THE importance operational information plays in mission accomplishment cannot be overemphasised. As a result, everyone involved, regardless of occupational specialty, should be aware of every major aspect of operational intelligence. Intelligence operations are the wide-ranging activities conducted by intelligence organisations for the purpose of providing the operational commander with accurate and timely intelligence. Intelligence provides knowledge of the target and the operational climate in general which enables commanders to know what the target is doing, capable of doing and what they will do in the future.
Dominant environmental awareness is one of the keys to successful operations. To achieve these, operational commanders must have the ability to collect, control, exploit , disseminate and secure information while exploiting or denying the target’s ability to do the same. During intensive or counter terrorism operations, intelligence strives to identify the target’s capabilities, centres of gravity and project courses of action, and assist in planning security force employment.
During standard Law Enforcement Operations (LEO), intelligence helps the operational commander decide which assets to deploy and how to deploy them in a manner that accomplishes the mission at the lowest human and political cost.
Effective intelligence enables the operational commander to engage his assets wisely, efficiently and effectively. The operational commander is responsible for all intelligence activities of his group.
Operational information is that knowledge of the situation and environment features required by a commander in planning and conducting tactical intelligence operations. The target situation is of prime importance to the commander in planning an operation.  

To assess this situation, the intelligence officer uses every available collection means to assemble information concerning the target’s group structure, disposition, capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions.
This analysis provides a comprehensive picture of the target’s situation.
The intelligence officer provides the results of such an analysis to the commander in his intelligence estimate. The intelligence officer assembles all this information, interprets it in the light of other data available, and produces operational information, which the commander can use as a basis for his decision.

The intelligence cycle
The intelligence activities connected with the production follows a process known as the “the intelligence cycle”. The intelligence cycle is the process by which information is converted into intelligence and made available for use in decision making, planning and execution. The cycle, previously five phased, is now six phased.
The overarching principles of the intelligence synchronization. Each step within the cycle must be synchronized with the commander’s decision making and operational requirements to successfully influence the outcome of the operation (see Figure 1-1)
The intelligence cycle comprises the following six stages:
Planning and direction
Collection
Processing and exploiting
Analysis and production
Dissemination and integration
Evaluation and feedback
The intelligence cycle is a continuous process in which steps are executed concurrently. Through not always sequentially. For example, while new information is being collected to satisfy one set of requirements, the intelligence staff plans and redirects effort to meet new demands while intelligence produced from previously collected information is disseminated. One or several iterations of the intelligence cycle may be conducted depending on the tame constraints of the mission
The commander’s agenda provided the focal point for all phases of the cycle.

Planning and directing
Intelligence preparation is the primary task which helps the intelligence officer  to focus and direct this step and the remaining steps of the intelligence cycle. Planning and directing involves task organisation intelligence assets ; identifying personnel, logistics, budgeting and communication requirements ; identifying ,prioritizing and validating  intelligence requirements ; developing a collection plan and synchronization matrix : issuing special order or request (SORs) for collection and production ; and monitoring the availability of collection information.
The intelligence officer must have directed each collection operation to provide sufficient intelligence to meet the commander’s requirements. However, the collection capabilities of a single asset are rarely sufficient to satisfy all intelligence requirements simultaneously.
Therefore, a system of operational commander’s priority is used to help the intelligence officer direct the available collection resources towards definitive objectives. Requirements are classed either as property intelligence (PIR) or information requirements.
To be continued…