Training Intelligence Analysts to Meet the Challenges of the Contemporary Operating Environment

This thesis examines the methods that the United States Army Intelligence Center (USAIC) uses to train the Army's intelligence analysts. Rapidly changing world conditions require that the Army train its intelligence analysts to correctly identify the right tactical problem when critically analyzing the varied threats and environments that its forces will encounter while conducting a wide range of operations. This study reviews the doctrinal basis for conducting analysis and then compares how the USAIC translates that doctrine into training for its analysts. Using observations from the Army's Combat Training Centers, the Battle Command Training Program and from Operation Iraqi Freedom, the study seeks to determine the adequacy of analyst performance across the Army's formations as a means of measuring the effectiveness of the USAIC training. Tracing substandard analyst performance back to the USAIC training reveals several conclusions. While the overall program of instruction seems adequate, the USAIC does not dedicate sufficient training focused solely on analysis. The USAIC has not updated its training to incorporate critical aspects of the emerging Contemporary Operational Environment, despite acknowledging the rapidly changing world conditions. Finally, USAIC training plans do not indicate any type of formal critical reasoning and creative thinking training.