John S Pesapane

Istikbarat: Rebuilding Intelligence Capabilities of the Iraqi Air Force John S Pesapane

Operation IRAQI FREEDOM is well on its way into its fourth year and progress by the Coalition Air Force Transition Team is severely lagging behind their Army counterparts in rebuilding key departments within the Iraqi Armed Forces. One of the immediate priorities for the Iraqi Air Force to be relevant in defending their country is the acquisition of airpower for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance operations. This drives the need to determine how the Iraqi Air Force should develop their intelligence capabilities in order to support Iraq's National Security Strategy. One of the first steps in addressing this issue is the clear identification of both specified and implied essential tasks necessary to generate intelligence capabilities. This paper will recognize those key essential tasks and use them as the basis to develop a comprehensive way ahead for establishing an enduring intelligence function within the Iraqi Air Force. The background for this research stems from a coalition advisor to the Iraqi Air Force Director of Intelligence deployment to Baghdad in 2006 where first hand experience and personal interviews of Iraqi personnel led to the realization of how severe Iraq's intelligence problem has become. Rebuilding intelligence capabilities is just one of many requirements that must be addressed for the Iraqi Air Force to reduce their reliance on coalition support.