Intelligence for the Division--A G2 Perspective

The Assistant Chief of Staff, G2, has been serving American combat commanders for over fifty years. The duty is complex and demanding, and considered by many as the epitome of the tactical intelligence profession. Nevertheless, the military intelligence community has generated very little literature describing the G2 experience. Generations of new G2s have undertaken this duty armed with only their own experiences as preparation. This paper describes one G2s experience. It serves primarily to help the prospective G2 appreciate the issues and challenges that he may face, and secondarily as an historical record for future academic study. The G2s role is an important and difficult one. He provides a sizable share of the enemy, weather, and terrain information needed by a large tactical formation to execute modern combat operations. He helps to steer higher level intelligence efforts to support these large tactical formations, and thereby to win on the battlefield.