Tom Spahr is back in the studio with another insightful discussion focused on data management, refinement, and exploitation within the military. He is joined by CW4 Kelsey Gibson, a senior technical advisor with years of experience in data and digital modernization in the special operations community. Together, they examine the challenges of developing data literacy across all leadership levels. They also discuss the importance of effectively sorting and filtering large data sets, as well as building the trust necessary to leverage AI and automation for faster decision-making. This conversation offers valuable insights into a crucial topic—tune in to hear their perspectives and share your thoughts!

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Depending on who you talk to, artificial intelligence (AI) will either be the ruination of mankind or its savior. As ever, the truth is likely somewhere between those extremes. It certainly will be important. For this reason, the Chief of the Staff of the Army (CSA) has charged Dr. Alexander Miller to find the necessary technology and tools so the Army can best understand and uses its masses of data. Alex is the CSA's Senior Advisor for Science and Technology, and he found the time to sit down with guest host Tom Spahr to discuss how the Army is approaching AI, machine learning, and other related technologies. The ultimate goal is to ensure the United States doesn't lose its advantages in decision-making in the intelligence world and on the battlefield.

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The United States Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) was created in October 1948, just 13 months after the recognition of the Air Force as a separate branch with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. Cloaked in secrecy, it arose out of a need for air-minded intelligence that just wasn’t being provided by the Army or the Navy. Our good friend and fellow podcaster Philip Shackelford is in the studio to discuss his new book Rise of the Mavericks: The U.S. Air Force Security Service and the Cold War, which takes a foundational look at the creation and development of the Security Service that is the forerunner of modern-day intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as communications and cyber intelligence and security. Phil joins podcast host Ron Granieri to examine his personal connection to the USAFSS, the roadblocks he encountered researching the topic, and his transition into the podcasting world as the creator and host of The Modern Scholar Podcast.

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Regular listeners might remember previous episodes in which we looked at the 2022 National Security Strategy and the 2022 National Defense Strategy. In this episode, we continue the examination of strategic-level documents with a review of the 2023 National Intelligence Strategy. Genevieve Lester is in the studio, but this time she's the guest with podcast host Ron Granieri. Their conversation dissects the document that is the Director of National Intelligence's strategic direction for the Intelligence Community (IC) for the next four years. Ideally, it aligns IC priorities with other national strategies and supports the IC’s mission to provide timely, insightful, objective, and relevant intelligence and support to inform national security decisions and to protect the United States and its interests. But what can you say about an institution whose business is keeping secrets in a document that is shared with the world? Gen and Ron share their thoughts about the language used, the specificity and vagueness, and the overall message the document conveys.

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Any conversation has two very basic players, the sender and the receiver. The intelligence conversation, at its most basic level, has the producer and the consumer. There are volumes written, schools, courses, and entire career fields and specialties dedicated to producing better intel, but how does one learn to be a better intelligence consumer? A BETTER PEACE welcomes LTG (R) Karen Gibson to shed some light on what commanders need to know to, not only be a better consumer, but to mentor and train intelligence professionals and staffers. She joins host Gen Lester, to share her experiences from over three decades in the intelligence community during which time she led intelligence-operations fusion centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, East Africa, and in the United States.

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The war in Ukraine has been a fascinating study of the democratization of intelligence. That's a phrase coined by David Gioe in a recent article he wrote with Ken Stolworthy. David and Ken join host Gen Lester in the studio to discuss what has changed in the intelligence realm that makes information so readily available and effective for the Ukrainian forces. David notes that the gap between what the professional intelligence community knows and what the average citizen armed with an Internet connection can know has dramatically narrowed as the conflict drags on. The commercialization of intelligence has been growing for years, but now the enormous amount of open source information, collated and analyzed by both amateurs and professionals alike has led to operationalization by the military in ways never seen before.

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Admit it. In your most self-aggrandizing dreams you're as charming as Sydney Bristow, as lethal as Jason Bourne, and as intuitive and intellectual as Jack Ryan. If Austin Powers was anywhere in that mix you might want to keep that to yourself. But you know that real life spies don't really live like that. Right - you know that? A BETTER PEACE welcomes author, analyst and educator Amy Zegart to the virtual studio to set the record straight on the realities of the intelligence world in the digital age and talk about her new book Spies, Lies and Algorithms. She joins our own Gen Lester to discuss what real intelligence work looks like, what the role of AI is in the future of information collection and analysis and what intelligence priorities should look like going forward.

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As the situation in Afghanistan has unfolded in the last several weeks, many have questioned how the collapse of the country could have happened so quickly. Daily press releases reported the steady march of the Taliban across the country capturing major population areas, often with little resistance from the Afghan military. As expected, pundits have looked to place blame for the U.S. administration's failure to anticipate the speed of the deterioration of order. Most often the finger was pointed at intelligence. A BETTER PEACE welcomes James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, to offer his thoughts on the abilities, strengths, and shortcomings of the intelligence community. He joins host, Genevieve Lester in the virtual studio to take a realistic look at the part intelligence played in the Allied withdrawal from Afghanistan.

TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom2.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-125-AFGHANISTAN-WHERE-WAS-THE-INTEL-Transcript1.pdf

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The President, and all policy makers should have the unvarnished truth as best as the intelligence community can

The post THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ODNI: AN INTERVIEW WITH JAMES CLAPPER appeared first on War Room - U.S. Army War College.

Military intelligence is important, but it isn’t the whole world As quoted from David Oakley’s book, Subordinating Intelligence: The

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