatures Intelligence
NIMA National Imagery and Mapping Agency
NMCI Navy and Marine Corps Intranet
NRO National Reconnaissance Office
NSA National Security Agency
OFT Office of Force Transformation
OSD Office of the Secretary of Defense
QDR Quadrennial Defense Review
RSTA Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Targeting and Acquisition
SEAL Sea-Air-Land forces
SIGINT Signals Intelligence
SIPRNET Secure Internet Protocol Network
SOCOM Special Operations Command
UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UUV Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
The Department of Defense (DOD) indicates it is undertaking a major alteration in its capabilities, from a force designed to fight the Soviet Union to one tailored to 21st centuryadversaries including terrorism. This shift has been prompted by the perception of a changing threatand improved technology, especially information technology. As the military services attempt toincrease the agility and versatility of their weapon systems, they also see a need to increase thecapabilities of military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to support the newweapon systems and operating methods against these new threats.
To judge whether service activities are likely to help the military "transform," the head of DOD's Office of Force Transformation, retired Vice Admiral Arthur Cebrowski (U.S. Navy) hasproposed three criteria-whether the proposed capability can communicate and operate easily inconjunction with the other services, whether it helps the military develop new methods ofwarfighting, and whether it will be useful against a wide range of threats. In addition, ISR activitiesshould, in the aggregate, provide a world-wide perspective of the threat, "fuse" all types ofintelligence into one picture, access extensive details about the enemy, and monitor specific targetsfor long periods of time.
All of the services are planning ISR programs which exhibit at least some attributes of transformation. Many observers believe military ISR has already achieved some transformation, asshown in the war in Afghanistan by the military's ability to detect a target and destroy it withinminutes. The military's ability to move intelligence quickly has improved dramatically. However,many observers are concerned that analysis may be lagging behind. Proposals to make revolutionarychanges in analysis include using contractors to produce competing unclassified analyses, developingartificial intelligence capabilities for database work, and establishing more operations analysiscenters.
The military intelligence community is supported by the national intelligence community, which even before the September 11 attacks was under intense scrutiny. Therefore, the aspects ofthe national intelligence community's operations in which Congress has expressed interest directlyaffect the quality of military intelligence. In addition, DOD's plans for improving its ISRcapabilities raise potential issues for Congress with regard to cost, the balancing of potentiallycompeting efforts to improve the flow of intelligence and the quality of the data, and the support ofmilitary leadership. Finally, the consequences of the military's role in homeland defense, andintelligence community reform may generate concern. Discussion of these issues is provided asbackground as Congress considers ISR programs as part of defense and intelligence authorizationand appropriations legislation. This report will not be updated.