I am somewhat shocked that no Int Branch guys have weighed in on this...
By fluke (it was planned long before this thread) I had dinner with a Int Branch LCol last night, and brought up some of the questions on this thread. I showed him some of the material and a copy of the ORBAT of JTF (A) HQ 06-09. He has been a J2 before so he seems to be in the know. He also knew what tour everyone was talking about when the J2 did not get along with the CO ASIC (although did not mention to me who or which). I fact, he was somewhat surprised to see it talked about (which I found funny) and I suggested being an Int guy he might want to have an army.ca account
I know... smart ***...
Here was his input, for posting but not attribution:
The ASIC and the J2 shop provide different functions with respect to the intelligence cycle. The ASIC is a process, analysis, production, and dissemination machine. They also have some links to collection, but not in some of the intelligence disciplines. What the ASIC CO lacks is the link to the full operational planning process, commanders direction and access to the collection from some of the specialized intelligence disciplines, specially the ones that are not pure Int Branch driven or require multi-branch or multi-element, collection techniques.
At one time they thought (not all that long ago) that the J2 and the CO ASIC should be the same person (as is done elsewhere in the HQ). So they war gamed it out at DLSE (or some other experimentation centre in Ottawa) and it turned out to be a bad idea as the J2 became focused on the operation and staff of the ASIC (like any CO/OC). In some cases, as the ASIC is a product producing machine, they became product focused versus need/user driven. The J2/CO ASIC was not as responsive to the Comd as he would have liked in the experiment, spent notability less time with the J3, and has great Red SA but did not have a good common operating picture with respect to the operations of the TF. This is compounded by the required isolation of the ASIC from the TOC / main HQ. Hence the two positions remain with the J2 providing the direction and overseeing the planning whilst providing access to collection assets the ASIC does not have.
So the 7 people...
1 x J2 --> needed (someone needs to run the boat)
1 x Int guy on the plans staff (J5). He collects what int is needed or future operations and feeds it to the ASIC. He then integrates ASIC int products into the planning cycle and wargames the red side. He is very involved with targeting. He is the only Int expert on the plans staff --> needed.
1 x Int guy in the TOC (J3). He provides 1/2 of the required coverage (days and peak operations, the ASIC covers at night?) to the current battle staff on the Red SA. He also takes I&W (?) information an feeds it into the current picture. He is also involved with BDA collection. He is the only Int expert in the TOC --> needed, in fact the LCol said two guys (for 24 hour ops without touching the ASIC capability) would make more sense.
3 x Int / Sigs guys for collection from other specialized int disciplines who are multidisciplinary and cross pure int boundaries. They get input from the J3 and J5 int staff and assist in the tasking sensors and providing the technical guidance as to what can and cannot be done in their respective disciplines. --> needed, these are pretty specialized fields I am told.
1 x civilian who has been placed into the J2 shop from an other government department as an observer. He would unload this guy in a second as he does not contribute to the operation of the TF HQ all that much... but he is tasked out from the upper levels of government, so he gets to stay.
I hope that is of some interest... good stuff, and I am learning a ton. Look forward to input from int guys who are at the working ranks.
