Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

CIA study of ‘Commanders and Surprise’ says that if you want to avoid being surprised, manage your intel people

I found this article interesting, but mistitled. It really is about how military commanders should manage their intelligence people, and how doing so can avoid being surprised.

custer_0
custer_0

Best Defense is in summer re-runs. This item originally appeared on September 26, 2014.

Best Defense is in summer re-runs. This item originally appeared on September 26, 2014.

I found this article interesting, but mistitled. It really is about how military commanders should manage their intelligence people, and how doing so can avoid being surprised.

“Surprise [is] . . . largely due to failure properly to evaluate information at hand,” wrote Robert Williams in 1982 article in the CIA’s Studies in Intelligence that only was released recently.

So he makes several recommendations:

-“Identify loudly and clearly your intelligence requirements. . . . Do not permit your staff officers to decide for you what critical information you need.”

-“Do not make the mistake of overrelying on some intelligence officer’s estimative abilities or even his ability to interpret facts.”

-“Do not count solely on your principal intelligence officer to provide you with early warning.”

-“Hold yourself — not your intelligence officer — responsible if you are surprised.”

-“Assume (and honestly try to believe) that your opponent is as smart as you.” Or, he adds, “smarter.”

-“Not only does [your opponent] have a plan, he intends to win.”

-“Listen carefully to your opponents.”

-“Fight to get a good officer . . . as your top intelligence staff officer. . . . He will be your entrée into the total intelligence system.”

He also recommends the book Risks: The Key to Combat Intelligence, by Maj. Gen. Elias Carter Townsend, of which I hadn’t heard before.

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tag: CIA

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.