WEBVTT
1
00:00:05.970 --> 00:00:08.370
I am Major Thomas Huet
from Ottawa, Ontario,
2
00:00:08.370 --> 00:00:09.630
and I'm an Intelligence officer.
3
00:00:10.860 --> 00:00:13.950
The days of simply knowing
who and where the enemy is
4
00:00:13.950 --> 00:00:15.450
and how they fight are over.
5
00:00:16.860 --> 00:00:19.800
The job of an Intelligence
Officer is to predict the future.
6
00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:21.360
In an asymmetrical world.
7
00:00:23.310 --> 00:00:25.410
Intelligence Officers are responsible
8
00:00:25.410 --> 00:00:27.750
for ensuring their commanders
are well-informed on the
9
00:00:27.750 --> 00:00:30.690
ground, in the air, or on the seas.
10
00:00:30.690 --> 00:00:34.080
They must understand operating
environments as events unfold.
11
00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:37.440
and lead their teams
to collect information,
12
00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:41.130
including weather, terrain,
enemy forces, people,
13
00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:42.990
and politics.
14
00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:45.270
Intelligence is really
a critical function
15
00:00:45.270 --> 00:00:48.870
because really we work hand
in hand with operations.
16
00:00:48.870 --> 00:00:52.320
Our job is to essentially
provide them the information
17
00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.810
necessary to make their decisions.
18
00:00:54.810 --> 00:00:58.140
Collecting intelligence is
both an art and a science.
19
00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:00.690
Intelligence officers
use computerised tools
20
00:01:00.690 --> 00:01:04.620
to help their teams analyse
massive amounts of information.
21
00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:06.210
The first step is direction.
22
00:01:06.210 --> 00:01:07.805
We, talk to our commanders
23
00:01:07.805 --> 00:01:09.600
and understand what the problems are.
24
00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:11.250
The second thing we do is collection.
25
00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:12.575
So we go out and gather
26
00:01:12.575 --> 00:01:14.280
that information that we're looking for.
27
00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.350
So that could be humint,
28
00:01:16.350 --> 00:01:18.570
someone on the ground asking questions.
29
00:01:18.570 --> 00:01:22.650
That could be ISR, so a
UAV platform up in the air,
30
00:01:22.650 --> 00:01:24.065
or that could be a satellite
31
00:01:24.065 --> 00:01:26.130
that is just basically
flying around the earth.
32
00:01:26.130 --> 00:01:28.500
And so we basically try
to pick the best sensor
33
00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:31.620
to answer the question
that we're looking at.
34
00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:34.110
And then the last step is we
disseminate that information
35
00:01:34.110 --> 00:01:36.120
to the people who need to know.
36
00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.760
Intelligence Officers must
also use their instincts
37
00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:41.730
and training to evaluate situations.
38
00:01:41.730 --> 00:01:45.510
Intelligence is only
as good as it is timely.
39
00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:47.555
If we take all the time in the world
40
00:01:47.555 --> 00:01:50.880
to get the answer right,
sometimes it might be too late.
41
00:01:50.880 --> 00:01:52.440
So we have to try to find
42
00:01:52.440 --> 00:01:55.290
and strike a balance between
getting the right information
43
00:01:55.290 --> 00:01:57.090
and getting the information fast enough.
44
00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:00.270
Intelligence Officers
do a lot of writing
45
00:02:00.270 --> 00:02:02.340
and will find themselves
conveying information
46
00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:05.580
to a very senior audience
early in their careers.
47
00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:07.620
They must become comfortable quickly
48
00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.860
and feel confident about the
information they present.
49
00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:13.380
What I'm trying to do is
essentially provide the commander
50
00:02:13.380 --> 00:02:15.750
with the information he
needs to make his decision.
51
00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:19.410
And his decision could
be, do I fly today or not?
52
00:02:19.410 --> 00:02:22.380
Or it could be, do I attack
today? Or how do I attack?
53
00:02:22.380 --> 00:02:24.150
So really we're basically providing the
54
00:02:24.150 --> 00:02:25.590
decisional superiority.
55
00:02:25.590 --> 00:02:28.110
So we're trying to basically
make sure that they are able
56
00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:31.170
to make decisions better
than the enemy commanders.
57
00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:39.420
For me, I think the most interesting part
58
00:02:39.420 --> 00:02:41.940
of my career was when
I was deployed recently
59
00:02:41.940 --> 00:02:44.850
and I was in charge of an
organisation that was responsible
60
00:02:44.850 --> 00:02:47.490
for full motion video analysis.
61
00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:50.460
So we basically took the
videos that were coming off
62
00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:53.310
of the different unmanned
aerial vehicles in the theatre
63
00:02:53.310 --> 00:02:55.170
and we got to analyse them.
64
00:02:55.170 --> 00:02:57.870
And so I was in charge
of about 80 people doing
65
00:02:57.870 --> 00:03:01.210
that analysis and basically
directly helping the war
66
00:03:01.210 --> 00:03:03.910
fighters on the ground to
figure out what was happening in
67
00:03:03.910 --> 00:03:05.768
that area of operations
68
00:03:08.751 --> 00:03:09.584
Intelligence,
69
00:03:09.584 --> 00:03:11.200
one of the things I
appreciate is just that I get
70
00:03:11.200 --> 00:03:13.000
to learn about everything
71
00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.610
and learn about, you know,
what's happening in the world.
72
00:03:15.610 --> 00:03:18.550
I just kind of really enjoy the aspect of,
73
00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:19.750
you know, figuring it out.
74
00:03:19.750 --> 00:03:21.310
And when I have a question,
75
00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:23.920
I don't always have the
information at hand,
76
00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:26.020
and so I have to figure out
how do I get that information.
77
00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:28.060
And so that to me is really gratifying
78
00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:31.030
because I get to
basically figure out plans
79
00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:32.380
and problem solve every day.
80
00:03:35.530 --> 00:03:36.670
I think the piece of advice
81
00:03:36.670 --> 00:03:39.490
that I would offer someone
who's thinking about a career in
82
00:03:39.490 --> 00:03:42.730
the Canadian forces and in
intelligence in particular, is
83
00:03:42.730 --> 00:03:46.330
that if you enjoy, you know,
knowing about the world,
84
00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:47.410
if you enjoy research,
85
00:03:47.410 --> 00:03:49.570
then this is probably the career for you.
86
00:03:49.570 --> 00:03:51.580
Being curious about the world would lead
87
00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:52.570
to success in this trade.