Haft of the Spear

Retooling material for my intel class and jumping between five books (two of which are out of print) and a raft of booklets, articles and sundry print sources; cyber buddy coincidentally mentions push on the inside to ratchet up analytic tradecraft, which reminds me …

… Non-fiction intel books - generally speaking - fall into two categories: the tell-almost and the high-level, policy-focused treatment. Clark’s books are something of an exception, but they’re not for novices. Jones’ book is great for fundamentals, but isn’t written for this audience. So …

a) anyone know a single book, readily available, that is suitable for intel analysis 101?
If a=false Then
b) what makes more sense: assemble and edit a compilation or craft something from scratch?

As a guy starting a new gig, relocating a family, a million other things on the plate the answer seems obvious, but compilations come with their own complications (copyright, etc.) and I’ll probably only get one shot at this before being overcome with the next next great if hairbrained idea.

Please to weigh in via comments.

If you are down with community that gets the best solutions, not the most well-lobbied ones, then this is most definitely good news. Though implementations may not be perfect, pay for performance is becoming de rigueur even in our Uncle’s ranks. My role as a competitor in this arena notwithstanding, I’d rather my tax dollars pay for things won fair and square.

Yet another tale of just how petty this business can get. That serious, severe action on this front (as well as broader sharing and collaborative efforts IC-wide) has not been taken is really the only metric one needs to measure when assessing how much of a priority these issues truly are at the highest levels.

More at ThreatsWatch.

If you don’t know you have it - or where it is - you can’t keep it safe. I’ve said that about a million times before as have others more august in this business than myself, but its a lesson that some still fail to heed. If you think inventory is a paperwork drill and not a security function, you are so, so terribly wrong.

If they can make it work, this will probably have a greater impact on the community than any reform effort to date.

Coming up for air to let you know that a friend has opportunities for mostly new/jr. analysts who can deal with life in Santa Fe.

Back to drinking from the fire hose …

Finally, I beat someone to the punch.

New job, relo and other responsibilities dictate that HoTS has to go on hiatus. Return DTG is TBD. What blogging I may do in the interim will be at ThreatsWatch, so please visit as you can.

Tension abounds and mental gridlock threatens, but OPFOR cracks it and allows me to reorient and start fresh with new focus and energy. Thanks guys.

I can’t count how many times I’ve repeated this mantra: if it isn’t rated, it doesn’t get done. Intel is a bureaucracy like any other. You make people care by holding them accountable for a given deliverable. To date it’s all been rhetoric; today we see if progress can be made.