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Abstract: HUMINT uses human resources as a tool and a variety of collection, passive or active methods for gathering information in accordance with commander information requirements and in conjunction with other information disciplines.
The role of HUMINT's structures is to contribute with intelligence products, obtained from human sources, in the planning, preparation and execution of military operations.
Keywords: HUMINT, intelligence, human sources, information, HUMINT operator.
Introduction
Intelligence has a very important role in supporting operations, always aiming to ensure the informational superiority in knowledge and visualization of the battlefield, in determining the symmetries and asymmetries between the forces and the enemy in order to provide a complete, precise and anticipative information support for decision making.
Intelligence - are the product resulting from the processing of primary data on foreign nations, hostile or potentially hostile forces, real or potential operations or elements. The term also applies to activities that generates this product as well as to organizations / structures dealing with such activities.1
The quality of decision making is given by the value of the information available. It is the decision making that moves the force to fulfill the purpose, and can be characterized by a high or a low risk in terms of success or cost of operation. The decision based on timely information, both in terms of quality and time, ensures victory at minimal risk and at minimal cost.
Methods and sources of information are very diverse, with more criteria depending on possibilities, degree of legality and level of detail.
In NATO doctrine, sources are grouped into the following areas2: SIGINT (Signal Intelligence), IMINT (Imagery Intelligence), HUMINT (Human Intelligence), and OSINT (Open Source Intelligence).
In the following, I will present a series of considerations on HUMINT as an intelligence collection tool with purpose to highlight the importance of HUMINT operators in providing decision-makers with information.
1.The HUMINT concept
HUMINT uses human resources as a tool and a variety of collection, passive or active methods for gathering information in accordance with commander information requirements and in conjunction with other information disciplines.
The role of HUMINT's structures is to contribute with intelligence products, obtained from human sources, in the planning, preparation and execution of military operations.
Depending on the missions, HUMINT is defined as "offensive...