Non-Traditional Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance Electronic Intelligence for the Operational Electronic Warfare Officer

Abstract : The military's decreasing budget and continued requirement to simultaneously wage war with two nation states, and maintain Defense Support to Civil Authorities in the homeland, necessitate a need to think creatively on how to provide a robust intelligence collection effort in a financially constrained era. The over tasking of ISR assets and the limited support they can provide in a contested environment make use of Non-Traditional Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (NTISR) capable platforms an attractive and affordable option to fill ISR gaps. To that end, the United States military must develop a means of tasking NTISR assets in the collection of theater electronic intelligence (ELINT) to provide Operational Commanders with a layered method to acquire actionable information to prepare, plan, and execute campaigns and major operations. ELINT providers in the NTISR community need to produce doctrine and a tasking concept to produce a viable method of getting ELINT to an Operational staff.