Corps creates intel cells at rifle-company level

Battlefield intel
Infantry companies take on intelligence duties.


Corps creates intel cells at rifle-company level
By Kimberly Johnson - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 18, 2008 7:17:58 EST

A need for more intelligence analysts in the Corps is forcing infantry operations to get a whole lot smarter, under a new initiative that is for the first time pushing battalion-level intelligence know-how down to the rifle-company level.

The Corps is creating company-level intelligence cells — called C-LICs — in an attempt to plug the hole and curb the loss of valuable intelligence that often goes missing when units pass the baton on the battlefield, Marine officials said.

“We’ve been consistently short in retaining intel professionals in the Marine Corps,” said Master Sgt. Willard Dickey, intelligence operations chief for 1st Marine Division and a C-LIC training coordinator.

Intel skills are more lucrative in the civilian world than in the service, causing many Marines with those skills to seek other employment. Retention bonuses, however, have slowed down the attrition rate, Dickey said.

“The reality is because we were already experiencing manpower shortages, the people retained haven’t bumped us up to where we need to be,” Dickey said. “We’re so short in the intel community, we can’t meet all the needs.”


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/01/marine_company_intel_080117/