The U.S. Army uses open source intelligence, or OSINT, because of the abundance of publicly available information, the speed at which it is generated and the insights it could offer to a rapidly unfolding conflict, according to Shawn Nilius, director of the Army OSINT Office at U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.
Nilius made the remarks during a recent episode of the SpyCast podcast, where he underscored the need for properly trained and certified information collectors, who can then process the raw data and communicate insights to military commanders responsible for making battlefield decisions.
OSINT itself is not defined by the public availability of information or the method used to collect it, like searching the internet, according to Dennis Eger, who was also featured on the podcast. The Army senior open source intelligence adviser explained that the defining characteristic of OSINT is the fact that it is information gathering carried out with the proper authorities at the request of a commanding officer to address an intelligence requirement.
Another reason the Army uses OSINT is the ubiquity of its sources, like mobile phones. Eger said that even though the U.S. itself might not be directly involved in a conflict, like in Ukraine or Israel, gathering OSINT from those areas can have tactical and strategic implications.
If beneficial intelligence “is moving to a particular place” then, in order for the Army to effectively fight and win wars, “you need to move where [the beneficial intelligence] is at,” Eger said.
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