Steps For Forming Your own Intelligence Capability

One of the great things about working at American Partisan are the folks who follow what we post and often take the time to comment. I often comment to the team that we are blessed to have such a great readership. Here is an excellent DIY article about forming your own intelligence written by ‘a reader’. Enjoy – JMc

Depending on the Federal government to reign in domestic terror groups, criminal gangs, or drug cartels may not be the wisest choice. For all the billions upon billions of dollars spent in those endeavors, the track record is dismal. Moreover, is there any class of employee more likely to lean socialist than a Federal employee? How motivated and thorough are they going to be, then, in identifying and characterizing a group that appears to embrace the omnipotent state, really? Conversely, how likely are they to cast aspersions on a group that espouses liberty and limited government? Something to think about.

If for no other reason than simple peace of mind, it is incumbent upon concerned citizens to form their own intelligence capability, to identify and characterize bad actors, at the group and/or community level. With that in mind, here is an analytic framework consisting of 9 separate focus areas, or essential elements of information (EEI’s) if you will, that can be collected, verified, combined, analyzed, and acted upon. The framework is just that, a framework; it is far from exhaustive, but a place to start, to organize and categorize information.

The 9 areas are grouped in threes – the first three areas are largely logistical in nature, the second three more foundational, and the third more operational. These focus areas apply to groups in general, not simply terror or criminal, and therefore also apply to your own group. In other words, these should be viewed for not only characterizing your opponent(s), but also examining the resilience of your own capabilities and make them less susceptible to disruption.

A simple mnemonic is SM(i)F LIC WIP. To wit:

S: Safe Haven – a location and facility where the actors can rest and recuperate, plan, live a life outside of their terrorist activity. Deep cover operatives may use intentional communities – very little trail there, couch surfing even less so. No utility bills, no fixed address, no telephones in their name, no real “neighbors” as such. Potential collection assets may include postal carriers, delivery drivers, neighbors, and neighbors of neighbors. Indicators may include an overly large number of automobiles routinely parked outside a single residence, excessive trash bags, routinely large grocery purchases by one or few individuals.

M: Movement – the ability to transit to/from an AO to/from the safe haven, or another AO. Potential collection assets include motel staff, service station cashiers, simple observation.

F: Finance – self-explanatory. For an initial list, examine publicly available political donations, specific to your AO. Go as far down that rabbit hole as you think is helpful. 
Here’s one place to start, plug in the zip code for your AO and drill down a bit . You might be interested to know who your neighbors are, and who they support. The FEC is your ally in this. As for organizations, here’s another.

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L: Leadership – the personalities that lead at the group and subsidiary levels. Their background, motivations, rhetoric, interpersonal style. Social media is your friend, read up on social network analysis.

I: Ideology – what is the ideology and, conversely, are there non-ideologues and how are they employed? To what extent, if any, does the ideology brook dissent? What is the counter-narrative and how is that message best conveyed, i.e., on a rational or emotional basis?


C: Communications – How is the ideology propagated, operational orders issued, events exploited, etc. Again, social media is your friend. Mainstream media is the obvious candidate when it comes to exploiting an event, “if it bleeds, it leads.” For more in-depth examination of that practice (and, therefore, a primer on how to manipulate the news cycle to your advantage), I recommend “How The News Makes Us Dumb” by C. John Sommerville.

For a more recent read along those same lines, one that takes into account the advent of personal computers, the Internet, social media, and the near instantaneous news cycle, I suggest “The Smear” by Sharyl Attkisson.

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W: Weapons – self-explanatory – conventional, improvised, psychological. Supply chains, resupply, fabrication, effect.

I: Intelligence – I would include counterintelligence here as well

P: Personnel – current cadre and recruitment resources – also to identify potential assets to develop and exploit. Again, social media for social network analysis.

In summary, this is simply a framework and how it may apply to your situation (e.g., urban versus rural, demographic homogeneity, population density, economic base, etc.) will vary. Removing the cloak of anonymity is key.

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About the Author: johnyMac

9 Comments

  1. Anonymous September 5, 2020 at 10:39

    5

  2. Quietus September 5, 2020 at 11:13

    I clicked on that link and entered my zip code. Turns out that people living here contribute 1/134th (that’s one one hundred and thirty-fourth) as much to political campaigns as do average people.

    That’s interesting. Could be that there’s not much of a need seen here, for buying politicians.

    Local local local.

  3. Quietus September 5, 2020 at 13:04

    I clicked on the first link in the F for Finance paragraph, and entered my zip code. Turns out this place spends 1/134th of the average zip code when it comes to buying politicians.

    Maybe there’s little perceived need here.

    Local local local.

  4. doug1943 September 5, 2020 at 16:26

    We have to move fast. We have to organize, and we have to be professional about it.

    Note that the young men now facing murder charges (Steve Baca and Kyle Rittenhouse) allowed themselves to become isolated, and surrounded by the antiFa vermin. So did the poor man murdered in Portland. We must organize into groups, and learn how to defend ourselves. The current ‘militia movement’ has the right idea, but is too narrow, although there are some exceptions. (See TSMHouston.org).

    Some of us are getting together to work out the most effective response for patriots. You can find us here: https://hq.civiliandefenseforce.org — patriots of every race, color or creed will be very welcome.

  5. Mas Casa September 5, 2020 at 18:21

    ‘Moreover, is there any class of employee more likely to lean socialist than a Federal employee?’ This would be funny if it wasn’t true. Only speaking about mil organizations I’ve been a part of, quite a few are left of center even, including officers. Many seem to have forgotten their enlistment or commissioning oaths. That said, there are many who have not.

  6. Anonymous September 5, 2020 at 22:39

    4.5

  7. Curious Passerby September 6, 2020 at 14:21

    I wrote this here once in a previous comment, but I think it bears repeating.
    For your immediate area, I would suggest you get to know who is near you. I’ve met my neighbors, but if you want to know your wider area, I suggest you go to your local tax assessor’s site. I’ve found a lot of tax assessors have their tax info digitized and mapped so you can use a Google Earth-style map to examine a neighborhood. The maps generally show each property and data of who owns it. Armed with that data, it’s not hard to make up a map (I prefer satellite overhead, but you can stick to the traditional map) showing your area and who owns each home. That might not seem important, but it’s nice to be able to put names to house numbers. If you wanted to go deeper into the weeds, the options are endless. For instance, in the last 3 months, I’m surprised by how many Thin Blue Line American flags I’ve seen popping up in the area.

    That data also came in handy when I was putting together a range card for my immediate area. I doubt anything will ever happen here, but it doesn’t hurt to take a panorama-type picture or several photos of your area and stitch them together in powerpoint, then label the homes’ owners, add the distance to same (rangefinder/some online maps have measuring tools), and any landmarks and distance to those. Print, laminate, and keep someplace handy. Just don’t tape it to your balcony or porch or front steps where it can blow away or be found by someone.

    Another thing- consider making up a file of potential threats to your specific area and how you’ll respond to them. I did it for both of us and a copy is in both cars and the house. Thankfully, I no longer live in a major urban area, so many of m concerns run to the natural disaster variety. I put together a plan for wild fires, earthquakes, civil unrest, winter storm power outage, etc. The plans are very basic. I made simple stick figure graphics to illustrate points, such as where things are stored. Where possible, I added official info, like US Forest Service wildfire survival pamphlets, earthquake emergency advice, etc. I don’t assume they’ll remember what emergency boxes are where. Then, I put together the 4 routes out of the area for us to leave. We have a primary route, a nearby secondary, and two more longer, more roundabout routes, if for some reason the first two are out. We also have a series of meeting points if we have to leave the house for some reason and we’re separated. I quiz them on the meeting points when we drive past them.

    My assumption is trouble will happen when I’m not home, so the plan is to attempt to call/text/email, but also leave a note at the house. If the family has to run, they can grab the pre-packed emergency gear, leave a note, and head to the nearest meeting point. The points are numbered for ease of memory and OPSEC. In the case of a minor problem, like a house fire, the closest meeting point is fine. For a bigger problem, we might have to meet further out. For a serious calamity, we have meeting points an hour away and even an extended plan to meet much further out. To make it easier, each binder has several blank EVACUATION forms listing Time, Date, Who, What, and Where. They’re in plastic sheet protectors. If they have to leave quickly, they can fill it out, tape it to the garage door, run, and wait at the meeting point.

    I also keep what I call a Less-Than Emergency bag in each car. It’s primarily for those minor crises you have in a car, like spills and messes, a headache or scraped knee, hungry kid, lost something in the dark, etc. It’s a cheap walmart-type sports backpack with food, 1st aid kit, flashlights, tiny Esbit-type stove, trashbags, ducktape, hand sanitizer and wipes, etc. Each pocket is labeled and the products are either new in package or labeled to explain their use, just in case. It’s got dayglo pink posterboard, big permanent markers, reflective tape, car window crayons, sidewalk chalk, etc so there are a variety of options for leaving messages. Most of the stuff is dollar store-type stuff. It’s just enough for a minor crisis. If one of us has to leave the first meeting point, and cell phones aren’t an option, we can still use the signaling supplies in the bag to leave some form of message for the others to find.

    Also, be aware of what info you give away on yourself. I used to live in an area with a lot of Mormons and you would be surprised if you knew how well-organized they are and their own intelligence collection operation. When I lived there, every new neighbor I met already knew details about me I hadn’t shared. They stick together and they talk a lot about everyone else. They’re very organized and they watch themselves at least as much as outsiders. If you smoke and drink publicly, expect to stand out and be excluded (Ask me how I learned that one). One of my friends was once accidentally issued a binder by his local Mormon ward. The binder was their emergency plan. It listed where the entire church was expected to retreat, what they would bring, how long they would stay at that location, and their plan to return to their community to assess the situation and collect supplies. They had a passive communications plan using colored cards placed in windows for passing church members to see. What wasn’t listed, but I always suspected, was they also had another plan to take over their area if the govt was absent.

    One immediate and easy source of info on yourself is bumper stickers, Tshirts, yard signs, flags, and social media posts. I don’t mean to preach to the choir, but for God’s sake, please don’t put your opinions on your car. Don’t wear them on your chest. Don’t post signs and unofficial flags in your yard. All you do is make yourself a target. If you put Coexist stickers on your car or home, Steal here/Die here, This House Protected by Smith&Wesson, Trump, Hillary For Prison, etc you’re telling everyone a lot. If you put that stupid stick figure family sticker on your car and those Honor Student stickers, you’re telling everyone a lot. If I were a bad guy, I could note your gun owner car, find your gun owner home, watch you pile your stick figure family into the car to go to the school where your kids are honor students, note you have no dog stickers, and try my chances at taking your stuff. Or if I’m some lefty douche, I can note your Trump gear and Trump signs and know where to raise hell later. Don’t give up free intel on yourself if you can help it. I had a cousin who hoisted a CSA battle flag at his home in VA. Shortly thereafter, gang graffiti started appearing on the store behind his place. A cop came by to tell him he was drawing unpleasant attention to himself and something was going to happen if he kept flying it. He opted for a Dolphins flag, instead. I learned this lesson the hard way as an out-of-the-closet repube at a hardcore liberal school. I earned myself a lot of hell by expressing my opinions in a public way. That was a long time ago. I can’t imagine how bad it would be now.

    Last note- Social Media. I hate it. Don’t use it. Avoid it like the plague. But it can be a source of info from others. The left is all too happy to put their groups and opinions online. They feel safe to put it all out there, at least for now. You might have lots of groups and open lefty members in your immediate area. Can’t hurt to note those names and groups. One time, I was shocked to see my area’s communist group was so open, they even had a float in that year’s Independence Day parade. I never saw that before.

  8. Knowbuddy Yuno September 7, 2020 at 23:38

    Our antagonists are gathering their own intel, so don’t forget the value of disinformation. The opposition will try to use open source intelligence to gather information on you and yours. Once you’ve removed what personal information you can from easily-searched sources, take the opportunity to poison the well.

    Make it look like you actually live somewhere else. Make it look like someone with a different name lives at your address. Muddy the waters.

    Check out Episodes 101, 103, and 105 of Mike Bazzell’s podcast for ideas:

    https://inteltechniques.com/podcast.html

    • vyt1az September 12, 2020 at 16:59

      Thanks for sharing this link. I’m definitely going to be going through the info there.

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