CAMP BULLIS, Texas -- Soldiers of the 14th Military Intelligence Battalion completed a Mission Rehearsal Exercise the week of Aug. 14 as they continue to prepare for deployment overseas.
"This was our final collective training exercise to validate that we are ready and prepared to execute our assigned mission in Afghanistan, which is to conduct interrogation and debriefing operations in support of the theater commander," said Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Kris Arnold.
Primary battalion activity took place on Camp Bullis in the Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) Detention Training Facility (IDTF), which approximates the overseas facility where the battalion will perform its mission. Detainees are brought to such a facility overseas for interrogation. In the IDTF on Camp Bullis, role players take the parts of detainees and interpreters to lend further realism to the training scenarios.
Capt. Kenneth Carel, of the battalion's operations section, explained that a typical interrogation involves an interrogator, a detainee, and an interpreter. He also said that the battalion is required to monitor all interrogations to ensure they adhere to regulatory and oversight requirements.
Besides interrogation and analysis, the exercise validated other aspects of the battalion's intelligence mission, including: counterintelligence; collection, management and dissemination of intelligence information; and documentation and media exploitation (DOMEX).
"Documentation and media includes almost anything that contains words found on a detainee that might prove useful to an interrogator or an analyst," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Lowe of the DOMEX cell. "We examine this property for clues as to the nature of the detainee. For example, if he told an interrogator he was only a farmer but had a thumb drive in his pocket, he might be hiding something."
Lowe noted that a strict chain of custody is maintained on this property to ensure no one tampered with it or that no one confused it as belonging to someone else.
Throughout the week-long exercise, along with practicing their intelligence specialties, the Soldiers of 14th MI Battalion followed routines like those of Soldiers deployed into a theater of operations. They also received assistance from elements within the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade and other units.
"This exercise saw a significant increase in support to facilitate the validation process," said the battalion commander. "Individuals and subject matter experts from five different units and organizations came together to observe and provide feedback to the Soldiers being evaluated."
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