On the 10th  and 11th of May 2011 the JCBRN Defence COE hosted a workshop on CBRN Intelligence which followed the successful conclusion of the initial CBRN Intelligence Analyst Course in June last year. Discussions were chaired by Lt Col Frank Kaemper from Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and all work was in cooperation with the European Defence Agency (EDA).

         The nations represented at the 2 day conference were Greece, Turkey, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. Of particular importance was the presence of Mr Christopher Hughes, Senior Analyst on Weapons of Mass Destruction, from the Intelligence Fusion Centre based at Molesworth in the United Kingdom which supports NATO.

         The work shop was very successful and productive achieving the aim to develop and agree on a road map leading to enhanced availability of specific CBRN related intelligence and improved intelligence support to CBRN. In principle it was agreed by the work shop participants not to further pursue the idea of a CBRN intelligence domain rather to follow the ACT proposal to look at how to enhance procedures and training for good intelligence engagement and support to CBRN. As a key outcome of the work shop it was agreed to use the term CBRN related intelligence. Based on the NATO Comprehensive CBRN Policy for preventing the proliferation of WMD and defending against the threats of CBRN it was agreed that CBRN related intelligence spans the need to be able to support non-proliferation activities, essentially by WMD related intelligence in support of policy makers, as well as support operations aimed at counter-proliferation and enabling forces to operate in a CBRN environment.

        JCBRN Defence COE will continue to be involved closely in support of this work to develop CBRN related intelligence. The point of contact within the COE for intelligence related issues is Lt Colonel David Cooper.

Author: LTC David Cooper