The mission of the company intel cell is to describe the effects of the weather, enemy, terrain, and local population upon friendly operations in order to reduce the commander’s uncertainty
and aid in his decision making. - Headquarters, Department of the Navy, U.S. Marine Corps X-File 2-1.1, Company Intelligence Cell in Stability and Support Operations (SASO), GPO, Washington, DC, 17 December 2004.
Overwatch Tactical Operations Company Intelligence Support Team (CoIST) software suite: It is generally accepted that while conducting counterinsurgency (COIN) operations killing the enemy is relatively easy; however, finding him is much more difficult. In fact, finding the enemy is rapidly becoming a process of think-to-contact versus actual movement-to-contact to develop the timely (actionable) intelligence traditionally lacking at the lowest tactical levels. Even more difficult is not creating more insurgents than you kill or capture. Full spectrum operations, both lethal and non-lethal, are the key to successful COIN operations. Such operations rely on accurate, timely information derived from the bottom up through patrol debriefings, sensitive site exploitation, tactical questioning, tips, and other sources, analyzed and exploited at the lowest level.
National Intelligence Support Teams
JP 2-01 Joint and National Intelligence Support to Military Operations