On Thursday, September 28, the Chanticleer Intelligence Brief hosted a guest speaker and intelligence practitioner, who discussed the role of human intelligence (HUMINT) collection in the Special Operations Forces components of the United States Army. The speaker, a graduate of the Intelligence and National Security Studies program at Coastal Carolina University, presented a talk on the subject of “Building Skills for Successful HUMINT Careers”.

Topics discussed included the importance of critical thinking and curiosity, the centrality of advanced interpersonal skills, as well as the need for mental flexibility when operating in unfamiliar and unstructured social environments. Language skills and deep cultural knowledge were also discussed in relation to scoping, vetting and recruiting sources. Furthermore, the speaker stressed the crucial role of independent research, which is fundamental to the success of HUMINT operations.

The Department of Intelligence and Security Studies at Coastal Carolina University offers an upper-level course on HUMINT, which is usually taught in the spring semester. Several members of the audience during the presentation had already taken the HUMINT course, while others are preparing to take it this coming spring. The Chanticleer Intelligence Brief wishes to thank our speaker for an informative presentation, as well as those who attended it