FM 34-37: Echelons Above Corps (EAC) Intelligence And Electronic Warfare (IEW) Operations

CHAPTER 5 MILITARY INTELLIGENCE BATTALION
(SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE)

This chapter describes the mission and organization of the MI battalion (SIGINT) and the separate MI company (SIGINT). It discusses the role of the EAC TCAE and the SIGINT operations of the MI brigade (EAC). The mission of the MI battalion (SIGINT) of the MI brigade (EAC) is to conduct SIGINT operations in response to theater-level IEW requirements, primarily those of the theater ground component commander. Other missions include supporting ECB and national requirements with specific functions, such as--

Operating and maintaining the EAC TCAE.
Collecting, analyzing, processing, and reporting communications intelligence (COMINT).
Performing direction finding (DF) and advanced identification techniques.
Managing the tasking and positioning of organic SIGINT mission equipment.
Providing electronic intelligence (ELINT) processing, analyzing, and reporting.
Developing and maintaining SIGINT data bases for EAC and ECB SIGINT units deployed, or which may be deployed, in the theater of operations.

The MI battalion (SIGINT) is organic to the MI brigade (EAC). The battalion is organized into an HHC, two-to-five MI (SIGINT) companies, and an MI control and processing (C&P) company. Figure 5-1 shows this organization. Through the contributions of these subordinate companies, the battalion commander accomplishes the total SIGINT mission for the MI brigade (EAC).

HEADQUARTERS AND HEADQUARTERS COMPANY

In general, the HHC provides C², administrative services, and logistic support to units assigned or attached to the SIGINT battalion. Each MI company (SIGINT) conducts HF COMINT and HF DF operations. The MI company (C&P) provides SIGINT mission and data base management for the battalion. It analyzes, processes, and reports SIGINT data in addition to providing intelligence support to tactical units.

The HHC includes personnel for the battalion headquarters and the headquarters company. The battalion headquarters, shown at Figure 5-2, consists of a command section with a battalion commander, XO, and battalion staff officers (S1, S2, S3, S4, and C-E).

The command section provides the C² for the battalion and supervises the operational and support activities of all of its companies. The staff sections of the battalion headquarters perform various tasks.

BATTALION HEADQUARTERS

The S1 section provides personnel administrative support to all battalion elements.

The S2 section develops and performs security manager functions to ensure battalion physical, information, and personnel security needs are met. Its security section controls access to the battalion's SCIF occupied by elements of the MI company (C&P).

The S3 section is the principal staff office for the commander in operations, plans, organization, and training matters. The S3 provides C² for all the battalion's SIGINT assets and issues tasking and reporting guidance for their operational employment in the battalion's AO. The S3 monitors the taskings from the EACIC to the MI company (C&P) and coordinates the employment of ECM teams.

The S4 section handles all matters of supply, maintenance, transportation, and logistic services. The S4 must maintain close coordination with the S3 for logistic support of operational employment of battalion SIGINT assets. The S4 monitors maintenance support for all battalion organic equipment and coordinates external maintenance support with the MI brigade. The S4 also monitors food service and procurement functions within the battalion.

The C-E section plans and directs all communications related activities of the battalion, including C² and operational communication circuits. The theater communications command handles all external communications. The C-E section--

Ensures the planning and application of adequate and proper ECCM throughout the battalion.
Provides input to battalion C-E plans.
Supervises and accounts for COMSEC materials and equipment.
Coordinates friendly frequency allocation; frequency assignment use; and the resolution of meaconing, intrusion, jamming, and interference (MIJI) problems.

HEADQUARTERS COMPANY

The headquarters company provides internal administrative and logistic support. It consists of four sections:

The company headquarters section provides administration, billeting, training, discipline, unit supply, food service, and battalion headquarters property accountability.
The mechanized maintenance section performs unit maintenance on automotive, generator, and auxiliary equipment assigned to the battalion headquarters and the MI company (C&P) of the battalion.
The food service section provides a dining facility for assigned and attached personnel of the HHC elements and the MI company (C&P).
The unit ministry team provides religious support to all personnel assigned or attached to the battalion, including area and denominational coverage and ministry to mass casualties and hospitalized members of the battalion. The team advises the commander on religious, moral, and soldier welfare issues. It also establishes liaison with unit ministry teams of higher and adjacent units.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE COMPANY
(SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE)

The MI company (SIGINT) conducts continuous HF COMINT collection and HF DF operations. The company is usually located in the COMMZ and is deployed to cover a 600-kilometer front along an operational baseline up to 2,400 kilometers in length. Its mission includes--

Collecting HF voice, Morse, and non-Morse communications.
Processing and analyzing COMINT.
Forwarding COMINT to the MI company (C&P).
Conducting DF operations.
Conducting ECM operations.

Each of the two-to-five companies in the battalion consists of a headquarters section, operations platoon, DF platoon, and a collection management and analysis (CM&A) platoon. Figure 5-3 shows this organization.

HEADQUARTERS SECTION

The headquarters section is responsible for internal support operations, including billeting and unit supply.

OPERATIONS PLATOON

The operations platoon consists of a--

Platoon he headquarters which provides C² to the intercept teams and prepares tape and paper copy for shipment to the MI company (C&P). The operations platoon leader assists the company operations officer in supervising the mission. In addition, the platoon leader is the company's night operations officer when the company is deployed.
Morse and voice intercept section.
Non-Morse intercept section.
Voice intercept section.

DIRECTION FINDING PLATOON

The DF platoon consists of--

A platoon headquarters which provides C² and establishes the net control station.
Four DF teams that operate two DF and one communications position. These teams are mobile and can operate independently.

The DF teams can operate at extended distances, if required, to establish a DF baseline sufficient to locate targets at the required depth of the AO. DF operations are fully integrated into company operations and reporting functions. The DF platoon headquarters also operates the advanced identification technique equipment.

COLLECTION MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS PLATOON

The CM&A platoon provides--

Administrative support and is linked to the EAC TCAE in the MI company (C&P). It tasks organic assets; maintains asset status; provides SIGINT technical data to assets; performs current and follow-on analysis; and reports results of SIGINT operations to the EAC TCAE.
An analysis team that performs level one analysis (immediate combat information) on collected SIGINT data and reports significant or perishable information to the EAC TCAE in a time-sensitive basis.
A reports team that provides the results of SIGINT operations to the EAC TCAE.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE COMPANY (CONTROL AND PROCESSING)

The MI company (C&P) performs SIGINT and EW technical control and analysis and management of organic assets within the MI battalion (SIGINT). It provides SIGINT technical support for organic, attached, OPCON, and lower echelon SIGINT resources deployed in the theater. This includes mission tasking, processing, analyzing, and reporting of SIGINT data and information. The company performs these functions through the TCAE, which provides direction for the battalion's SIGINT mission and for theater tactical SIGINT assets. It interfaces with the production section in the EACIC through the single discipline team-signals intelligence (SDT-SIGINT).

The MI company (C&P), shown at Figure 5-4, has a company headquarters and an EAC TCAE. These two elements provide C² of the company, SIGINT CM, technical support, and tasking for all organic, attached, and OPCON resources. The EAC TCAE maintains the SIGINT technical data base for theater targets of interest to support the theater Army commander. In addition, the EAC TCAE maintains a direct interface with the SDT-SIGINT at the EACIC.

The MI company (C&P) generally collocates with the MI battalion (SIGINT). It--

Performs mission management and tasking of SIGINT assets organic, attached, or OPCON to the MI brigade (EAC).
Processes and reports ELINT and COMINT information.
Provides analysis support for voice, Morse, and non-Morse collection.
Provides analysis support for processing, analyzing, and reporting ELINT data from sources not organic to the battalion.
Provides unit maintenance on organic signal equipment.
Provides the secure communications systems supporting the battalion.
Provides technical data to EAC and ECB SIGINT assets.

COMPANY HEADQUARTERS

Company headquarters consists of--

A headquarters section that provides internal administration of the unit.
A communications section that installs and operates the secure communications systems and operational communications circuits supporting both the MI company (C&P) and battalion headquarters. It performs unit maintenance of all communications and COMSEC equipment; provides COMSEC accountability for equipment and materials issued to the battalion and its subordinate units; and provides DS maintenance on company communications equipment.

ECHELONS ABOVE CORPS TCAE

The EAC TCAE, shown at Figure 5-5, is organized into a headquarters section, Morse and non-Morse analysis sections, voice and ELINT analysis sections, CM section, and reports and document section. The TCAE--

Receives collection tasking from the EACIC SDT-SIGINT through the CM section.
Receives and forwards SIGINT-related CEDs to the EACIC.
Translates tasking received into SIGINT acquisition tasks.
Assigns specific SIGINT acquisition tasks to specific collection assets.
Monitors satisfaction of SIGINT tasks in terms of timeliness and quality.
Provides asset status and limitations to the EACIC CM&D through the SDT-SIGINT.
Performs electronic preparation of the battlefield (EPB).
Maintains the theater ground component SIGINT POC for lateral theater EAC TCAEs and for the Army TCAE (discussed in the appendix).
Serves as the theater ground SIGINT POC for "in-theater" national SIGINT support organizations. The EAC TCAE is the highest echelon in the Army's SIGINT technical control architecture within a theater of operation.

The EAC TCAE is the single POC between the Army's ECB SIGINT units and the "in-theater" national SIGINT support base (if present).

As such, the EAC TCAE coordinates directly with the national SIGINT data base or regional SIGINT support center (RSSC) in the theater. In some instances, where an RSSC is not present, a theater support node (TSN) may be deployed to establish a communications link with the national SIGINT data base. The TSN and RSSC organizations are subordinate to the National Security Agency (NSA); they represent forward deployed technical support organizations to support all military services within a theater of operations. General functions of these organizations include--

Providing technical support and technical data base support to all services within the theater.
Providing information from national assets and assets not organic to the services in the theater (for example, Allied SIGINT assets).
Providing national analytic support to the services in the theater.
Assisting the services, when required, in maintaining their technical data base in the theater.
Providing technical support and technical data base support for counter WARM operations.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE COMPANY (SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE) (SEPARATE-ECHELONS ABOVE CORPS)

In those instances where an MI battalion is not required, an MI company (SIGINT) separate-echelons above corps (SEP-EAC) may be assigned to an MI brigade. This company is under the command of the MI brigade (EAC) and interacts operationally with the EACIC. Although the SIGINT mission is the same, the strength and organizational structure of this company is slightly different from the MI company (SIGINT) of the SIGINT battalion. Figure 5-6 shows the organization of MI company (SIGINT) (SEP-EAC).

The company headquarters serves the same functions and provides the same support as that of the MI company (SIGINT). The structure of its operations platoon, DF platoon, and CM&A platoon is identical. However, since this is a separate company with independent operations, it has its own organic TCAE. If assigned to a theater MI brigade (EAC), this TCAE becomes the EAC TCAE.

The TCAE within an MI company (SIGINT) (SEP-EAC) has the same structure and functions as that within the MI company (C&P) of the MI battalion (SIGINT) described previously. It performs all the processing, analyzing, reporting, mission management, and technical support functions required to support organic, attached, or OPCON resources. It interfaces with the EACIC through the SDT-SIGINT of the production section.

OPERATIONS

The operations of the MI battalion (SIGINT) are conducted continuously to support peacetime requirements. In wartime, operations are conducted similarly, with differences in types of targets, timeliness, intensity of operations, and the degree of integration with non-Army and non-US agencies. SIGINT and EW operations are tailored regionally and functionally to fit specific geographic areas and to meet mission tasking. This structuring provides the appropriate mix of language skills, area expertise, and proper data bases and equipment to accomplish the mission for a given theater.

In the Army intelligence structural design for EAC, the operations of the MI battalion (SIGINT) are complex. The SIGINT battalion-commander conducts extremely sensitive intelligence operations. EAC SIGINT operations provide both strategic and tactical intelligence information. Consumers range from the highest echelons of government to tactical maneuver forces in the field. To work effectively, the SIGINT battalion EAC must cooperate and exchange information with its sister military services and Allied EAC SIGINT organizations.

INTERNAL OPERATING PROCEDURES

The SIGINT battalion functions range from receiving a tasking to reporting on a SIGINT requirement. The collection of SIGINT information begins with receipt of a requirement. This requirement may come from any source and may result from--

Intelligence requirements of the theater and Allied commands.
PIR and IR of ECB tactical commanders.
Strategic intelligence requirements of national level agencies.

Having determined the exact collection acquisition tasks, the CM section passes them on to the TCAE for transmission. The TCAE then passes the collection requirements to the CM&A platoon of the SIGINT company for passage to the specific SIGINT collection asset. The TCAE may directly task attached or OPCON SIGINT assets if they have no CM element.

SIGINT requirements levied on the MI brigade (EAC) are analyzed and processed by the EACIC. Within the EACIC, the requirements are forwarded from the CM&D section to the production section, where personnel in the SDT-SIGINT element coordinate to satisfy the requirements. If not, the requirement is tasked down to the EAC TCAE for collection by SIGINT assets of the MI battalion. The SDT-SIGINT provides feedback to the CM&D section regarding all aspects of requirement satisfaction.

All tasking requirements from the SDT-SIGINT are received by the CM section of the TCAE (EAC). Figure 5-7 shows the SIGINT tasking and reporting flow through the EAC TCAE of the C&P company. Once processed by the CM section, taskings may be sent to organic SIGINT collection assets, attached assets, or to other SIGINT assets throughout the theater. At the same time, the battalion S3 section monitors the tasking and reporting from the TCAE and the EACIC. Thus, the battalion can oversee the battalion's overall SIGINT mission.

The CM section performs the mission control function for all the battalion's SIGINT assets and other SIGINT resources within the theater.

Figure 5-8 shows the tasking and reporting flow within the SIGINT company. Figure 5-9 shows the tasking and reporting flow from the EACIC to the MI battalion (SIGINT). (The relationship of both companies is shown.) Organic, attached, or OPCON SIGINT resources provide collection information and data back through the TCAE channels. The CM section ensures there is no duplication of effort among collection assets.

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