Counterinsurgency and the

Education of the GEOINT

Professional

Todd S. BacastowProfessor of Practice for Geospatial Intelligence

John A. Dutton e-Education InstituteThe Pennsylvania State University

August 5, 2008

U.S. Army Spc. Roger Rich visits with an Iraqi child during a stop in a village near the city of Musayyib, Iraq, while on a civil affairs mission, June 12, 2005. Rich is assigned to Scout Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, part of the 155th Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Edward G. Martens.

“Counterinsurgency is military, paramilitary, political, economic, psychological, and civic actions taken by a government to defeat insurgency.”

Joint Pub 1-02/ FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5, p. 1-1

COIN 101 - Principles

Iraq, Jan. 30, 2005: An Iraqi man shows off his ink-stained finger after casting his ballot at a polling station in Jisr Diala on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Wide World Photo/John Moore).

COIN 101 - Phases

Source: RAND, 2008

COIN 101 – Intelligence

Source: RAND, 2008

What’s education?

• Education is concerned with the development of the intellect

• Training deals with learning specific skills

• Education is a personal activity• Training is developing skills for

others

What’s geospatial intelligence?

Title 10 U.S. Code §467

Brigadier Nick Rigbyformer Director of Intelligencefor the UK Ministry of DefenseG

EO

INT

Geo

spat

ial

Inte

llig

ence

Geospatial intelligence

Cholera outbreak in Soho, England, in 1854

Geospatial intelligence professional

Broad competency areas

After:Building the Geospatial WorkforceCyndi H. Gaudet, Heather M. Annulis, and Jon C. CarrURISA Journal • Vol. 15, No. 1 • 2003

PSU Geospatial Intelligence Program

PSU vs ABCA Report

# 10 - Legal

# 9 - Geospatial Forensics

# 8 - Language/Communications

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/maps/keymap/chapter2_1.pdf

Soviet era map symbols

# 7 – Organizational

map of NATO PRTs in Afghanistan, valid as at 20 April 2007. [23]A full-size version of this map is available at: http://www.nato.int/ISAF/media/pdf/placemat_isaf.pdf

# 6 – Working with open source

# 5 – Working with data

Iraqi survey data collectors speak with a village elder during the course of the first phase of the Landmine Impact Survey. http: www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/91052.htm

# 4 – Add to the toolset

A Social Network Analysis of the Iranian Government, [November, 2001]

# 3 – Ethics education

# 2 – Culture

Fairfax County Police,www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/police31.htm

# 1 – Geospatial analytic thinking

We recommend the following GIS workflow:

1. Define the problem or scenario.2. Identify the deliverables (mostly maps) needed to support the decision.3. Identify, collect, organize, and examine the data needed to address the problem.4. Document your work:

a. Create a process summary.b. Document your map.c. Set the environments.

5. Prepare your data.6. Create a basemap.7. Perform your analysis.8. Produce the deliverables, draw conclusions, and present your results.

Our World GIS EducationLevel 4: Making Spatial Decisions, ESRI

Geospatial analytic thinking

• The geospatial professional should:– Understand the cognitive biases and fallacies

– Apply appropriate geospatial techniques for creating and testing hypothesis

• rational choice theory• utility theory• game theory, etc.

– Evaluate temporal-spatial trend analysis and spatial correlation

– Apply forecasting methods in the geospatial domain• decision tree analysis• analytic hierarchy process• alternative scenarios/futures• Delphi technique• Lockwood Analytical Method for Prediction (LAMP)

Summary

Physical Human

Open terrain Closed terrain

Data Evidence

Top down Bottom up

Individual Team

Descriptive Predictive

Workflows Analytic process

U.S. Army Maj. Robert Holbert takes notes as he talks and drinks tea with local school and Andar Special Needs School administrators during a cordon and search of Nani, Afghanistan, on June 2, 2007. Holbert is attached to the Human Terrain Team, 4th Brigade Combat Team.   DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Michael L. Casteel, U.S. Army. (Released)

Key References

• Counterinsurgency Warfare, Galula, 1964

• The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation, Lind, 1989

• Field Manual 100-7, Decisive Force: The Army In Theater Operations, 1995

• Military Operations Other Than War Briefing Slides and Script, J7, undated

• The Information Edge: Imagery Intelligence and geospatial Information in an Evolving National Security Environment, NIMA, 2000

• Developing the Geospatial Workforce, Gaudet, 2001

• GIS & T Body of Knowledge, DiBiase, 2003

• Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Nagl, 2005

• Army-Marine Corps Counter Insurgency Field Manual, January 2007

• ABBA Report, 2007

• USGIF Accreditation Standards, 2007

• A Conceptual Framework for Facilitating Geospatial Thinking, Golledge, 2008

• Analytic Support to Intelligence in Counterinsurgency, RAND, 2008

• International Association for Intelligence Education Conference, June 2008

• The Future of Intelligence Co-operation between Military Forces and Private Security Companies based on Lessons Learned in Iraq"  Strachan-Morris, Mar 2008

• Taxonomy of Structured Analytic Techniques, Presentation, IAFIE Conference, June 2008

• Insurgency/Counter-Insurgency: Does the U.S. Army "Get It," Reynolds, June 2008