DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
(U) Eye-Opening Experience in Haiti (part 1)
FROM:
Intelligence Analysis Intern
Run Date: 01/03/2005
SERIES:
The story of an unusual NIST (National Intelligence Support Team)
(U//FOUO) Intern TDYs
deployment to Port-au-Prince. (S//SI)
(S//SI) This past year, I had the opportunity to spend two months
as a NIST analyst in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The deployment was a
classic NIST operation in that it was designed to be temporary and
the entire team was composed of personnel from several
intelligence agencies, including NSA, CIA, NGA, and DIA. However,
the deployment was problematic from the beginning. To start with,
it had to be organized at the last minute, since the US troop
deployment to Haiti came about unexpectedly.
(S//SI) Adding to the confusion, it was SOUTHCOM (U.S. Southern
Command) HQ that requested the NIST deployment and not the
Marines on the ground in Haiti. As a result of this, there was some
friction on site between the Marines running the military compound
and our NIST team. Gear that would normally deploy with the NIST
was left behind because NIST planners had been told that tents,
electric power, and air conditioning would be provided on site.
When we arrived, none of this equipment was available and we had
to send for our gear. As a result, the normal set-up period of 24
hours turned into more than a week, during which period I read
several books and tried to stay hydrated.
(U//FOUO) Canadian and US intel tent compounds at CJTF-Haiti:
The Canadian tents are the robust green ones on the left, the
smaller green ones in the center are US.
(S//SI) We finally received all of our gear, but only after spending
a week set up in a basic tent with a few fans and lots of hot
computer gear. (This miserably hot experience was replicated later
in the final weeks of the deployment when our generator's power
core fused together creating, in the words of an engineer back at
NSA, "a giant paper weight"). On the worst days without AC, it
would take me 15 minutes for my shirt to become soaked with
sweat just by sitting in the tent.
(C) The biggest operational hurdle to overcome in an environment
like Haiti is simply operational familiarity. While many of the
military operators with CENTCOM (Central Command) are now
familiar with the value-added capabilities that a NIST type element
can provide, this is certainly not always the case elsewhere. The
military is designed to operate as an organic unit, and for a unit
from SOUTHCOM unaccustomed to working with national-level
intelligence assets, the NIST functions like a synthetic organ or
body part. The Marine host tried to incorporate the new piece as
best it could. With this in mind, strong communication between
NIST leaders and military commanders is essential both early and
1. Doing SIGINT in
Pakistan
2. The Only Game in
Town (part 1)
3. The Only Game in
Town (part 2)
4. Eye-Opening
Experience in Haiti
(part 1)
5. Eye-Opening
Experience in Haiti
(part 2)
6. Assisting in the Hunt
for al-Qa'ida
Leadership
often.
(TS//SI) The biggest advantage of being forward-deployed is that
you have physical access to people on the ground as well as
electronic connectivity to the analytic core back at NSAW. This is
an amazingly potent combination and can outweigh the
disadvantage that most forward-deployed analysts do not have
years of background on the target they are working. Remember
that every person you physically contact while forward-deployed
represents someone that is often beyond the reach of the target
analyst at the Fort.
(TS//SI) So while I was very limited in my knowledge of the target
when I arrived in Haiti, my access to target knowledge was
unmatched. The Caribbean and Haiti target offices are
representative of so many that struggle here in the agency. They
are 5-7 people deep but they do the work of 50. Their production
is top notch and any time I had questions, I knew whom to turn to.
Within the NIST itself, the CIA personnel often have years of
experience in the target and they have their own access to
personnel and historical databases for targets of interest.
(U) A view of the dining tents. The green wall is actually the fence
to the outside world; the green border was hung on the chain-link
fence to prevent children from begging for food while soldiers ate
their meals.
(U//FOUO) A military chow line was set up with "T-rats" (Trations... ready-to-eat food that comes in trays for easy
preparation). Odds are that the signature meat on the plates in the
picture is some sort of pressed turkey or chicken meat product with
gravy. I am directly in the back, accompanied by personnel from
the other intel agencies.
(U//FOUO) For background on the Haiti mission, see a related
story from April. Watch for part two of this article tomorrow!
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108