The Last Decision We Have To Make... (Intel Analyst "Words To Live By")

The quotes have been collected, the surveys submitted, the results gathered and analyzed.

The Intelligence Analyst's Deck of Cards is almost finished. 

All we need now is a design for the back of the cards.

I hired a local design firm to come up with some ideas and through a wholly unscientific process have down-selected to the two you see in the Swayable below.

I am interested in your opinion!  Please vote and pass the site on to others who should vote on this crucial decision of national -- nay, international! -- importance.

More Data Cake, Please! (EpicGraphic.com)

I would change "data" to "information" and "information" to "intelligence" but other than that, I like this cake!

(Hat tip to Nimalan Paul for the link)


Image by EpicGraphic

DC-based Counterintelligence Courses Now Open For Registration! (Shameless Self Promotion)

How would you like to take counterintel courses for graduate credit from some of the most experienced CI professionals in the world?  Now you can...

Mercyhurst College has been teaching counterintelligence courses in the DC area for a number of years.  Traditionally, we have done this in coordination with a government or private partner.  This year, however, we have decided to open these classes up to qualified students throughout the DC area.

These courses (there are three of them) make up our Graduate Certificate in Counterintelligence.  All of the classes are accredited, of course, and are taught one per quarter for three quarters.  If you want the certificate, you would need to take all three and take them in series.  If you are just interested in learning more about the CI field, then you could opt to take just the first course -- it is entirely your call. 

The first course in this series will be offered in early September and run for approximately 10 weeks.  The course is not offered online and will meet once a week in the evening at a location in the vicinity of Tyson's Corner.  There are no pre-requisites other than a bachelors degree from an accredited university.

The courses are taught by Brian Kelley, Bob Stephan and Ray Batvinis.  Kelley spent more than 20 years in the DO at CIA working both defensive and offensive CI ops; Stephan is the author of Stalin's Secret War and has over 20 years expereince with CIA, DIA and the USAF; Batvinis spent 25 years at the FBI working on CI issues at the highest levels.

Because of their experience and contacts, one of the unique aspects of these classes are the kinds of guest speakers they can draw.  For example, in the last class they were able to bring together Plato Cacheris and John Martin (the defense attorney and the federal prosecutor in the Robert Hanssen case) for a one-of-a-kind roundtable.

This brief note cannot do either this course or the guys teaching it justice.  If you want more information, please do not hesitate to contact the director of our online and distance learning programs, Linda Bremmer, at 814 824 2170 or lbremmer at mercyhurst dot edu. 

Registration is now open!

Intelligence Analyst "Words To Live By" -- #10, Voting Closes 19 JUL 11!

This is the tenth, and last, list of "Intelligence Analyst Words To Live By."  

The tenth list is below and links to the previous nine lists are below that.  I am off to the Global Intelligence Forum next week and will not be back until 18 JUL so I decided to keep the voting open until then.  Please pass these lists on to any analysts you know!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Links to the previous nine lists:

List 1
List 2
List 3
List 4
List 5
List 6 
List 7
List 8
List 9

The current frontrunners from the ninth list include (with the percentage representing the percent of respondents who said move it up the list):

"The greatest derangement of mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so." -- Louis Pasteur (77%)
"I suppose that if we in intelligence were one day given three wishes, they would be to know everything, to be believed when we spoke, and in such a way to exercise an influence to the good in the matter of policy." -- Sherman Kent (53%)
"There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." -- Ronald Reagan (64%)

All other entries are currently below 50%

Intelligence Analyst "Words To Live By" -- #9 (SurveyMonkey.com)

This is the ninth of 10 surveys I intend to conduct to determine which are the "best" quotes, sayings and words of wisdom for intelligence analysts.

If you want more detail on why I am doing this, see the previous post.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Voting on the first eight lists is still open:

List 1
List 2
List 3
List 4
List 5
List 6 
List 7 
List 8

The current frontrunners from the seventh list -- I am one behind -- include (with the percentage representing the percent of respondents who said move it up the list):

"The intelligence analyst's function might be described as transcending the limits of incomplete information through the exercise of analytical judgment." -- Richards Heuer (58%)
"What experts think matters far less than how they think." -- Philip Tetlock (77%)
"If you can imagine it, the enemy will do it." -- Numerous (70%)
 "The noblest service comes from nameless hands, and the best servant does his work unseen." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes (58%)
"Uncertainty, ambiguity, debate, and partial answers to tangled questions will remain an existential condition of the analytical process." -- Loch Johnson (56%)
 "Bad news does not improve with age." -- Anonymous (63%)
"The best defense for the analyst who feels pressure to reach a certain judgment, or the case officer pressured to “bend the rules,” is the ethical recognition that no one—analyst, interrogator, or policymaker—is well served by such corruption." -- William Nolte (67%)      

All other entries are currently below 50%.