Pillar ofIntelligence Training
The 111th MI Brigade
by Second Lieutenant Ethan T. Vessels
Editor's Note: This article was adapted from the
111th MI Brigade Commander's Brief.
As a pillar of professional development,
institutional training is critical in the shaping of military
intelligence (MI) professionals in the era of force projection and
information operations. The 111th MI Brigade (Training), U. S. Army
Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca (USAIC&FH) accepts this
challenge every day. A leader in Army and joint intelligence
training, the 111th MI Brigade is a vital member of the
intelligence training community.
Mission
The 111th MI Brigade's mission is produce trained MI officers,
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers for the
total force. The brigade accomplishes this through:
- Initial entry training (IET) and advanced individual
training (AIT) in all MI enlisted career management fields.
- Basic, transition, and advanced officer training.
- Basic and advanced warrant officer training.
- Preassignment training for MI battalion and brigade
command sergeants major.
- Preassignment training for G2 and G2 staff sergeants
major.
- Precommand training for MI commanders of MI battalions
and brigades.
In addition to its primary mission of MI training, the 111th MI
Brigade stands ready to deploy subject matter experts and units
equipped with low density systems such as the Hunter unmanned
aerial vehicle (UAV) and TROJAN Special Purpose Integrated Remote
Intelligence Terminal (SPIRIT) to contingency operations
throughout the world.
Organization
The brigade consists of five MI battalions and two detachments.
Four battalions and one detachment are at Fort Huachuca. One
detachment is at Melbourne, Florida. The fifth battalion is at
Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, with one of its companies in
Pensacola, Florida.
Brigade Headquarters. The Headquarters and Headquarters
Detachment's mission is command and control, administrative, and
logistics support for the 111th MI Brigade. It consists of all the
brigade staff and the Advanced Training Division (ATD). The ATD
provides automation support, prototype training, infrastructure
planning, and simulations for the entire Intelligence Center.
304th MI Battalion. The 304th MI Battalion provides intelligence and electronic warfare (IEW) training, testing, maintenance, and equipment support to the Intelligence Center. In addition to its
training mission at Fort Huachuca, the battalion's UAV and TROJAN
SPIRIT systems frequently support exercises, demonstrations, and
contingency missions worldwide.
The 304th MI Battalion operates Libby Army Air Field where its
instructors train all special electronic mission aircraft (SEMA)
crews in QUICKFIX and GUARDRAIL IEW operations. Instructor pilots
also train student pilots in the unique flight and survivability
characteristics of SEMA aircraft.
The battalion also operates the Department of Defense UAV Test
Center. At the UAV Test Center, the 304th MI Battalion trains
soldiers and marines in UAV operations and maintenance. Equipped
with the Pioneer and Hunter UAVs, the battalion provides
significant support to UAV doctrine development and system testing.
305th MI Battalion. The 305th MI Battalion recently moved here from Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Its mission is to provide electronic
warfare and signals intelligence (SIGINT) training to soldiers,
sailors, airmen, marines, and officers. The battalion's IET and AIT
includes operator and maintenance courses on tactical and strategic
IEW systems. A joint training environment, the battalion relies
upon its Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force instructors provide
morse code and electronic intelligence training.
309th MI Battalion. The 309th MI Battalion provides IET and AIT in all-source intelligence, counterintelligence (CI), human
intelligence, and imagery intelligence (IMINT) operations and
analysis. Specifically, the battalion produces the Army's
all-source intelligence analysts, CI agents and analysts, ground
surveillance system operators, imagery analysts, interrogators, and
Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) Ground
Station Module (GSM) operators.
The 326th MI Battalion. The 326th MI Battalion is the officer training battalion. The battalion trains MI lieutenants through colonels in basic and advanced MI skills. Additionally, the battalion trains
warrant officers and international officers. Their primary goal is
to train officers to provide timely intelligence to their
commanders.
344th MI Battalion. The 344th MI Battalion provides IET and AIT at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. One company is at the Naval
Technical Training Center at Corry Station in Pensacola, Florida.
The battalion's mission is to support the Air Force and Navy IMINT
and SIGINT training mission. In addition, it provides Army SIGINT
analysis, intercept, and maintenance training. The battalion is
also responsible for advanced IMINT and Army firefighting training
at Goodfellow and photographic technical training at Pensacola.
Joint STARS Detachment.The Development, Training, and Test
Detachment for the Joint STARS is in Melbourne, Florida. It is the
developmental center for all testing, evaluation, and demonstration
of the prototype Joint STARS. The unit also assists in developing
training programs, tactics, and techniques for the employment of
the Joint STARS. The detachment has a contingency mission to deploy
Army aircrews and Joint STARS GSM operators in support of worldwide
operations.
Future Training
Just as Fort Huachuca was a home to traditional cavalry in the 19th
century, the 111th MI Brigade sees itself as the home of the
electronic cavalry in the 21st century. Fort Huachuca is becoming
a national ground intelligence training center. The center will be
responsible for all aspects of ground intelligence regardless of
Service. The brigade's focus will not change, but broaden. It will
continue to teach tactical MI skills focused on providing timely
intelligence to the commander.
The MI Corps will move into the information age and develop the
high-technology soldier required in the 21st century. This will
happen in several areas. The first is interactive training.
Comparable to a flight simulator, this type of training will allow
the soldier to use the same cognitive thought process in the
training environment as will be used in combat.
Interactive training relates to automation training. Before MI
soldiers can use the information age tools, they must have
automation training. These tools are automation systems and
software that speed our ability to process and correlate vast
amounts of information into quality intelligence. These advanced
systems fit into a larger architecture which requires our soldiers
to have technological skills. These skills allow greater access to
the theater and national intelligence structure.
The ATD's simulation center is another piece that drives our
training. The simulation center has the capability to integrate
simulations over a network and train a large group with interactive
scenarios. Additionally, the extensive communications structure
available gives the center the capability to place the simulations
at another location thereby providing distance learning.
Conclusion
As the Army vaults into the information age, the MI Corps will lead
in the development, implementation, and integration of technology
into the 21st century. Our armed forces demand dynamic and skilled
MI soldiers who can master the forthcoming technology. The 111th MI
Brigade creates those soldiers.
Second Lieutenant Ethan T. Vessels is currently
attending the MI Officer Basic Course at USAIC&FH. He is a 1995
graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.