A military intelligence officer must be able to collect and analyze quality information and convert it into a timely and relevant product that can provide guidance to a commander’s decisions. To do this, the officer must possess (beyond technical skills) certain virtues or characteristics.
Allen Dulles, in his “Craft of Intelligence,” lists the following qualities of good intelligence officers (Dulles, Ch. 12):
“Be perceptive about people
Be able to work well with others under difficult conditions
Learn to discern between fact and fiction
Be able to distinguish between essentials and nonessentials
Possess inquisitiveness
Have a large amount of ingenuity
Pay appropriate attention to detail
Be able to express ideas clearly, briefly and, very important, interestingly
Learn when to keep your mouth shut”
He goes on to add a few other qualities to this list, including “an understanding of other points of view, other ways of thinking.” Dulles also posits that the officer must be motivated while not being overambitious.
The ability to differentiate fact from fiction and to distinguish between essentials and inessentials are necessary to sort-through and resolve conflicts in circumstances when vast amounts of information is available. When information is scarce, inquisitiveness, ingenuity, and the ability to pay appropriate attention to detail are needed to “fill in the gaps.” Collaboration is essential here to verify assumptions as well as to utilize additional information that may have been missed. This all falls under the rubric of critical thinking, which is essential for eliminating preconceived notions and biases, allowing objectivity to shine through. Objectivity is best attained when the intelligence officer is motivated to do all this while not being overzealous which could put self above mission.
Once the relevant information is assembled, it has to be communicated, and that requires holding an audience’s attention. This is achieved through clearly expressed ideas as well as the silence to allow feedback and interactivity. To do this, the intelligence officer must be perceptive to others (especially commanders and fellow intelligence officers) and understand their perspectives. He must be able to communicate the information in a concise and interesting manner, even under difficult circumstances.
Another quality an intelligence officer must possess is an impeccable character – he must be above reproach…
Suppose an intelligence officer has a “skeleton in his closet” – some characteristic or past event that would be embarrassing should it be made public. This would count against the officer for two reasons: this could be a character flaw that can lead to future failings, and it could make the officer vulnerable to extortion. One example of a “skeleton” was that an officer candidate who was gay would be denied security clearances, the idea being that his same-sex attraction could be used by foreign agents to manipulate him into revealing important state secrets.
Another “skeleton” is marital infidelity. General David Petraeus resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency 9 November 2012 following the discovery by the FBI that he had an affair with his biographer. This came after a 37-year career in the US Army in which he was commander of American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. He wasn’t coerced by a foreign agent, and it’s not clear if there was any coercion at all from Paula Broadwell, his mistress/biographer, who was a US Army Intelligence Officer.
What counts as a “skeleton” is highly complicated – it requires an officer to have a sense of guilt and that society views the characteristic or past event as a stigma. There is more than a sliding Overton Window at play, however: during the years J. Edgar Hoover was director of the FBI (1935 – 1972), cross-dressing was not socially acceptable, but he maintained his position while simultaneously earning the nickname “J. Edna Hoover.”
Reference:
Dulles, Allen. (2006). The Craft of Intelligence, Globe Pequot Press.
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