The southern blocking force team of mystified mandarins meandered in where we were stacking mags and: What are you guys doing with all the hardware?, Mission prep for the Klandanj takedown., Well were a blocking force; were supposed to block cars keep them from getting around us to the ambush site. The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity or ISA, and nicknamed The Activity, is a United States Army Special Operations unit originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). ", Sources: At one point during the Global War on Terror, ISA along with a component from the Airforce and Delta began to build a fleet of ISR aircraft. Box 378 Red Hook, New York 12571 United States. The other half flew to Cyprus to join the rest of the rescue force. According to The Secret War by William M. Arkin, published in the Los Angeles Times on October 27, 2002, "The Army created a highly compartmentalized organization that could collect clandestine intelligence independent of the rest of the U.S. intelligence community and follow through with covert military action. "On December 17, 1981, Colonel James Dozier, the highest ranking American army officer in the NATO southern European Command was kidnapped by members of the Red Brigade terrorist faction. Electronic specialists and SIGINT operators comprised part of the force. The mission support teams help actualize the other major goal of supporting other forces in a battlespace. Ironically, the embassy in Iran was on their itinerary, but, history intervened, and it was overrun by a mob who took the larger part of the staff hostage. As such, the activities and specifics of Gray Fox are not widely made available. These operatives have a cover in the commercial sector, typically as an international businessperson. The US military and many of its allies consider DA one of the basic special operations missions. As with any clandestine unit, only so much can be known about any of the JSOC special mission units. Intelligence Support Activity | The Activity | Gray Fox Primarily acting as enablers for JSOC special mission units. Barrett is the world leader in long-range, large-caliber, precision rifle design and manufacturing. After a massive effort, including remote viewers from the United States, turned up nothing, a team of ISA signals intelligence specialists was also sent over to Italy to provide any assistance they could, along with sophisticated equipment and specially outfitted helicopters. US News & World Report describes Torn Victor as 'trained as high-risk intelligence gatherers,' a title fitting the ISA. Intelligence Support Activity The Army's most obscure special-ops unit is the roughly 300-strong Intelligence Support Activity, formed in 1981, which has gone by various codenames over. ISA intelligence specialists, K9 units, security experts and demolition experts were sent to the country undercover as military advisers. find out more 25: More Chinese Ferry Tales: China's Use of Civilian Shipping in Military Activities, 2021-2022, Hospital Ships: A Vital Asset for SOUTHCOM and South American Navies, The Goshen Massacre and the Specter of Cartel Spillover Into the US, Dangerous Alliances: Russias Strategic Inroads in Latin America, Year Ahead Emerging Technologies and the Collection of Battlefield Evidence, How Does Matter Matter In International Conflict and Security? So there they were sitting in our Tactical Operations Center in Bosnia waiting to be integrated into our PIFWC hunting operations. No unit is quite as secretive as the Intelligence Support Activity. Units in Sarajevo tracked Karadzic electronically, while other agents were on the ground in Pale, Karadzic's home. On Gen Meyer's departure, his successor, John Wickham, attempted to disband the unit, but Jack Marsh, in his role as ASD SO/LIC prevented it, and required it be retained, and resourced. Russia and Ukraine battle daily in the sky. G-2 - U.S. Army Training Doctrine and Command This is especially useful in countries where men and women socializing is frowned upon outside of the family. On December 2, 1993, with help from Centra Spike and a mobile Colombian surveillance team, Escobar's hideout was pinpointed, and Colombian police moved in. Centra Spike agents operated all around Colombia, as well as neighbouring countries where the cartels influence extended. This Army Special Operations unit, goes by many names, which is indicative of the various activities, functions and environments performed by these operators. Some units specialize in it, such as the Navy SEALs and 75th Ranger Regiment, and other units, such as US Army Special Forces, have DA capabilities but focus more on other operations. This is a potentially significant compromise. the Cantor lamented in earnest. The eventual shootout that ended Pablos life may not have directly involved the ISA, however, its efforts certainly aided in the eventual locating and killing of the cartel boss. Featured Book: An investigation by journalist Mark Bowden (author of Blackhawk Down) revealed that in 1989, the Colombian government asked for US help in tracking down Escobar. "Currently, ISA is believed to be under control of JSOC, and published accounts have it organized into administration, training, SIGINT, HUMINT and direct action elements. "During the 1983 American invasion of Grenada, special forces units were plagued by lack of useful and up-to-date intelligence. During these operations, the ISA operated alongside other combat groups, providing them with signals intelligence support and field intelligence, including HUMINT. Intelligence Support Activity provides US special forces with intelligence gatherers, man hunters, assassins and deep penetration agents. INSCOM's functional brigades and groups may provide general support, general support reinforcing, or direct sup-port to theaters through intelligence reach, or they may be Based on photos of ISA operatives and reasonable assumption, they are most likely to carry: For a unit like ISA, firearms are not its primary weapons. The FOG was re-named the Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), and given an initial budget of $7 million. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); ISA would operate under a host of cover names to confuse anyone without the need to know. The ISAs execution of SIGINT monitoring was so successful that the month-long operation was extended to three years. My team, me and happy-trigger-fingered Kay-Kay, were to position north of the ambush site, report the approach of the Generals car, then pull our car out onto the highway to block traffic for the hot minute it took the assault force to stop Klandanjs car and scoop him up. With it, they had a unit of military spies able to covertly infiltrate a country and provide hands-on, critical intelligence, as well as to raise logistical support for counter-terrorist commandos in case of a crisis. (Source). Intelligence Support Activity - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core Be sure to get the latest news about the U.S. military, as well as critical info about how to join and all the benefits of service. Once they arrived they took pictures of the embassy from every angle, recorded the types of locks on all doors, inside and outside, recorded the number of windows and exits, and created a blueprint of the building. Sadly, the team's evaluation did not serve to upgrade American security standards, and a truck bomb exploded from within 40 feet of the embassy entrance later that year. As the name implies, SIGINT Squadron is responsible for ISAs signals intelligence mission. They also provided protection for numerous Arabian princes, and established good contacts while down there. Had the force been aware of the actual hostage location and situation, the force could have continued past Desert One and probably succeeded. ISA members are often multilingual. action is "necessary to support identifiable foreign policy objectives of the United States, and is A DOD lawyer was assigned to the development planning, and Col Jerry King (MG Vaught's Chief of Staff for the Iran JTF) became the first head of the FOG. One selection exercise involved dropping a candidate off in the desert without food, water or means of communication. They also have direct action elements within their battalions, alongside specialists in HUMINT and SIGINT. by Michael Smith "Known as the Intelligence Support Activity, or ISA, when it was established in 1981, this unit fought in drug wars and counter-terror operations from the Middle East to South America. ISA was asked to form an Algerian-based plan and a Beirut-based one for rescue. Centra Spike was known to operate under several cover names, including Torn Victor, Cemetery Wind, Capacity Gear and Robin Court, and closely matched ISA's description. The U.S. Army's Intelligence Support Activity is arguably the most secretive unit out of the five tier one units in the United States Military. With dramatis personae that include the CIA, Delta Force, DEVGRU, the Intelligence Support Activity, Pakistani Commandos, the Taliban, and spies from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), this story has the makings of a future Brad Thor bestseller. When government officials found out, they were horrified, they seemed to have a rogue agency within its ranks. The moronic mandarins merely blinked and nothing more. World conditions in the early 1980s suggested that some capability was required to address the ambiguous conflicts of each Title authority into some form of credible operational capability. The decision was made to deploy another ISA unit. I didnt think a thing of it, as it had taken me a while to throw that lock open on my first few tries. Part of a Delta-DEVGRU task force, ISA provided intelligence on the whereabouts of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects. "In and around Afghanistan, Gray Fox was part of a secret sphere that included the CIA's paramilitary Special Activities Division and the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command. Delta Force and SEAL Team Six were scrambled in preparation to liberate the hostages if needed, as the airplane hopped back and forth from Beirut to Algiers. Intelligence Support Activity - SourceWatch A simultaneous raid on the targets was to be made. This was never forthcoming despite the greatest pressure upon the Agency. These are primarily preparation intelligence and tactical/ strategic intelligence for active operations. Funding was to be a joint undertaking. Tracking dummy targets over Medellin, Centra Spike managed to pinpoint their locations within 200 meters, while Majestic Eagle came no closer than four miles. This extra length concealed the main eavesdropping antennas, while others could be lowered from the belly while in flight. The plan involved flying feet above the turbulent Mediterranean Sea, at night, through hostile airspace. The negotiations were going so well that Iraq decided to throw in a Mil Mi-24 Hind D helicopter and a MiG-25 fighter-interceptor. The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity(USAISA), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity (ISA),also known at various times as Joint Reconnaissance Evaluation Group (JREG),[citation needed]Mission Support Activity (MSA), Office of Military Support (OMS), Field Operations Group (FOG), Studies and Analysis Activity (SAA), Case officers also target and recruit potential assets. It was the type of mission ISA was designed for, but no agents were sent in. Jose Solano - Intelligence Analyst - CACI International Inc | LinkedIn The second rescue force was not going to be affected by the same problem, and the FOG was established in July of 1980, under the control of Colonel Jerry King. ISA: Soldier Spies of the Intelligence Support Activity What is the difference between the Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization programs recently developed vs. previous years? There's a lot of fascinating special operation history in the Netflix thriller "Lou," but going into details would reveal Jason McCarthy of goruck.com and Stew Smith discuss his journey to, through, and after Army Special Forces and being Copyright 2023 Military.com. A declassified document provides background information about the Intelligence Support Activity (ISA ), a little known intelligence gathering unit that collects tactical intel for Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and other Special Operations units. Cowan traveled the Lebanese countryside pinpointing the locations of Syrian anti-aircraft emplacements. Smith's book lifts the lid of secrecy on the Activity, one of America's least well known Special Ops units. Working closely with Special Forces and the CIA, Gray Fox also places operatives inside hostile territory. When hostages were taken in the Tehran embassy in 1980, it became clear that FOG needed to become a larger group with more resources. Political bickering stalled the deployment of the agents, and finally, the operation was approved. Check, chief! and she yanked the gat our of my hand. . The Activity's primary role is to gather actionable intelligence in order to pave the way for special operations undertook by units such as Delta Force (known as 'operational preparation of the battlespace'). Their unique abilities are called upon when other special operations forces have not been able to complete their mission due to a gap in intelligence. International Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Interview with Dr. Niamh Gaynor, Transnistria and Russian Tensions: Moldova 12-month Forecast, Terrorist Threat in Senegal: A 12-month Forecast, Terrorist Threat in Guinea: A 12-Month Forecast, 7.3. ISA was allegedly co-operating with Task Force Ranger, and was responsible for tracking down Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Adid, through electronic surveillance and Somalian informants. Prior to Saddams capture, over 40 members of his family were captured and interrogated to determine his whereabouts with little success. Wickham did transfer authority to the ACSI with predictable and less than beneficial results. Well, ok we arrived at just around 1630hrs and the mandarin began. find out more As an ancillary, but crucial action during this period, LTC Bruce Mauldin and I, with the CSAs concurrence and support, visited the Hill and had several closed-door sessions with appropriate committee Chairs and Ranking Members regarding the unit's establishment, roles and missions, and funding lines. The training processes of other military groups however grant general insight into the selection and training of the ISA. It's a Special Mission Unit and conducts highly classified operations. 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