Photo By Sgt. Melissa Lessard | Spc. Benjamin Lopus, 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th Military...... read more read more
By: Sgt. Melissa N. Lessard 504th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade Public Affairs
The 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion held a mission command course from Sep 13-17 here. The Soldiers who participated learned about all intelligence fields to improve their leadership abilities, execute successful missions in the field, and execute commander’s intent.
“The course consists of both classroom and practical exercises to train and certify intelligence leaders on the key skills required to successfully deploy and provide mission command for intelligence support teams,” said 2nd Lt. Jacob Mondoro, 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion. “Emphasis will be placed on troop leading procedures, the operation process, and employing intelligence assets in a large scale combat operations environment.”
During the classroom training, leaders received briefs from all intelligence specialties to understand their capabilities, limitations, and operational employment. The purpose was to educate leaders on the employment of the systems that they will be expected to utilize during operations.
Mondoro said that mission command assists with building cohesive teams through mutual trust, create shared understanding, provide a clear commanders intent, exercise disciplined initiative, use mission orders, and accept prudent risk.
After Soldiers completed their in classroom instruction they went to the motor pool to look at and receive briefs on intelligence equipment.
SPC Benjamin Lopus gave the Soldiers an in-depth look at the systems within a TGS, or Tactical Ground Station, used to receive and transmit data collected by various sensors. SPC Lopus also explained how open source analysts would need such a system and how its employment benefitted the commander during operations.
“As a leader who is in charge of a multi-disciplinary team, it is vital to understand what capabilities and limitations are associated with each discipline,” said Mondoro. “A clear and thorough understanding for these aspects allows for leaders to effectively employ their assets in support of the commander’s objectives and achieve mission success.”
Another aspect leaders learned about was the prophet and signals intelligence, taught by Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael C. Smith.
The Prophet is a near-real-time signals intelligence and electronic warfare unit. It provides actionable intelligence, situational understanding, and force protection to the commanders who utilize them.
Smith spoke during in classroom training about what signals intelligence is, how it is used, and how teams are paired up during operations. He also explained the specific role signals intelligence place on the battlefield. He later spoke about the Prophet and what exactly the unit provides for commanders and intelligence teams.
Mondoro explained the best part of the course is the hands on familiarization of the different intelligence systems while the most challenging part is the development of the operations order and the brief given to command teams.
“Blue Watch leaders have worked together to build their products, share ideas, and learn from each other so that they can deliver and effective operations order.”
| Date Taken: | 09.21.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2021 10:22 |
| Story ID: | 405683 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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