Definition of military intelligence - What it is, Meaning and Concept

intelligence is a notion linked to the ability to know how to choose the best options to solve a problem.The etymological origin combines two Latin words: intus ( “between” ) and legere ( “choose” ).

Military , meanwhile, is related to what pertains to or related to the militia or the war .The notion is used in opposition to the civil and is linked to the members , the institutions and facilities that are part of the armed forces.

It is known as military intelligence to the tasks carried out by certain specific units of the armed forces to collect information about an enemy (current or potential).Such data allows the planning of eventual military operations.

It is important to establish that many countries in the world have their own military intelligence mechanisms.This would be the case, for example, of Spain that has SIFAS, the System Military Intelligence Functional of the Armed Forces, whose objective is to be able to cover all the needs of the nation when it comes to making the necessary defense decisions.

Specifically, this body is made up of three specifically defined areas: the strategic stage, where the Armed Forces Intelligence Center (CIFAS) is located; the operational stage, which has divisions and intelligence sections; and the tactical step, consisting of intelligence units and national intelligence cells (SPNIC).

Military intelligence is associated with espionage to collect information about the weapons, equipment, bases, communications and technological capacity of another country or group.It is important, of course, the use correct information collected, since such information must be used correctly to make sense within the military strategy.

The set of military intelligence tasks includes the use of technological capabilities and technical resources (such as radars or satellites), but also functions of human capacity such as the organization of clandestine operations, disinformation tactics and counter intelligence.

In addition to all of the above, it is important to know that any military intelligence plan or action requires that very specific steps are necessarily followed.In particular, these would be the following: address and planning, data collection through various types of media (technical, human, interrogation, public information...), processing, analysis, production and dissemination.

In this regard, it should be noted that the most important human resources when collecting the data that are needed are the liaison officers, the infiltrators or moles, the operations agents, the collaborator or informant, and the known as whites and blacks.

Whites are the agents that are identified by the fact that they are in what is outside, while blacks are the agents that are inside, that is, they are infiltrated organizations.

In some cases, military intelligence is used to perform tasks within the state itself, which is known as internal intelligence.In United States , for example, the FBI conducts research to members of the government to use this information in various fields.