tion, dissemination, and utilization) we frequently fall short during
the processing stage due to a fragmented information management system. (See Figure 1.) This inefficiency
affects the rest of the intelligence cycle,
ultimately resulting in lost tempo.
MCDP 2 outlines six characteristics of
effective intelligence. Availability is one.
Availability is a function of both timeliness and usability, but it is also a
function of an effective information
management system that allows commanders at various levels to readily access the intelligence they need.
Availability also means that relevant
basic intelligence has been developed
in advance and that intelligence assets
are maintained in readiness to develop
other intelligence products as
needed.
2
Figure 1.
efficient bottom-up refinement along
the way.
Intelligence information is information pertaining to the enemy, weather,
terrain, and (increasingly) population
of an area of operations. It is information regarding the battlespace and
everything within it that is not us. According to Marine CorpsDoctrinal Pub-
lication 2 (MCDP 2), Intelligence, the
primary objective of Marine intelligence is to provide accurate, timely, and
relevant knowledge about the enemy
(or potential enemy) and the surrounding environment. 1 When we exercise
the six steps of the intelligence cycle
(planning and direction, collection,
processing and exploitation, produc-
This is where we must improve. At this
point it’s important to draw a distinction between intelligence-related information and intelligence products.
Intelligence-related information is information that has not been analyzed
and turned into a finished intelligence
product. Intelligence is the analysis and
synthesis of information into knowledge. 3 This article focuses on improvements to the management of intelligence-related information that is essential to generating timely and relevant
finished intelligence products.
Figure 2.
Intelligence Information Management Concept
Intelligence information is an inherently messy quantity. To bring order to
the thousands of items of intelligence
information we need to make sense of,
we divide the outside world into “
entities.” An entity is a discreet person,
place, or thing that can be described
and organized by geographic boundaries or named as a single item in a
database. In military operations other
than war there are several basic entities
that intelligence sections need to describe and relate to one another in
order to effectively manage information. These are persons, facilities/infra-structure, organizations/networks, documents, and events. (See Figure 2.) An
