Page 27 - the SyI Quarterly V3 digital (1)

The Agent’s training

The training sessions are very important to the agent who will assume the
necessary techniques to acquire a security role and control. The spy’s training
also involves the use of NLP techniques (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)
to optimise the relationship between source/agent. NLP helps the agent to
operate naturally by building an empathic connection with the target, based
on the mirroring technique. This action represents the starting point for
empathically “tuning in” to the same frequency as the interlocutor. Once the
relationship is established, the source will be unconsciously predisposed
to respond positively to the agent’s stimuli and requests. At that point, it is
necessary to avoid conflicting approaches that can lead to differences of opinion
otherwise a breakdown will be inevitable. Classroom exercises are fundamental
to training where the would-be spies, divided into small groups, practice role-
playing where they are being continuously monitored by a supervisor, who will
make the necessary corrections and suggestions in real-time, encouraging and
providing feedback to trainees. The new operating schemes are assimilated
thanks to continuous repetition of practice in the field, which can be divided
into four recursive phases: understanding, training, tutoring and learning.
The duration of the process is a few months even if the agent can try his hand
immediately, experimenting with what is learned in the classroom in the field.

Paradoxically, HUMINT can, therefore, be used to aid the efficient execution
of the mission and make the targets reachable, reducing messy and chaotic
operations.

In this particular historical moment today, we need more and better intelligence
the threat has changed skin, becoming increasingly “invisible to the eye”. The
threat is made up of individuals hiding behind a device or making themselves
anonymous and not identifiable.

At the same time, they are always potentially ready to intervene at any time and
at the first signal, sacrificing their lives for their cause.

Technology has become essential to combat and avoid global threat.
Nevertheless, we still need human beings who cannot be separated from the
use of TECHINT. In the new evolutionary approach in the intelligence field,
human intelligence, must be used and integrated with all the other information
specialities such as OSINT, SIGINT, MASINT, and TECHINT. We have to remind
ourselves, that it is not the machine that attacks or neutralises the opponent, but
the man behind it. Human-machine interaction is indispensable to interpreting
the information and behaviour of the opponent, indeed, he needs to use
technology as a tool, and at the same time, he must use his knowledge of the
pertinent culture. Napoleon said: “there are but two powers in the world, the
sword and the mind. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the mind”.
For this reason, despite extensive technological development, HUMINT remains
the critical factor in identifying and predicting the real purpose of the opponent,
despite hiding behind sophisticated weapons and technical devices in an
increasingly low-intensity war.
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