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FORT HUACHUCA — For the next three decades the United States will be needed in the Middle East as the war on terrorism continues, one of the most senior Army intelligence officers said.
And, providing the needed intelligence will be troops and civilians trained at a special Department of Defense facility on the fort, Maj. Gen. John Custer said Monday.
He was speaking about the DoD Human Intelligence Training Joint Center of Excellence, which provides not only training but certification in interrogation, debriefing and military source operations in support of worldwide operations.
“There are many people in the nation’s intelligence community behind this,” said Custer, who is both the commander of the Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca. He is also the commanding general of the Defense Department center on the post.
 On Monday, Maj. Gen. John Custer talked about the importance of the Human Intelligence Joint Center of Excellence on the fort where members of military and civilian agencies will be taught five special courses as the United States consolidates its capabilities to wage the Global War on Terrorism. Custer, the commander of the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, also wears the hat as the commanding general of the special Department of Defense center. (Bill Hess-Herald/Review) |
When the proposal was made a few years ago to establish such a center, there were some naysayers, and everyone knew it was going to be a “a long hard road,” the general remarked.
There were a few who definitely were against the proposal; a few, like himself, who said it was a smart idea; and many in the middle.
“It’s what the J2s (senior intelligence officers) needed,” he said.
At the time the idea was proposed, Custer was the senior intelligence officer for the U.S. Central Command.
It wasn’t hard to convince him the idea was right, he said.
And, there was the backing of then CENTCOM commander Gen. John Abizaid, Custer said.
“There are still some detractors,” the general said at a short ceremony Monday officially incorporating the last of the five courses that will be taught at the center. The unit’s crest was also unveiled.
The center’s commander, Lt. Col. James A. Hamby, said it is expected during this fiscal year, which began Monday, there will be about 1,200 students taking the courses.
“We’re researched very well,” and that means there are funds and staff for the center, Hamby said.
What he also knows is that the Defense Department and other members of the America’s civilian intelligence functions are not kidding about working together to ensure human intelligence is a key component in the nation’s defense arsenal.
After the terrorist attacks on the country on Sept. 11, 2001, there were many congressional and other administration committees that looked into the nation’s intelligence capabilities.
Although positive things were found, a constant problem of a lack of cooperation among intelligence agencies, including the military services, was highlighted as a major problem.
Additionally, a major conclusion was the United States had ignored the importance of human intelligence gathering by putting more of an emphasis on technology, especially in the arena of signals intelligence, which was a cornerstone of countering the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Like the United States and its NATO allies, the Soviets and its allies were more into using technology for gathering intelligence information.
Custer said during that period, human intelligence collection, although important, was reduced.
“We depended on SIGNIT (signals intelligence),” he said.
But now with the type of terrorist attacks possible means human intelligence collection and dissemination has become more critical, the general said.
In the intelligence world the emphasis on human intelligence is like “a tectonic plate shift.”
Human intelligence is going up in value and will continue so for the next 30 years, especially in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, Custer said.
What everyone has to recognize is the new center is designed “not to do it the easier way but to do it the smarter way,” the general said.
And, recognizing there will be continuing needs, Custer said, “You tell Col. Hamby what you need, and I’ll try to get it.”
For Hamby, the importance of the special defense center is a given.
“It will continue to grow,” he said.
Many of the problems have been eliminated, the bureaucrats don’t step on my turf issues, Hamby implied.
Custer added the major thing was to “eliminate infighting between the services.”
In the past, every military service and every civilian intelligence agency had different ways of addressing issues, he said.
The center is designed to help create “a single lexicon” for all participants, Custer said, so when it comes to human intelligence it means everyone will be speaking the same language.
That is what “joint” means when it comes to part of the center’s title, he added.
And looking around at the people in the courtyard of Talmadge Hall and those “in the cheap seats” hanging over the second story railings, Custer challenged them to do more than their best.
“I can only emphasize the products you produce are your credentials,” he said.
The success of the students will be directly due to what they are taught, the general said.
That includes everyone involved in the Human Intelligence Training Joint Center of Excellence, he added.
“We’ve got to be the edge,” Custer said.
Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
A team player
As one of the new organizations on Fort Huachuca, the Department of Defense Human Intelligence Training Joint Center of Excellence will be supporting post functions.
Monday, the organization’s senior noncommissioned officer, Sgt. Maj. Scott Marshall, turned over bags and boxes of donated food for the soldiers’ food locker, supported by the chaplains.
Accepting the donation was Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Harry Rauch.
The mission and the colors
The mission of the Department of Defense Human Intelligence Training Joint Center of Excellence is to provide advanced, joint human intelligence training and certification in interrogation, debriefing and military source operations in support of worldwide operations.
There are five courses being taught at the new center on Fort Huachuca. They are:
• Defense Department Advanced Source Operations Course, which trains DoD and intelligence community human intelligence personnel to conduct advanced Military Source Operations in response to DoD collection requirements while operating in all environments, including combat zones.
• DoD Source Operations Course, which trains defense personnel to execute Military Source Operations.
• Joint Interrogation Certification Course, which trains and certifies students as defense interrogators from across all the armed services, other U.S. intelligence communities and former interrogators now servings as contractors.
• Enhanced Analysis and Interrogation Training, which trains analysts and interrogators to successfully function as a “Tiger Team” in order to better combat the threats associated with the War on Terrorism.
• Defense Strategic Debriefing Course, which trains on the mechanics of overt debriefing and to develop interpersonal skills and source management.
The center’s motto, “Lunctis Viribus,” means “By United Efforts,” which indicates that all military services and civilian intelligence agencies will work together.
The crest has a number of symbols on it that have intelligence meanings including the chess-piece for military intelligence training, daggers that recall intelligence and special operations, the American Bald Eagle representing the United States and the DoD, the stars and rays referring to the original 13 colonies.
Even the colors used are significant, with black and white standing for integrity, scarlet and gold for sacrifice and excellence, and dark blue for the United States, signifying unity.
English wrote on Oct 6, 2007 8:41 AM: