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What is a "Tactical HUMINT Team"? The concept of employing counterintelligence (CI) agents and HUMINT Collectors to obtain information from persons in the area of operations (AO) is nothing new. The name "Tactical HUMINT Team" gives a clear indication of the Cl and HUMINT Collection teams' missions and capabilities. It also aptly described the concept of using Cl and HUMINT Collection for collecting tactical information in the Kosovar environment.
Over the past several years, senior leaders and MI officers have referred to Cl and HUMINT Collection teams as force protection teams. The term "force protection team" brought on many taskings as well as questions outside the CI and HUMINT Collection spectrum. We task-organized Tactical HUMINT teams (THTs) in Kosovo to provide the command with answers about persons and organizations in the Multinational Brigade-East (MNB-E) U.S. sector. The THTs collected information that enabled the Analysis and Control Element (ACE) to satisfy the TF Commanders priority intelligence requirements (PIR).
Fielding Teams to Support Task Force Falcon
It was a challenge finding personnel to fill ten THTs and provide coverage in MNB-E. Personnel from five MI battalions and two continents rounded out the eight teams in Kosovo and two in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Eventually, we ran out of Cl and HUMINT Collection personnel and began augmenting teams with signals intelligence (SIGINT) and infantry soldiers as well as ground surveillance systems operators. Two teams had a soldier serving in military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B; these infantry soldiers contributed to TF success and provided knowledge of patrol operations, movement, and security techniques. While not the preferred method of fielding a team, the MOS diversity did not hamper the mission. These Tactical HUMINT teams overcame many challenges while conducting their collection operations in a treacherous environment. Soldiers without a HUMINT MOS (97E Human Intelligence Collector) or a Counterintelligence MOS (9713 Cl agent) on the teams had limits in the scope of support they could provide, but their professionalism enabled them all to contribute their specific talents.
Team Composition
Ideally, we wanted to staff the THTs with CI agents, HUMINT collectors, and civilian linguists. Each THT consisted of either of the following configurations. A warrant officer (351 B Cl Technician) as a team leader, with a sergeant (97E HUMINT...