4.7 Collection and the Collection Disciplines

Required Reading

Read Lowenthal's Chapter 5: "Collection and the Collection Disciplines" in Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy.

As you read, do some critical thinking and ask yourself:

• Lowenthal says that, "Collection is the bedrock of intelligence…Without collection, intelligence is little more than guesswork…" Evaluate this statement considering his background and organizational placement. After you read the chapter, consider whether you agree with him or not.
• Consider the processing and exploitation imbalance. Does this apply to geospatial intelligence? Is it a problem? How might the geospatial intelligence community overcome this issue? What are the political and budgetary implications of overcoming this problem?
• On page 98, Lowenthal addresses the limitations of satellites. The author is not a geospatial intelligence expert. Evaluate his assessment, and consider how these limitations might be overcome with other techniques, technologies, systems, or processes.
• The author's coverage of Geospatial Intelligence increased substantially between editions, including an expanded section on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).  Many of you are practitioners of GEOINT...did the author get it right?