CHAPTER 3
S2/G2 ORGANIZATIONS
AND FUNCTIONS
The Battalion S2
Battalion S2 Organization
- Your S2 should be an MI captain.
- Your battalion S2 section
is austere. Even when fully manned, your S2 shop is not resourced
to conduct sustained split Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and
Tactical Command Post (TAC) operations.
- You are authorized an MI lieutenant
(assistant S2) to supervise the S2's battlefield information coordination
center (BICC).
- Your S2 section is authorized
a combat arms master sergeant as an NCOIC, as well as an MI sergeant
and one radio telephone operator (RTO).
- Battalion S2 operations are
generally informal, providing detailed products only when time
and resources permit.
Nature of Battalion
S2 Operations
- Every member of the S2 section
should be able to perform any of the nonplanning intelligence
functions. This is necessary since anyone in the S2 section could
be caught "one deep" in the TOC for long periods of
time.
- Your S2's first priority at
this level is to ensure a healthy IPB process to drive staff
planning.
- Your S2's second priority
is to coordinate, supervise, and enforce the R&S plan.
- Because reports from scout
platoons and line companies are relatively reliable, the battalion
S2 doesn't have to conduct much analysis. This is especially true
if you have high quality IPB and wargaming products.
- Because your S2 section is
so small, it's relatively easy (compared to higher levels) for
the entire shop to talk through and understand the intelligence
situation. Hence, you can train your battalion S2 section to a
very high degree of proficiency.
Command and Staff
Interaction with the Battalion S2
- Your S2 and S3 should be full
partners in driving all battalion operations. These officers should
work together on all decision-making processes. Both staff officers
should be intimately familiar with the other's duties.
- Always have your S2 present
when you discuss battalion operations.
- Because the battalion staff
is so small (compared to higher echelons), you can train your
battle staff to be "intelligence literate." Your entire
staff should talk to S2 personnel frequently.
- The S2 must provide estimates
about enemy future intentions, rather than reiterate past events.
Train him to provide you with the intelligence products you need
to fight and plan future battles.
Product Expectations
for the Battalion S2
- Your S2 doesn't have the time
or resources to develop all the possible IPB templates or written
products. Your S2 expects to get IPB products from the Brigade
S2. As a systematic check, your battalion S2 verifies the brigade
S2's IPB effort. Once accepted, your S2 uses brigade products
as a start point to develop the detailed IPB products needed to
support battalion operations.
- Your S2 should always produce
a set of situation templates for likely enemy COAs.
- Your S2 should also develop
an event template and an R&S plan to confirm or deny predictions
in a timely manner.
- He will also help your S3
produce the DSTs during the wargaming process. Your S2 should
record intelligence needs on the DST and BOS synchronization matrix
rather than on a separate intelligence synchronization matrix.
Typical MI Support
to a Battalion
- Scout assets are organic to
your battalion. The S2 must be involved in planning the scout
platoon mission. The S2 must give them precise guidance on information
he needs, what to look for to get it, and when they must report
the information. The S2 should also debrief scouts whenever possible
to ensure all relevant information is obtained.
- Except for ground surveillance
radars (GSRs) and the remotely monitored battlefield sensor system
(REMBASS), you will probably not have MI assets attached to your
unit. The assets you do get should be fully integrated with the
R&S effort. The S2, through the S3, should task frontline
troops and combat patrols for collection as well. You must husband
and protect your few resources, focusing on your intended main
effort.
The Brigade S2
Brigade S2 Organization
- The S2 section is much larger
at the brigade level.
- Your brigade S2 should be
an MI major with battalion S2 experience.
- Your S2 shop will have up
to three officers and six enlisted soldiers. Light brigades will
have fewer personnel.
- The S2 should have an IEWSO
(a liaison officer from the MI battalion) to help plan and integrate
direct support (DS) and other MI assets.
Nature of Brigade
S2 Operations
- The sample intelligence process
described in Chapter 2 should give you a good idea of the S2's
role at the brigade level.
- IPB and the command estimate
process are more formalized at brigade level than at battalion
level. The division of labor is more predictable and better defined.
You can designate your most experienced assistant S2 as the plans
officer, and the others as "shift S2s" within the TOC.
- Because of the increased size
of the section you must train harder to get the entire shop on
"a single sheet of music." However, a brigade S2 shop
can still train to a high degree of proficiency.
- The enemy situation is significantly
more ambiguous than at battalion level. Your S2 will have to conduct
analysis and take some risks to provide predictive analysis and
recommendations to you. This requires a confident, experienced
tactical MI officer who understands friendly operations and tactics
and can anticipate the type of action or reaction they're likely
to evoke from an enemy force.
Command and Staff
Interaction with
the Brigade S2
- Because of the increased size
of the brigade staff, it's difficult to make the entire battle
staff intelligence literate. S2 personnel can no longer rely on
simple conversations within the TOC (or on the command net) to
keep the entire unit informed. S2 personnel at this level have
to invest substantial thought into preparing and briefing intelligence
products.
- The S2 usually sends an assistant
S2 with an analyst to the brigade TAC. They serve as an advisory
element to the TAC. They do limited analysis and must access the
TOC for anything requiring detailed analysis.
Product Expectations
for the Brigade S2
- Your brigade S2 develops more
detailed terrain and weather IPB products than the battalion S2.
Once completed, he forwards them to the battalion S2s for their
use. He should expect battalion S2s to question his IPB effort.
He should be prepared to discuss and change these products as
appropriate.
- The situation and event templates
are more formal and detailed than at the battalion level.
- The S2 still may not develop
a separate intelligence synchronization matrix if he can include
it as part of the BOS synchronization matrix.
- The S2 develops a more formalized
"R&S tasking matrix" (collection plan).
Typical MI Support
to a Brigade
- At brigade level, you don't
have organic scout assets. This forces you to . rely on subordinate
battalions and division to answer your PIRs. When scouts are organic
to the brigade, the brigade S2 should become involved in their
mission planning just as the battalion S2 is with battalion scouts.
- The brigade will often receive
an MI company team consisting of a signals intelligence (SIGINT)
platoon, and possibly interrogation and counterintelligence (CI)
teams. See Chapter 4 and Appendix B for a discussion of what this
company consists of.
- Brigade S2s in light brigades
also receive substantial GSR and REM-BASS support.
The Division and
Corps G2
Division and Corps
G2 Organization
- The G2 sections at division
and corps are much larger than their brigade counterpart. The
G2 should be an MI lieutenant colonel at division and an MI colonel
at corps.
- The G2 section contains the
division or corps TOC support element (DTOCSE or CTOCSE) which
contains the all-source production section (ASPS), collection
management and dissemination (CM&D) section, field artillery
intelligence officer (FAIO), counterintelligence analysis section
(CIAS), and EW section. All other G2 staff sections work for the
G2, but not as part of the DTOCSE or CTOCSE.
The All-Source
Production Section (ASPS)
The ASPS prepares the
situation templates (enemy COAs) that drive division and corps
wargaming. Analysts here are the experts on how the enemy will
deploy in any given situation. They develop enemy event templates
and analysis matrixes and identify HVTs.
The ASPS also tracks and analyzes
the battle. ASPS analysts conduct target development and report
located targets to the FSO or the fire support element (FSE).
In addition, they conduct BDA.
The Collection
Management and Dissemination (CM&D) Section
The
CM&D section receives PIRs and IRs from the G2 (with "deadlines"
that the G2 section identifies from wargaming and discussions
with you). The CM&D section then develops the intelligence
synchronization matrix. This shows the fundamental plan for answering
each of your PIRs, locating priority targets you have established
for attack and collecting BDA.
The CM&D then manages
the collection effort. Talk to CM&D to make sure they're collecting
against your priorities and to find out how well the collection
assets are satisfying tasked requirements. Also talk to them to
get a feel for how well the IRs that support future decisions
will be answered. The CM&D also disseminates intelligence.
Make sure they know when you need specific requirements satisfied.
The Field Artillery
Intelligence Other (FAIO)
The FAIO serves as the liaison
between division and corps artillery and your G2 section. He coordinates
with the ASPS and makes sure priority HPTs are passed to the FSE
on an expedited basis.
The Engineer Terrain
Detachment
The
engineer terrain detachment works for the G2 and prepares the
detailed terrain analysis products that the ASPS integrates into
the IPB.
The USAF Weather
Team (WETM)
The Air Force provides a weather
team to (continued) observe and forecast the weather conditions
on the battlefield and to help the G2 to evaluate the impact of
weather on friendly and threat operations. The WETM provides key
weather analysis overlays for the ASPS to integrate into the IPB
process.
The G2 Plans Section
The G2 Plans officer receives
your guidance for the direction of IPB. He then translates that
guidance into specific taskings for other G2 sections.
When the G2 Plans officer
receives the situation templates from the ASPS, he war-games with
the rest of the planning staff. He helps develop the BOS synchronization
matrix and the DST. He and the G2 briefs you on the IRs and the
recommended PIRs from the wargaming.
The Counterintelligence
Analysis Section (CIAS)
The CIAS studies the enemy's
ability to collect on us using a variety of collection assets
across the entire battlefield (not just the rear area). This
is known as multidiscipline counterintelligence (MDCI). The G3
will develop Essential Elements of Friendly Information (EEFI)
and you will approve them after thinking through how you intend
to deceive the enemy and what information you want to deny him.
The CIAS will then wargame the EEFI against the enemy's ability
to collect. The end result is a recommendation to the G3 on OPSEC
countermeasures, contributing to force protection.
Because a principal CIAS mission
is to G2 describe "how the enemy sees us," the CIAS
(continued) is instrumental in devising the best way to feed the
enemy "stories" or "pictures" to support your
deception effort.
The G2 Operations
Section
The G2 Operations Section
receives a complete OPLAN from the G2 Plans officer and executes
the resulting OPORD/FRAGO. The G2 Operations officer tracks the
battle against the evolving intelligence needs of your unit. He
then coordinates with the G2, ASPS, and CM&D section to adjust
the intelligence synchronization plan accordingly. He also coordinates
the deployment of intelligence systems with the G3 and subordinate
and adjacent units.
The IEW Component
of G3
The Electronic
Warfare Section (EWS)
The Electronic Warfare Section
estimates the threat of enemy jamming capabilities and plans the
use of electronic jamming and deception to support your plan.
This section works closely with G3 Plans and the FSE to integrate
lethal and nonlethal attack means.
The Electronic
Warfare Officer (EWO)
The EWO works closely
with the EWS to ensure that friendly jammers don't jam critical
frequencies for friendly use. He participates fully in wargaming
and the subsequent targeting conference.
Nature of Division
and Corps G2 Operations
- The G2 is your senior intelligence
officer and is responsible for driving the division or corps intelligence
effort to support your requirements. He orchestrates the work
of his organic and attached elements to produce high quality,
detailed intelligence products.
- Division and corps have significantly
more collection assets than the brigade. Each collection asset
requires great specificity in tasking. Because of this, there
are substantially more people involved in division and corps collection
efforts than in the brigade effort.
- This phenomenon requires
extraordinary effort in planning and executing collection. While
there is a prescribed collection management (CM) process, the
CM process is really an art. The CM effort is usually the center
of gravity for G2 operations at division and corps levels.
- Because of the size of the
G2 section and the volume of incoming and outgoing information,
good G2 sections dedicate significant energy to communicating
with each other.
- While the CM&D and ASPS
elements at the division main CP (DMAIN) conduct most of the
analysis and CM functions, the division rear CP (DREAR) and division
tactical CP (DTAC) will have formal G2 elements that can conduct
analytical and CM tasks. Your G2 must clearly define the relationship
between his staff elements in the three command posts.
Command and Staff
Interaction with
the Division and Corps G2
- G2, G3, and their subordinate
elements must be equal partners and work closely together. G3
staff elements must have a good feel for the intelligence situation,
just as the G2 staff must fully understand the friendly situation
and your intent.
- G2 and G3 Plans officers must
maintain a close working relationship. The G2 Operations officer
must spend a significant amount of time coordinating with all
other staff elements.
Product Expectations
for the Division and Corps G2
- G2 products (especially those
made by terrain and weather teams) are highly specialized and
detailed. They are an invaluable resource to G2 Plans and ASPS
for developing intelligence products the rest of the staff and
subordinate staffs can use.
Typical MI Support
to a Division and Corps
- The entire intelligence system
of systems works in support of your intelligence requirements
for planning, deployment, and contingency operations.
- The division has an organic
MI battalion and cavalry squadron.
- The corps has an organic MI
brigade and a cavalry regiment.
- A large number of nonorganic
collection assets supports both division and corps units during
deployment.
- The capabilities of these
organization arc described in Chapter 4 and Appendix B.
The Non-Maneuver
S2
The main function of a nonmaneuver
unit S2 is to develop relevant enemy COAs that could affect your
unit from the supported maneuver S2 intelligence estimate. These
are tailored to your unit's planning and intelligence requirements
and should drive your unit staff planning process for assets that
remain in GS to the supported unit as a whole.
For example, the S2 of a field
artillery (FA) battalion DS to a maneuver brigade acquires the
basic maneuver templates from his brigade S2. Given the possible
disposition of the enemy maneuver units, the FA battalion S2 templates
the likely location of enemy artillery units. This enables the
FA battalion S3 to emplace firing batteries in positions least
vulnerable to enemy counterbattery fire. The S2 also recommends
emplacement of Q36 and Q37 radar to best confirm or deny his templated
positions. This facilitates the friendly counterbattery effort.
The Bottom Line
If I always
appear prepared, it is because before entering on an undertaking, I
have meditated for long and have foreseen what may occur. It is not
genius which reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in
circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and meditation.
Napoleon