Gender Integration in CI/HUMINT and the War against Terrorism Gender Integration in CI/HUMINT on the War against Terrorism in the Middle East and Strategies for Effective Implementation

Shea Larson

Harry Nimon, Committee Chair

Dr. Troy Mitchell, Subject Matter Expert

Dr. Amanda Bowers, Committee Member

The success of counterinsurgency operations depends on the effectiveness and appropriateness of intelligence gathered. Human subjects are a crucial source of intelligence for counterinsurgency operations. Previously, the U.S. Armed Forces created opportunities for women to occupy specific positions in the counterintelligence/human intelligence (CI/HUMINT) discipline. However, women remain the minority, and researchers are largely divided on whether their participation ought to be increased. Researchers raised concerns that the decision to integrate women into HUMINT units could cost the country in the long-term as it is likely to ruin unit cohesion and impede overall effectiveness. Proponents of the idea of gender integration, however, argue that the inclusion of women in HUMINT units enhances the units' strength and internal cohesion (Rosen et al., 2003). In the wake of this controversy, studies examining the role of women in CI/HUMINT collection remain severely limited. Moreover, studies seeking to determine best practices for effective integration are rare. This thesis seeks to demonstrate why integration in the CI/HUMINT community is a well-calculated idea. It examines how the integration of women in the CI/HUMINT service area facilitates the process of intelligence gathering from human subjects in the war against terrorism. Moreover, it identifies specific strategies for ensuring the maximum realization of benefits.

Table of Contents

Abstract

Chapter One: Introduction

Background

Rationale

Statement of Purpose

Assumptions

Limitations

Chapter 2: Literature Review

The HUMINT Function

Gender Integration in HUMINT

Operational Concerns surrounding Integration

Social Concerns

Advantages of Integrating Women

Means of Integrating without Compromising Effectiveness

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Why a Qualitative Approach

Data Collection

Resource Selection

Procedures

Chapter 4: Analysis

Chapter 5: Conclusion

Implications for Future Research

References

List of Acronyms

CI Counterinsurgency

HUMINT Human Intelligence

MOS Military Occupational Specialty

HM Hyper-masculinity

WEP Women's Empowerment Program

I MEF I Marine Expeditionary Force

DP Displaced persons

PSYOP Psychological Operations

SOP Standard Operating Procedures

TF Taskforce

DOCEX Document exploitation

GPS Global Positioning System

PDAs Personal Digital Assistants

Chapter 1: Introduction

The success of counterinsurgency operations depends partly on the effectiveness of the intelligence function driving the operation (Goh, Hao & Tay, 2008). Simply stated, intelligence is foreknowledge that assists military forces in organizing themselves for optimal employment (Goh et al., 2008). Goh and his colleagues (2008) state that having accurate intelligence information increases the chances of combat success at all levels: the strategic level, the tactical level, and the operational level. Tactically, intelligence provides forces with crucial insight on the performance envelopes of missiles, making it possible for them to plan how to refine fighter tactics to out-perform their enemy (Goh et al., 2008). At the operational level, intelligence aids forces in understanding and engaging enemy command elements or other operationally significant targets, thereby incapacitating rebel forces (Goh, et al., 2008). Moreover, intelligence could assist forces in making strategic deployment decisions such as how to strike the enemy's center of gravity, thereby weakening their will to fight back (Goh et al., 2008).

The Iraqi war sufficiently demonstrated the importance of CI in combat operations (Walter, 2005; Kerr, Wolfe, Donegan & Pappas, 2008). The intelligence community found itself relying on historical information, thereby landing on inaccurate and misleading conclusions (Walter, 2005; Kerr et al., 2008). Moreover, although the intelligence community was able to gather accurate and crucial information on a range of issues, including:

How the Iraqi forces would fight

How the war would develop over time

How tribal and ethnic factions in Iraq would react

How the war would impact oil markets, and How Iraq was linked to Al-Qaeda; it lacked the means to explain how these issues were linked, particularly how each issue influenced the rest (Kerr et al., 2008). There was no comprehensive sense of understanding of the Iraqi target by the time of deployment (Kerr et al., 2008).

This implies that there is need to streamline the military's intelligence function in the pre-war situation and during the war. Improving the military's intelligence gathering techniques on the ground is crucial to ensuring that the force is able to put up effective combat operations in the ongoing war against terrorism.

Despite this knowledge, studies seeking to...

Moreover, few researchers conduct studies to examine the influence of gender integration in intelligence-collection units, particularly whether or not such integration streamlines the unit's operations. This is perhaps why women remain underrepresented in the intelligence-collection service area, particularly HUMINT; years after the Armed Forces began to create opportunities for them in the CI/HUMINT community. This thesis seeks to examine how the integration of women into the CI/HUMINT community facilitates intelligence gathering from human subjects in the war against terrorism in the Middle East, and what could be done to ensure the maximum realization of benefits.
Background to the Study

Women have served in the American military since the 1920s, typically playing the role of spies, cooks, and nurses (McSally, 2007). However, their role in frontline combat as well as in the HUMINT service area has been severely limited (Obradovic, 2014). One of the primary reasons for this is the perception that women are biologically meek and too 'soft' to handle the challenges of the war environment (Frum, 2013; McSally, 2007; Alderman, 1992). This perception gives rise to the belief that women may not be able to cope with the challenges inherent on the ground to the same degree as men (Frum, 2013). Other concerns raised against the inclusion of women in war-torn zones revolve around issues of unit cohesion and esprit-de-corps. These are valid concerns discussed in the 'literature review' section of this thesis.

The transition of women into professional roles in the military and its service areas began in 1948, when President Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act into law (McSally, 2007). The Act made it mandatory for women to constitute at least 2% of the total force (McSally, 2007). One controversial issue with the Act was that it excluded women from combat units (McSally, 2007). This spurred numerous amendments over the subsequent years, the most prominent being the authorization of female soldiers to act as pilots for combat aircrafts in 1991 (McSally, 2007).

The passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1992 marked a crucial step in the participation of women in the U.S. military (McSally, 2007). The Act repealed the rules previously excluding women from taking part in combat operations, opening up opportunities for women to occupy a variety of specialties in the force (McSally, 2007). Although women could still not serve in the traditional combat-specific roles of artilleryman, tank operator or infantryman, they could work in combat aviation roles and a number of other dangerous occupations (McSally, 2007).

Two decades have lapsed since the passage of the Defense Authorization Act, yet both the Marine Corps and the Army still exclude women from combat specialties in their forces. Moreover, prior to 2008, women were not allowed to serve in the CI/HUMINT service area since the CI/HUMINT role is embedded directly in combat units. The force began to allow women into the CI/HUMINT service area in 2008; however, female operatives remain the minority and are largely underrepresented in this specialty.

The design of this thesis discusses why the integration of women in these communities is a wise idea, and why it is advisable to increase their participation in the same. The ongoing war against terrorism in the Middle East requires a stable and robust human intelligence collection function to aid counterinsurgency operations (Kerr et al., 2008). Kerr and his colleagues (2008) argue that the presence of female operatives could give CI/HUMINT collection specialists greater access to local populations and make information on insurgency operations more easily obtainable, particularly in the war against terrorism (Kerr et al., 2008).

Most contemporary studies focus on explaining why the integration of men and women in the combat environment is, or is not a good idea. However, little literature exists on how specific areas of the military such as the CI/HUMINT field, stand to benefit from integration. Moreover, studies on the effective execution of integration and best practices for realizing maximum benefits are rare.

These are the issues addressed within the current study. The study comprises two parts:

1. The first part seeks to demonstrate how the integration of women in the CI/HUMINT service area facilitates the process of gathering intelligence from human subjects in the war against terrorism.

2. The second part seeks to identify strategies for ensuring the maximum realization of benefits.

The research questions guiding the study are:

RQ1: How does the integration of women in the CI/HUMINT service area facilitate the process of gathering intelligence from human subjects in the ongoing war against terrorism?

RQ1a: Are there biological qualities make women more effective CI/HUMINT gatherers than men?

RQ1b: What qualities make it a challenge for male operatives to collect CI/HUMINT from local populations in contested zones?

RQ2: What strategies could be used to realize the maximum benefits of integration?

RQ2a: What issues do researchers raise about integration?

RQ2b: What are the required steps for addressing the identified issues and ensuring the full realization of benefits?

Rationale of Study

The current study rests on the premise that having female operatives in the HUMINT service area…