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03 May 2011
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The Foundation For All Other Intelligence Disciplines: GEOINT’s Role in Bringing Down Bin Laden
Added by USGIF Category: Daily Intelligence Brief, General
As the as James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, highlighted in our exclusive interview with him in 2008 — when he was Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I) — geospatial intelligence is simply the foundation for other intelligence disciplines. This concept was further reinforced by the recent take down of Osama Bin Laden. Thanks to GEOINT, the Intelligence Community was able to succeed in a historic mission that will bring closure to those impacted by the devastating 9/11 attacks, as well as the entire nation. As Alan Bolye highlighted on his MSNBC blog, “the gutsy military operation would have been impossible to pull off without a web of orbiting satellites.”
It is certainly exciting to see mainstream media like MSNBC shine a light on the GEOINT sector. As we have highlighted before (ironically in a post about tracking Bin Laden), it is not very often that the GEOINT world captures the mainstream media’s attention, but all of that shifted on Sunday night.
And, Boyle’s MSNBC post really hits the mark. Check out this one paragraph about satellite imagery provided by our friends at DigitalGlobe and GeoEye:
The Pentagon can draw upon a constellation of military satellites for imagery in a variety of wavelengths, but it also picks up pictures from commercial satellite companies such as GeoEye and DigitalGlobe — the same companies that provide mapping data for websites such as Google Earth. A series of satellite pictures can be used to trace the history of the building site from an empty lot in 2001, to a newly built mansion in 2005, to an even more built-out neighborhood this January.
And, we just received the following statement from Director Long at the NGA:
We at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency are honored to be public servants during this singularly profound moment in our nation’s history – delivering Osama bin Ladin to his just end.
NGA applied a range of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) capabilities including imagery, geospatial and targeting analysis, along with image sciences and modeling that, supplemented with work from the CIA and NSA, allowed the United States to carry out this operation, making bin Ladin pay for the crimes that he committed and the hatred he inflamed within al-Qa’ida.
The employees of NGA have worked behind the scenes for more than a decade – committed to finding bin Ladin – providing crucial geospatial intelligence for our war fighters and nation’s decision makers.
I am extremely proud of the work that NGA men and women have done that led directly to this outcome. Their GEOINT was critical to helping the intelligence community pinpoint bin Ladin’s compound.
We still have work to do. To our partners in the fight, we will continue to provide our geospatial intelligence for the nation’s most pressing security threats. To the American people, know that we will never stop looking for actors who seek to harm our people and our way of life. In the days that follow, we need to prepare for a possible response from our enemies. We must remain vigilant – knowing that this victory, while monumental, is but one among many that must be made in the fight that we will continue to wage against radical extremists.
Yes, many are still feeling a celebratory glow in the wake of Sunday night’s great news. And, it is even more exciting to examine the role that GEOINT has in world-changing missions like the take down of Bin Laden. And, as General Clapper said, GEOINT is the foundation for for all other intelligence disciplines…indeed it is!
Tags: Bin Laden, DigitalGlobe, DigitalGlobe and Bin Laden, GeoEye and Bin Laden, GEOINT, GEOINT and bid laden, GEOINT and mainstream media, United States Geospatial Intelligence Agency, USGIF
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