One Team, One Vector
Reserve Component Intelligence
by Lieutenant General Paul E. Menoher, Jr.
Editor's Note: Lieutenant General Menoher delivered
the following comments at the dedication ceremony for the Regional
Training Site for Intelligence-West, Camp Parks, California, on 9
August 1995.
Our Army America's Army has undergone amazing changes
in recent years as we have adjusted to the new world order and
integrated new technology. We have gotten significantly smaller,
and in the process have withdrawn a large portion of our forward
deployed forces to become a predominantly continental
United States (CONUS)-based, power projection Army today.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have reduced from 780,000
soldiers with 18 divisions in the active Army to slightly over
500,000 soldiers today with only 12 and soon only 10 divisions.
U.S. Army intelligence has undergone similar changes, reducing its
manpower by more than 30 percent in the same time frame. But, as
has happened in the larger Army, we have actually improved our
capabilities in the process by leveraging technology, integrating
new systems, developing new operational concepts and new doctrine,
and redesigning our organizations to make them smaller, scalable,
and more deployable.
It is a good thing that we have improved our capabilities, because
the world is even more dangerous now than it was during the Cold
War. As a consequence, our operational commitments and optempo have
increased by 300 percent since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Despite
our increased capabilities, we cannot satisfy all the demands for
intelligence in the Army with our Active Component personnel alone.
The complex nature of today's world order, the wide range and
ever-increasing number of our operational requirements, and the
increased demands of force projection operations all of
this could overwhelm the Army's intelligence
capabilities unless we can bring to bear the outstanding talent in
our Guard and Reserve military intelligence (MI) force. We must
have U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) and Army National Guard (ARNG) MI
soldiers work with us in a coordinated division of
intelligence labor.
With this goal in mind, we have embarked on an aggressive and
multifaceted program in which the Regional Training Sites for
Intelligence (RTS-I) will serve a major role. Before commenting on
the specifics of that critical role, let me first describe the
other facets of our approach.
Force Redesign
First, we have redesigned the Guard and Reserve MI force in a
Reserve Component force design update that the Army leadership
approved in the spring of 1995. This effort redesigned every ARNG
and USAR MI organization supporting echelons above division, not in
a mirror image of the Active Component, but in modular,
functional organizations. These elements will enable us to
access the great talent in the USAR and ARNG in those specific
skills and numbers needed to complement the active force. These new
organizational designs concentrate on people, not equipment; as
they come into effect in the next 18 months, we must ensure that
these units and their great people are truly trained and ready to
mobilize and deploy on short notice.
Peacetime Use
Second, we are capitalizing on the Department of Defense
(DOD) peacetime utilization plan that the Deputy Secretary of
Defense approved in January 1995. This is a plan to enhance
peacetime use of the ARNG and USAR MI force. It reinforces the
realization at the highest levels that we can get added value from
the ARNG and USAR MI force by applying their great talent and
capabilities in peacetime, as well as crises and war. We are
talking about live missions in a coordinated division of labor with
the active force, which will provide great training through
operational opportunities focused on collection and production to
satisfy real- world requirements.
Resource Increase
Third, we are working to obtain better resourcing to provide
additional work-days for ARNG and USAR intelligence soldiers, and
to obtain the automation and connectivity necessary to enable them
to perform their live missions. This is a good news story and
represents a significant departure from the past. At the highest
levels, our leaders are recognizing that without increased
resourcing to fund additional pay for the ARNG and USAR and bring
in state-of-the-art intelligence automation and communications
connectivity, all of our efforts to achieve integration will fail.
Let me emphasize that contributory support is not new; the ARNG and
USAR have been doing this for years. What we are talking about is
doing it on a much larger scale. This year alone, between the
General Defense Intelligence Program and the Defense Intelligence
Reserve Program, we have brought more than $2.7 million, or 30
work-years of additional capability to bear on our intelligence
requirements.
Examples of the contributions made as a result of this investment
include-
- Military capabilities studies for every theater.
- Updated intelligence databases.
- Linguist support to the National Security Agency, major
exercises, and strategic debriefings.
A significant amount of this support emanated from
the RTS-Is, and we can do more with more resources.
Connectivity Increase
The final area in which we have invested is increased connectivity.
Over the past three years, significant resources have been made
available to provide state-of-the- art automation and
communications connectivity that will provide the ARNG and USAR MI
elements with a gateway to our national intelligence agencies and
systems. This is critical to realizing the full "value added" of
the ARNG and USAR MI force, and to achieving a shared collection
and production effort.
All told, the DOD utilization plan provides more than $31 million
in the Five-Year Defense Plan for providing intelligence automation
and communications systems for our RTS-Is and other locations. With
this connectivity, the options available to the ARNG and USAR
increase significantly, to include the ability to conduct annual
training and even mobilize at the home station. It will also
provide significantly expanded inactive- duty training
capabilities.
The RTS-Is provide the secure facilities that will serve as a focal
point for this activity, enabling the ARNG and USAR to access and
interact with the entire U.S. intelligence community. In short,
they will provide ARNG and USAR MI soldiers the opportunity to
train on and operate the same systems and databases as their active
counterparts.
One Team, One Vector
I think throughout this discussion, the value and pivotal role the
RTS-I must play in our program has become clear to you. The bottom
line is they will serve as the cornerstone of our whole program.
The ARNG and USAR have always been critical to our national
defense, and will be even more so in the future. With this new
facility, we can develop and leverage their great talent even more,
making the ARNG and USAR full partners in an integrated and shared
intelligence effort.
My vision is one team, pursuing one coherent vector, supporting our
great nation wherever it needs us. With great facilities like this
and the great talent you bring to it, we will make that vision a
reality.
Lieutenant General Menoher is currently the U.S. Army
Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (DCSINT). He served as the
Commander, U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, Fort
Huachuca, Arizona, from 1989 through 1993. Readers who wish more
information may contact the DCSINT Directorate of Reserve Affairs
at (703) 695-0778, DSN 225-0778, or E-mail
mccluree@pentagon-hqdadss. army.mil.