The long-term benefits of a well-integrated ISR enterprise have been proved by warfighters, whereas the rest of my guidance has no basis more reliable than doctrine, experience, and hard-learned lessons.
I will dispense this guidance now.
Understand the battlespace; oh never mind.
You will not grasp the full complexity of the operational environment until you've been blindsided in combat.
But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at missed opportunities
and wish you had invested more in persistent surveillance,
that you had seen the indicators of enemy manoeuvre before it was too late.
Your adversary’s intent was clearer than you thought.
Do not chase ISR assets; or do?—but know that fixating on a platform
is as effective as launching an airstrike without coordinates.
The real advantage in warfare is the seamless flow of intelligence,
the ability to turn raw data into actionable insight before the first shot is fired.
Do one thing every day to refine your skills and knowledge.
Innovate…
Do not neglect processing, exploitation, and dissemination;
do not tolerate commanders who fixate on collection while ignoring analysis.
Train analysts as hard as you train pilots.
Do not waste time on intelligence stovepipes;
sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind, but fusion will always win the fight.
The campaign is long, and in the end, the side that wins is that which maintains understanding at tempo.
Remember the intelligence you received that saved lives; forget the reports that went unread.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how
Keep your priorities clear; target sensors; seek understanding.
Refine your ISR plan.
Do not feel guilty if you cannot fulfil every ISR requirement.
The best ISR planners I know still struggle with resource allocation.
The best analysts know that intelligence gaps will always exist.
The key is to prioritize, adjust, and iterate.
Invest in AI and automation.
But be wary of automation bias.
Maybe you'll dominate the information space, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll integrate all ISR disciplines perfectly, maybe you’ll spend half your career battling bureaucracy.
Maybe you'll achieve decision superiority before first contact.
Maybe you'll scramble to make sense of a rapidly deteriorating situation.
Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or blame yourself either.
Intelligence success is half skill, half circumstance—so is everyone else’s.
Employ ISR at every level.
Use it in every way you can.
Do not be afraid of it, or what operators think of it.
It is the most powerful force you will ever wield.
Harmonize ISR, even if your commanders don’t understand why it matters.
Read ISR doctrine, question every word.
Know your analysts; you never know when they will have the insight that turns the battle.
Be nice to your SIGINT operators; they are your best link to unseen threats,
and the most likely to detect the adversary’s next move before it happens.
Understand that platforms will come and go, but ISR principles endure.
Work hard to bridge the gaps between tactical, operational, and strategic intelligence,
because the more contested the battlefield, the more you will need real-time understanding.
Deploy ISR early, and leave it there to ensure enduring peace.
Deploy ISR persistently, but be prepared for it to fail when you need it most.
Refine your contingencies: trust yourself.
Accept certain inalienable truths:
ISR assets will be limited,
decision-makers will ask for intelligence they don’t actually need,
you too will grow old—
and when you do, you’ll fantasize that in your youth, ISR was perfectly integrated,
commanders respected intelligence,
and warfighters knew exactly how to use it.
Respect your intelligence teams.
Do not expect ISR to be your sole advantage.
Maybe you will achieve information dominance,
maybe your adversary will blind you at the worst moment.
You never know when superiority will turn into vulnerability.
Do not over-task ISR platforms, or by the time you need them, they will be unavailable.
Be careful whose intelligence you trust, but be patient with those who provide it.
Intelligence is a form of battlefield hindsight.
Reporting it is a way of reconstructing fragments of truth,
wiping away assumptions,
analyzing beyond the noise,
and delivering clarity for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on ISR
