COIN OPS NORTH EAST

TACTICAL QUESTIONING
for line soldiers

Collecting Information
Soldiers patrol the same area day after day. Sometimes they go in for deep area patrolling and reconnaissance. All this is done with the intent to collect combat information.In any operational environment soldiers should always be primed , alert to collect information.Of particular mention here is te word ‘’change’’.While patrolling the soldiers may discern a ‘’change’’ in normalcy of the surroundings. While studying the surroundings , like the people,terrain,infrastructure the soldier should recognize any changes in the environment.Often than not these changes are important indicators cof enemy activity or intent.The soldier may not be able to find out the reason behind the change , still it’s very important he report it to the intelligence personnel. Soldiers should train themselves to become constantly aware of conditions such as

• Armed Elements: Location of factional forces, minefields, and potential threats.
• Homes and Buildings: What is the condition of the roofs, doors, windows, lights, power lines, water, sanitation, roads, bridges, crops, and livestock?
• Infrastructure: The presence of functioning stores, service stations, etc.
• People: Numbers, sex, age, residence or displaced persons, refugees, and evacuees status, visible health, clothing, daily activities, and leaders.
• Contrast: Has anything changed?

If everyone is involved in the collection of combat information, then everyone must be aware of the information requirements. All soldiers who have contact with the local population, routinely travel within the area, or frequently attend meetings with local organizations must know the information requirements and their responsibility to observe and report

While handling detainees and EPWs keep the following in mind:

1. Segragate the detainees and EPWs based on nationality , sex , profession , ethnicity (civilians) and rank , insignia , and regiment (may be belonging to enemy intelligence unit , thus game for special interrogation )

2. While searching the person of the detainee or EPW search thotoughly.Keep separate the records of documents , seized equipments and weapons(capture tags).Describe all documents,equipments and weapons as completely as possible.This is not DOCEX or Captured equipment exploitation in its entirety—that will later be done by trained HUMINT personnel and with help of technical assistants.What is being done here is tactical exploitation , just like tactical questioning—on the spot intelligence extraction.

3. Intelligence is perishable and combat intelligence is highly perishable , action is required as soon as possible and for that the intelligence must reach the targeting platform without any delay.But there are procedures.The prisoners and detainees who are felt will yield more information on further questioning must be moved as soon as possible to the rear where interrogators are waiting.Bear in mind that with time the detainee/EPW emboldens , the initial panic which he had on point of capture wears away , he gets time to think and also harbors escapist thoughts—escape from captivity.We are here talking about the duties of secondary collectors , the line troops who must move them fast to rear after ascertaining that they do have information of value.There are mobile interrogation teams to handle cases right on the spot at forward areas and copmposed of a mix of HUMINT/CI but that is tactical HUMINT and will be dealt within my book on Counterintelligence.

4. Kep a tab on the detaines , EPWs and all others so that they do not communicate with each other.

5. Remember the personal safety and protection of all detained for questioning can be a cause for concern under certain circumstances and hence they must be safeguarded.For example someone from the line troops may vent his personal anger on the enemy by attempting rough handle the detainees or prisoners.Sexual harassment is also an issue.Whatever be the case , they must be treated humanely.

Key Considerations for Talking
• You must be aware of the existence, nature and type of threat in your area and the vulnerabilities of the protection measures taken by your commander which are liable to be tapped. Overall you should know the force protection measures taken by your unit.
• Be careful about the local culture, traditions, customs.

• Your body language should project a friendlier flavor, not an intimidating one. Point weapons away from the accosted person.

• Talk to people in normal surroundings.Dont lead them to an isolated area, an alley or any place which will make them suspicious. Always be polite. Remove sunglasses.
• If you are speaking to a woman know local courtesies.

Questions
Questions should be so structured so as to be simple, straightforward, should open and maintain the conversation, should start with an interrogative, and should prompt a narrative answer. Interrogatives are what, why, when, who and where. Questions should not be closes provoking only an ‘’yes’’ or ‘’no’’ as answer but should be ‘’open’’.Avoid asking questions that are confusing. Characteristics of open questions:
• Act as an invitation to talk.
• Prompts the person to answer comfortably and feel encouraged to continue with the conversation.
• Not too specific but broad in nature.
• Encourage discussion.
• Creates a situation favorable for the soldier to be the listener(and observer) for a major part of the conversation.
• Does not cause the person to feel intimidated or threatened.
• Invokes curiosity of others and allows them to get involved in the discussion spiritedly.
• Gives the person the opportunity to tell his opinions, his judgment, what he feels is important, what he feels should be done.
• Should invoke a conversation, not a question-answer scenario.
Be subtle, don’t just jot away on paper the answers –that is not conversation and always be friendly, cooperative, observing him carefully but not arousing any suspicion, studying his body language and be courteous and reserved.

Questioning to Fill Out the Capture Tag
You are manning a check post or roadblock..Before being deployed to do so your unit commander has briefed you about the intelligence requirements as per current mission. The Battalion prioritized intelligence requirements lead to the generation of intelligence requirements for each company and subunits. These intelligence requirements as spelled out to you will guide you in framing the questions to be asked of individuals at the check post/roadblock. Once you, the soldier, have screened and detained a person categorized either as a detainee or EPW you must now obtain all possible details from him so that on subsequent questioning/interrogation of the person by the HUMINT or CI agent, the latter is well prepared initially with the information you have supplied. You must fill out a capture tag which will facilitate further questioning/interrogation. The capture tag must include:
What is your job? What is your speciality? Are you a combatant? If so what is your rank, number and unit? Who are in your chain of command? Whom do you report—that is who your immediate superior is? What is the mission of your unit? Are you a civilian? Then why are you here? Who is your immediate boss and what is the name of your company? At the time, place and point of capture, detention what was your immediate mission—that is to say why were you there and what were you doing or what were your plans? Were you supposed to conduct any mission/job when you were captured/detained? What are your future plans and what is the future mission of your unit/company? You might note he is carrying documents, maps, identification papers; photographs.Here is where you might find things out of the ordinary. The map might be of another place or even this place: Why are you carrying this map? The photo/s might be of someone else: Who is this person and why are you carrying his photograph? The ID papers may belong to other persons and hence you ask him why is he carrying other peoples identification papers and why. And where are these persons as they are in a disturbed area and that too without identification papers. All these exploitable documents can now be handed over to the MI section together with the detainee/EPW.

Remember your questions should be guided by your unit’s intelligence requirements and as briefed to you but on no count should the person being questioned get a whiff of these requirements or your mission. Everything should be done in an atmosphere of normal conversation.
Example Questions
Questions must be framed in such a manner so as not to elicit vague or misleading answers. They should be direct, pointed but at the same time broad so that the person being questioned does not misinterpret it or has any room for maneuver. For example the following questions were designed for soldiers manning check posts/roadblocks. Modify them to accommodate EPWs/detainees, local population as per your mission, situation and unit requirements.

• What is your name (Match this with any identification document found on his person) Cross-check with CI White list, Black list and Grey List)
• Where do you live and full address, where were you going and why, how did you arrive here. From here to your final destination point—what will be the route and why? In what way is it safer or convenient for you? Who will facilitate your journey? That reminds me, who facilitated your journey till here, financially or otherwise? (All these must be specifically answered or obtained)
• What is your present occupation, your specialty-if any and your qualifications (see if he has any technical expertise)?
• What was the type of physical terrain you travelled to get here? During your travel what all obstacles you faced and how did you manage to overcome/circumvent them. While travelling did you observe anything out of ordinary in your surroundings? Or any unusual activity?
• What currency are you carrying and how much? What is the money intended for (if found to be a big sum)?
• Can you name anyone whom you know personally who is averse to Indian security measures/ops here in this area? On being answered immediately follow with ‘’who else’’.Do you know or are you aware of the nature and type of any anti-Indian security operation/any other activity here or anywhere else and dates or time of such activities? Can you tell me the reason for our forces to be here? Do you support our activities?
DO NOT’s
• Ask questions which might reveal your intent or which might make him aware of your units mission, intelligence requirements.
• Jot down answers before him.
• Don’t resorts to quid-pro-quo.They are not permanent sources to be given goods/money in exchange for information and neither are you an intelligence specialist. The same goes for EPWs and detainees.
• Do not resort to coercion. You may be reported to social media. Or the police. Remember we are all governed by Geneva Conventions.
• If you are handling EPWs and detainees escort them to the interrogation center as soon as possible. You are only supposed to ask basic questions to civilians in conversational mode. Yes if situation is fluid, like in battle and yu accost suspicious civilians you may resort to interrogation based tactical questioning, but only to ascertain if they are of interest to HUMINT/CI personnel and carefully examine any captured documents. In such cases escort them quickly to detention centers from where the MP will take them to interrogation centers. • Pay money for information.
• Do not be so cooperative so as to tell them their rights that can be handled later. First the information from them.

Reporting

For tactical operations, there are four levels of reporting which assists the Unit intelligence section to factor in all useful tactical information gained during the small units activities in the overall planning of the mission (and also update ISR planning):
Reporting immediately any information the soldier considers of critical tactical value.The soldier may resort to his commonsense/experience or any predetermined criteria to arrive at his judgment.•
• Normal reporting
• Information during normal debriefing sessions by the intelligence officer.
• Follow-up reporting, after debriefing by the intelligence officer is over.

Document Handling
When there are documents on the person of the detainee efforts should be immediately made to:
 Classify them

 Seize , Impound or return them

 Determine if they contain information which can be exploited further by trained intelligence personnel (DOCEX).

Remember that any document, even though it may seem irrelevant on first sight , may on close inspection reveal information of interest , might satisfy intelligence requirements and with other seized documents give a bigger picture of enemy intent.

Classification:
Documents can be Personal such as letters, diaries, photographs, flyers posted in cities and towns, etc ,Identity such as identity cards , passport, drivers license , ration cards or Official such as documentation government/military information , for example military books , field manuals, military reports,files,maps etc.
CED (Captured enemy document) is a piece of recorded informnation seized from the captured person belonging to the enemy forces or any civilian in collusion with the latter.We can also name our own military documents CED that were in the possession of the enemy.DOCEX of such documents can rev eal what they know about us , or if anyone was involved on our side in transferring these documents to the enemy then we are alerted to the fact and going by the nature of the document or its origin we can put our CI agents to track him down.CEDs can be found on the person of EPWs/detainees , abandoned military areas , on the bosies of killed enemy personnel , old enemy command posts , destroyed enemy forward tactical headquarters.
A CED is defined as any piece of recorded information obtained from the threat. CEDs can also be US or allied documents that were once in the hands of the enemy. CEDs can be found almost anywhere; some locations include abandoned training sites, old enemy command posts, deceased persons, cafes, town squares, or in the possession of EPWs/detainees.Written or typed material, drawings, audio, and/or video recordings, computer disks,etc can constitute the content of a CED.

Once you have critically studied the CED you have to decide on three actions:

 Return them to the owner as they are very personal items and do not contain any military or governmental information

 Impound the CED with the intent to return them later as these documents being of personal nature contain information pertaining to the military but which after examination is found not to have any bearing on current situation or having any affiliation with the enemy. Still they will be sent for DOCEX and if the initial assumptions are true , they will be returned.

 Confiscate the CED as it contains military or governmental information (all official documents)

Every confiscated or impounded CED must be tagged and logged before being transferred for DOCEX.
The capture tag should contain the

1. Unit details who captured the CED
2. Location of capture : Grid coordinates
3. Time and date of Capture
4. Identity of the person from whom it was captured including brief description (Rank , unit etc)
5. Prevailing circumstances under which the capture was made
6. Description of the CED