What Is US Army Military Intelligence?

@turkay1 - Revealing classified information is a very serious thing. It is covered under a law called the Espionage Act, and the penalties for violating it can be very severe. I don't know if they still do this, but I know that people have even been executed for deliberately giving away classified information.

Of course, that law doesn't seem to apply to the high-ranking politicians who love to leak things to the press for their own reasons. I don't understand why they aren't punished for that, and I would like to see it changed. Every time something like that is done, the people on the ground are put in serious danger. There is no excuse for that.

@sweetPeas - Like so many things in the military, I think some volunteer and some are assigned. For some it can be part of an enlistment contract. For others it may be random chance. That seems pretty consistent with how the military works, at least in my experience.

An interesting thing about their training that a lot of people don't know: Much of the schooling that you get in the intelligence world is classified. Which means that the training materials are classified. Which means that you can't take them home. So they have to go in at 4:30 or 5 a.m. to do their homework.

I had a friend in the Marines who slept so little in his training school that he used to chew instant coffee like tobacco to stay awake. It was very common in his class.

A lot of intelligence people may not fight on the front lines, but they sacrifice a lot to try and do the best job they can.

The old joke says that "Military Intelligence" is a contradiction in terms. In reality, what they do is critically important.

A good friend of mine was an intel analyst in the Marines, and has been involved in a lot of the conflicts in the last 20 years. The troops on the front line always depended on him to figure out what was going on and, if possible, what would happen next.

Without good information, it is very hard to fight effectively. We are helped a great deal by our technology, such as spy planes, satellites, and electronic gear to capture radio, cell phone, and Internet communications. But there's no substitute for an intelligent, well-trained person to interpret the data and make sure it gets to the right people.

@sweetPeas - From what I know, army intelligence officers can ask to be considered for training in the field of military intelligence. Some of them are trained to work with the combat unit, gathering intelligence that will provide information about weather, the terrain, enemy position and other factors to give to the commanding officer.

They need to be skillful in the use of many different kinds of technology. They have to be physically fit, always alert and be able to make quick decisions.

I wonder how military personnel are chosen to attend the intelligence school to be trained to become military intelligence officers. Are they just under orders, or do they volunteer? It can be a very dangerous and lonely career, but also a very rewarding one. Does anyone know any more about this?

There has been military intelligence gatherers in the country, even before the Revolutionary War. They didn't have the benefit of technology like we have today. I'm sure a lot of them were discovered and either killed or imprisoned.

They do a great service for the military personnel and to our country. Too bad we can't thank them by name.

My grandfather worked in military intelligence, and he could not tell me a whole lot about what he did. Even though it had been forty years since the time that the information he gathered was pertinent, he took his vow of secrecy very seriously. I have a feeling that he will take his knowledge to the grave.

He did say that he could have been considered a spy by the opposing forces. He was never caught at his covert operations, so the Army benefited from his work.

I find it fascinating that he knows things that he hasn’t shared with anyone other than his superiors. Even my grandmother doesn’t know exactly what he did or discovered.

Intelligence is so important for the military to be successful and for them to be able to protect us and our interests here and elsewhere. I get very upset when people who have access to this information sometimes intentionally or unintentionally allow it to leak into the media.

Don't they realize that they are putting our country, its citizens and the safety of our troops at risk?

I just cannot tolerate this. Intelligence has to be kept a secret for a reason. It's in the best interest of all of us. That's why the government needs to be very careful about who gets access to military intelligence.