Comprehensive methods of combating IEDs according to US Army FM 3-90.119: community outreach
U.S. Army Regulation FM 3-90.119 views counter-improvised explosive device combat as a complex effort that encompasses the mission, the enemy, the terrain and weather, self forces and possible support, the time required, and the civilian environment in which the operation is conducted for Army units. Each of these factors was considered in detail in the first part of the translation of this charter.
Awareness of the importance of the civilian environment serves to ensure that the objectives and methods used to understand situational understanding (SU) of the local population, local political forces and administrations, and companies contracting with the U.S. Army are consistent with the objectives of the operation.
According to the charter, understanding how the enemy and its supporting population thinks is a key element in the beginning of the process of combating IED (improvised explosive device defeat) and in actually stopping (shaped) enemy attacks.
The inclusion and synchronization of the humanitarian element throughout the area of operation at the grassroots level makes it possible to develop an understanding of the needs of specific populations and local leaders, which contributes to the emergence of allied relations and thereby leads to the success of the fight against IEDs.
Such a humanitarian element means organizing meetings with local leadership in order to determine:
• cultural and linguistic characteristics, the required model of communication with recommended and forbidden topics;
• someone who knows a lot about the local population, its leaders and culture and, if necessary, invites him to a meeting, as well as other persons whose presence will be necessary;
• What are the needs of the local population and how the US Army can help solve them.
The social element also involves the controlled establishment of formal and informal relationships with the local population from the highest to the lowest command level, collecting information about useful contacts and incorporating it into the planning process.
Specific collection may be carried out by special forces, non-governmental organizations, translators, and companies contracted by the US military. This process is also ensured by proper treatment of the local population, with the development of commercial relations with local leaders and local society, including the use of the media.
In accordance with Charter FM 3-90.119, much attention is paid to conducting intelligence activities during the fight against IEDs. In this case, it is stated that exploration is being carried out comprehensively and on a full scale:
• HUMINT intelligence (human intelligence) to collect information, both from the intelligence network and from the local population; preparation of official certificates and photographs of persons and places associated with the use of IEDs; investigation of attacks using IEDs and their production, operational identification of the circle of persons involved in their production and use, as well as how they are organized and connected; recording locations, depots, and C2-command and control systems used in IED attacks;
• IMINT intelligence (imagery intelligence) – by collecting photographs, filming with thermal imaging cameras and surveillance using radar stations; with recordings of persons installing IEDs, filming of lines of communication (LOC-Line of communications), primarily of people and vehicles using them, filming of mass gatherings of the local population, changes in the terrain, as well as analysis of the recordings themselves from the sites of attacks using IEDs;
• SIGINT intelligence (signal intelligence) of enemy communications systems in order to reveal the enemy’s plans and intentions, position in its ranks, identifying persons hostile to American troops, and connections between them; determining the frequency and sources of electronic communications in places where IED attacks have occurred;
• MASINT intelligence (measurement and signatures intelligence) – surveillance using technical means to identify the characteristics of stationary and moving targets and other objects, as well as long-term surveillance of persons and objects in respect of which there is a suspicion that they can be used against American troops , opening the locations of IEDs as well as any other traces of camouflage and installation of IEDs; clarifying the locations of frequent attacks using IEDs, searching for and identifying persons installing IEDs; support of the command of units during the performance of combat missions by data obtained by sensors of technical reconnaissance equipment;
• CI (counter intelligence) – counterintelligence conducted with the support of military police units, engineering units, ammunition destruction teams, medical units and other necessary forces, with the aim of instructing military personnel during attacks using IEDs; assessing the level of threat of attack and what damage the enemy could inflict on his own forces, communications routes and bases in the event of such attacks; various types of support measures accompanying such attacks, preparing appropriate schemes for command and units;
• TECHINT (technical intelligence) – collection and identification of characteristics of IEDs and other necessary equipment and equipment used by the enemy, with their analysis and development of technical measures to counter their functioning, carried out by the so-called weapons systems intelligence groups (WIT - weapon intelligence team) within the framework of the in TECHINT technical weapons intelligence.
It is also worth explaining the principle of operation of Weapons Intelligence Teams (WIT).
After collecting material evidence at the site where the IED was discovered, these groups send the found materials in appropriate packaging indicating the place and time of their discovery for deeper processing to the explosives research section - CEXC (combined explosives exploitation cell).
At the same time, the weapons systems intelligence groups themselves - WIT - collect and independently analyze information:
a) determining the type of IED, its design and method of operation,
b) what type of IEDs already in the database is the found IED similar to,
c) in which early IEDs were used the construction materials and types of explosives used in the found IED, and what is the direction of development of the IED,
d) find traces of work with IEDs on captured persons suspected of installing them;
• OSINT (open-source intelligence) – collection of information from open sources, implying constant monitoring and summarization of information related to the development, production and use of IEDs, in conversations in public places, in the media and in various paper and electronic publications, in Internet;
• GEOINT (geospatial intelligence) – topographic reconnaissance of the area, closely related to IMINT reconnaissance, searching for areas of entry and exit to areas where IEDs have previously been used or are expected to be used; identifying possible enemy observation points, changes in terrain and buildings on the ground, and likely locations for the use of IEDs in the future;
• all-source intelligence - intelligence that combines all the above-described intelligence methods, which is at the same time a separate type of intelligence and ensures the preparation of the necessary documentation at the request of the command on facts related to the use of IEDs, the development of models of behavior of military personnel when the enemy uses IEDs and recording the direction of action – COA (course of action), as well as updating intelligence system data on the preparation of the battlefield – IPB (intelligence preparation of battlefield), generating various analytical materials and necessary forms, developing a general picture of the enemy’s character and plans for the use of IEDs and a database of individuals participating in attacks using SVdU.
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