Marine Corps Intelligence


Marine Corps Intelligence is an element of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director of Intelligence supervises the Intelligence Department of HQMC and is responsible for policy, plans, programming, budgets, and staff supervision of Intelligence and supporting activities within the U.S. Marine Corps as well as supervising the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity. The Department supports the Commandant of the Marine Corps in his role as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represents the service in Joint and Intelligence Community matters, and exercises supervision over the MCIA.
The Department has Service Staff responsibility for Geospatial Intelligence, Advanced Geospatial Intelligence, Signals Intelligence, Human Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and ensures there is a single synchronized strategy for the development of the Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise.
The MCIA, located at Hochmuth Hall, provides tailored intelligence and services to the Marine Corps, other services, and the Intelligence Community based on expeditionary mission profiles in littoral areas. It supports the development of service doctrine, force structure, training and education, and acquisition.

Marine Corps Intelligence Activity

The Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, created in 1987, is a field activity headquarters of the United States Marine Corps, and a member of the United States Intelligence Community. The MCIA describes itself as: "a vital part of military intelligence 'corporate enterprise,' and functions in a collegial, effective manner with other service agencies and with the joint intelligence centers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Unified Commands."
The Marine Corps Intelligence Activity mission is to provide intelligence services to the Marine Corps and the U.S. Intelligence Community. These services are based on expeditionary mission profiles in littoral areas. It supports the development of service doctrine, force structure, training and education, and acquisition.
MCIA determines what missions the Corps needs to carry out as well as who will need to be trained for that mission. MCIA is in partnership with Marine Corps Intelligence the Office of Naval Intelligence and Office of Coast Guard Intelligence in the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office and at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia.
MCIA has administrative control of the Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, which supports the National Security Agency.
MCIA began as the Marine Corps Intelligence Command, created in 1987 by then Commandant of the Marine Corps General Alfred M. Gray, Jr.
He created MCIC to address the lack of expeditionary intelligence support for policy, acquisition, and operations, as each of the other service intelligence centers focused only on their needs. Colonel Walter Breede III was the first Director.
The flagship study of the Center, "Planning and Programming Factors for Expeditionary Operations in the Third World", was published by the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in March 1990, and was unusual for relying exclusively on open sources of information for creating a matrix of 143 mission area factors that could be objectively evaluated in relation to five degrees of difficulty, and for being published as an unclassified rather than a classified study.

Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Enterprise (MCISR-E)

The MCISR-E is a warfighting enterprise that supports decision-making through the provision of tailored intelligence that is timely, relevant, and predictive. The enterprise supports institutional decision-making through both the provision of relevant intelligence and the comprehensive integration of the intelligence warfighting function in operating concepts, structural decisions, and material investments. The multi-domain, collaborative, worldwide construct of the MCISR-E provides the crucial edge across the spectrum for both deployed and CONUS-based MAGTFs.
What drives the MCISR-E is not the crisis of the moment but rather, the incorporation of a "24/7/365" predictive analysis process with the global reach of operational MAGTF Intelligence Centers backed by the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity and its connectivity to the Combat Support Agencies and National Intelligence Community. To ensure its viability, Marine Corps Intelligence will continue to remain vigilant over a complex, technically sophisticated threat environment and evolve by seizing technological opportunities to increase MCISR-E capabilities and capacities. An intelligent workforce, uniformed and civilian, anchors the MCISR-E with the skills, professional acumen, and functional expertise that mark them as a world-class contributor to our Corps and IC missions.

History

The Intelligence Department was established as on 27 April 2000 by General James L. Jones, USMC Commandant of the Marine Corps.

1994 Intelligence Plan

A major reinvigoration of Marine Corps Intelligence occurred in 1994, often called the "Van Riper Plan" after the Director of Intelligence at that time. The Intel Plan was announced in March 1995 via All Marine message 100/95.

Directors of Intelligence

Marine Corps Intelligence is widely believed to have been established when CMC created the M-2 in 1939. According to HQ Memo 1-1939, dtd 21 Apr 1939, CMC redesignated the Division of Operations and Training as the Division of Plans and Policies. The new Division retained the same subdivisions as the old with the standard number designations of a general or executive staff, but designated "M" rather than "G." Under the supervision of a Director, the Division contained the standard M—l, Personnel; M-2, Intelligence; M-3, Training; and M-4, Supply and Equipment Sections and an M-5, War Plans Section, which was to be abolished in the fall of 1941, with M-5 functions being absorbed by M-3.
Some trace the establishment of Marine Corps Intelligence to 1920 because the Division of Operations and Training, which was created by Marine Corps Order of 1 December 1920 and may have been based on a CMC ltr to Col John H. Russell, dtd 19 Dec 1918, subj: Organization of Planning Section, 2385/130–30, was composed of Operations, Training, Military Education, Military Intelligence, and Aviation Sections. This MI Section is viewed by some as the establishment of Marine Corps Intelligence. BGen Logan Feland selected LtCol Earl Hancock "Pete" Ellis, USMC, to be the first director of the MI Section in December 1920.