As you progress through the modules of the course, you are learning how the United States Intelligence Community operates as it pertains to the 5-Disciplines of Intelligence Collection. For this assignment, you will have an opportunity to deal with a real national intelligence collection issue, the Iranian nations capabilities to acquire and utilize a nuclear weapon, as well as their ability to fund and utilize terrorist groups to attack U.S. interests and allies.
You will assume the role of a DNI analyst and you will be tasked to conduct a 3-page open source analysis of the Iranian threat. You will then identify at least 3 Intelligence gaps that resulted from your OSINT analysis. Next, you will assemble an intelligence collection plan in which you appropriately task the members of the United States Intelligence Community. The plan will include at least six intelligence collection requirements, an agency assignment for each requirement, and a justification for assigning that agency.
I have included a sample collection requirement. You are welcome to use the intelligence gap and intelligence requirement used here in your paper, along with two other gaps and five other intelligence collection requirements you create. There is no page limit for this assignment but you’re probably looking around 7-8 pages of analysis. 3 pages for the OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) overview of the Iranian threat and 4-5 pages for the collection plan. Usually the best way to break down the paper is 3-4 pages of OSINT analysis on the Iranian Threat, then 4-5 pages for the collection plan. As long as
it’s at least 3 gaps and 6 requirements you’re good to go!
The idea of this assignment is that each step will build on itself. Through the OSINT analysis (only one we can really utilize since we don’t have access to classified) you will identify intelligence gaps, as in information you wanted to acquire but didn’t have. Once you have your gaps identified, you will create intelligence collection requirements that intelligence collectors from your assigned agencies will use to collect information to answer the requirements and close the gaps.
Short Scenario:
During a recent briefing, the Deputy DNI (Director of National Intelligence) for Intelligence Integration advised that the President informed his cabinet that he feared that the Government of Iran would join North Korea as a rogue nation with nuclear weapons capability. He wanted to ensure that the IC was doing everything possible to prevent and counter the spread of WMDs, and that the United States Government was prepared to respond to any scenario involving the possibility of Iran possessing nuclear weapons. The Director is meeting with the members of the IC and White House staff to update the IC (Intelligence Community) requirements for our national security. In anticipation of this, the Deputy DNI has instructed you to prepare a draft collection plan that encompasses the entire IC and concentrates on the mission and asset management of the second (Determine Resource Availability and Capability) and third (Task Resources) stages of the collection plan. He also asked that you perform a preliminary OSINT collection prior to tasking the IC along the 5 Disciplines of Intelligence Collection. The Deputy DNI asked that you be specific in assessing the capabilities and tasking of the IC as it pertains to the Iranian capabilities. He further advised that although the Department of Defense oversees multiple IC organizations, such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Organization, and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, you must task the specific agency.
