HOW TO START AN INTELLIGENCE CELL
Why?
Intelligence analysis is primarily involved with identifying threats and opportunities. It is not about journalism or the news: It is concerned with what information and analysis do we need to defend ourselves against attackers and engage offensively.
But this requires a great deal of resources, which is beyond the reach of any of us as individuals. For those concerned with a turbulent future, our ability to conduct intelligence operations is greatly improved by having many people creating their own civillian intel cells.We need people plugged in to their communities, sharing information and offering their insight. We need people like you!
Required Skills
Starting an intelligence cell does not require any existing experience or advanced degrees. While addditional skills are helpful, if you have a curiosity about what is happening around you, are driven to find the truth, and enjoy research; you have what it takes to run an intel cell.
Scope
Start small. Don’t try to keep tabs on what is happening across the entire country or world. Focus on just your state, or county or even just your city. High-quality local reporting beats low-quality global reporting. Trust me, staying on top of events around the world is a monstorous task. I do it for the education of my audience because few others are willing to do what I do, but I’ve sacrificed my depth of knowledge and analysis for breadth. Become an expert on your region. That is your mission.
PIRs
PIRs or Priority Intelligence Requirements are simply the questions you are trying to answer. Before you can collect or analyze any intelligence, you should have a good idea of what you actually want to know. Filter out that stuff that doesn’t matter and focus in on answering the questions that you think are most important. Here are some examples:
- What groups and individuals operate in my area and threaten liberty?
- Who are local allies that defend freedom?
- What critical infrastructure exists in my area?
- Who are the powerbrokers, influencers, politicians, social climbers and business owners in my region?
- What are the sources of risk in my area? (Natural disasters? Riots? Tyrannical governance? Shortages?)
- How will migration in my area impact politics, liberty, and readiness?
- Is authoritarianism growing or shrinking in my area?
Big 3 Intel Products
1. INTSUM
The INTSUM, or intelligence summary, is a brief summary of key news, events and research that answers your PIRs. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just write 1-3 sentences to summarize a key topic and include any sources. Add any analysis or comments as needed.
2. Survival Library
If the internet goes down, people will have to rely on the information they have available. Survival libraries provide critical information on subjects from Economics to medical treatment and everything in between. Your survival library can be physical, but it is easier to collect and store digital materials. Digital libraries should include a backup on an external USB drive, memory card or hard drive. Store this backup in a way that it is fireproof, waterproof and hidden.
3. Maps
All intel cells should have a few physically printed maps for their area including:
50 State Atlas
1:10k Detail map
1:25k Detail Map
1:250k Area Map
Digital satellite imagery should be downloaded and stored for the local area. Other important map data includes elevation data, roads, waterways, hospitals, airports, airstrips, and boundaries. Maps and map files can be used on a variety of GIS programs, but I recommend every analyst download a copy of QGIS for mapping.
Additional Products
Terrain Effects
Analysts determine how different types of terrain affect movement, construction, and defensive and offensive capabilities.
SOPs
Manuals and documents that describe best practices and standards. These are a great way to retain knowledge, share information and train people.
Weather Effects
Analysts take weather predictions and project how different weather will influence the world. Example: Traffic accidents, injury from disaster, etc.
SITTEMP
Situation templates, operational pictures and dispositions, show friendlies and enemies on a map. These typically include key terrain and infrastructure.
Assessments
An analyst’s opinion on what different pieces of information mean. This could be a prediction about the future, a trend, or an attempt to fill in missing pieces.
White papers
Detailed research papers on a specific topic. These can be a few pages to over a hundred pages long.
Bulletins
Short documents that communicate important information like how identify members of a specific domestic terrorist group or common protest tactics.
Schedule
Work on producing an INTSUM 1-2 times a month. This is sufficient to start. You are not a breaking news network. Your job as an intelligence cell is to summarize key events and provide valuable analysis.
Other products can be produced as you have time. Don’t overdo it. If you take on too much, you will quickly burn out and stop. The goal should be consistency. Do a little bit consistently. Don’t bother with edited videos, images, graphics or complicated formatting. Keep it simple. All those extras take extra time and make it more difficult to produce consistent products.
Do a little bit each day. Spend 10 minutes a day reading through news, then copy links from any important stories into a document. Next, write a 1-3 sentence summary. You can spend ten minutes a day writing an INTSUM or 4 hours in one day. It is much easier to do a little bit every day.
Anonymity
Your privacy is valuable. Maintaining your anonymity offers a layer of protection. Whether you choose to remain anonymous or not is your choice. If you do want to maintain your anonymity here are some guidelines to follow:
• Create a new email account on ProtonMail strictly for prepper and intel business, nothing personal
• Don’t use your name in your email
• Don’t use any personal pictures or contact info on any intel and prepper-related accounts
• Use a VPN to hide your IP address
Dissemination
Dissemination is how you get your work out into the world. Your intelligence products can help
people make better decisions, so spread the word widely. Putting your products out there also helps
attract local, like-minded people. People who find and follow your work are potential allies.
You want to get your products on several different websites. This helps spread the word, but also
ensures copies remain up in case some websites are taken down. Ideally, you should also maintain at least one backup of your work on a USB drive, memory card or portable hard-drive. Store this backup in a secure place that is waterproof and fireproof.
When you start out few people will pay attention to your work. That’s normal. It will take time to build an audience and for people in your area to find you. Also please email me so I can follow your work.
Information Sources
Google alerts and Talkwalker alerts are a great tool to get the latest news stories based on specific search terms. I suggest setting up the following alerts and set them to be delivered daily:
‘Your State/Region’ riot
‘Your State/Region’ antifa
‘Your State/Region’ black lives matter
‘Your State/Region’ disaster
‘Your State/Region’ economy
‘Your State/Region’ emergency
‘Your State/Region’ militia
‘Your State/Region’ prepper
‘Your State/Region’ protest
Get in the habit of checking local news sites, blogs and local video channels. Join social media groups for your city or state. Look for groups like patriots, healthcare, parents, small business and similar groups.
Library Sources
Archive.org – Books, Movies and More
Army Publishing Directorate – Army Manuals
Authorama Public Domain Books
Free Audio Book Downloads
Free Computer Books
Global Security Military Field Manuals
International Children’s Library
Library Genesis
ManyBooks.net – Free Book Downloads
PDFDrive.com – PDF Search Engine
Project Gutenberg Free Library – 60,000+ Titles
Sacred Texts
Slideshare