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This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND mono- graphs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity. Alert and Ready An Organizational Design Assessment of Marine Corps Intelligence Christopher Paul, Harry J. Thie, Katharine Watkins Webb, Stephanie Young, Colin P. Clarke, Susan G. Straus, Joya Laha, Christine Osowski, Chad C. Serena Prepared for the United States Marine Corps Approved for public release; distribution unlimited NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE The research described in this report was prepared for the United States Marine Corps. The research was conducted within the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community under Contract W74V8H-06-C-0002. Library of Congress Control Number: 2011928032 ISBN: 978-0-8330-5260-5 The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark. Cover photo by Cpl. R. Logan Kyle, USMC © Copyright 2011 RAND Corporation Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND documents are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND permissions page (http://www.rand.org/publications/ permissions.html). Published 2011 by the RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665 RAND URL: http://www.rand.org To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Email: [email protected] Preface Since 2001, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) intelligence enterprise has demonstrated its agility in tailoring its organization to meet evolv- ing expeditionary force demands. This has resulted in a number of ad hoc arrangements, practices, and organizations. Moreover, as the USMC has grown in strength over recent years, it has also added intelligence personnel. The USMC Director of Intelligence asked the RAND National Defense Research Institute to broadly review the organizational design of the USMC intelligence enterprise. The study addressed how to align the organization of USMC intelligence to efficiently and effectively carry out current and future missions and functions. The study was designed to focus on organizational struc- ture and, because of the short duration, to be fairly general in nature. Specifically, it considered the organization of (and possible improve- ments to) the Intelligence Department, the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, the intelligence organizations within the Marine Expedition- ary Forces (specifically, the intelligence and radio battalions), and intel- ligence structures in the combat elements. This research was sponsored by the USMC and conducted within the Intelligence Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. The princi- pal investigator is Harry Thie. Comments are welcome and may be sent to [email protected]. iii iv Alert and Ready: An Organizational Design Assessment of USMC Intelligence For more information on the RAND Intelligence Policy Center, see http://www.rand.org/nsrd/ndri/centers/intel.html or contact the director (contact information is provided on the web page). Contents Preface . ............................................................................ iii Figures . ............................................................................ ix Tables . ............................................................................. xi Summary . ........................................................................xiii Acknowledgments . ............................................................. xix Abbreviations . ................................................................... xxi ChAPTer One Introduction . ...................................................................... 1 Background . ........................................................................ 1 Recent History of Marine Corps Intelligence . ................................. 3 Organization of This Monograph . ............................................... 5 ChAPTer TwO Approach . .......................................................................... 7 Literature on Organizational Design . ........................................... 7 Marine Corps and Marine Corps Intelligence Strategy, Plans, and Doctrine . ....................................................................... 8 Interviews . .........................................................................10 Interview Participants . .........................................................11 Interview Topics and Questions . ..............................................11 Data Analysis . .....................................................................12 Development and Assessment of Alternative Structures......................16 v vi Alert and Ready: An Organizational Design Assessment of USMC Intelligence ChAPTer Three Current Organization of Marine Corps Intelligence . ....................17 The Organization of Marine Air-Ground Task Forces . ......................17 The Organization of the Intelligence-Supporting Establishment . ..........19 Manpower Resources . ........................................................... 20 Growth . ......................................................................... 20 Distribution by Organization Level . ........................................ 20 Distribution by Grade . ........................................................ 20 Use of Inventory in a Deployed Setting . .................................... 23 Marine Corps Intelligence Units of Analysis . ................................ 23 ChAPTer FOur Literature on Organizational Design and Analytic Framework . .......25 Organizational Fit . ............................................................... 26 Hierarchical Criteria . ............................................................ 27 Basic Organizational Structures . ............................................... 28 ChAPTer FIve Strategic Intent and Organizational Assessment: uSMC Intelligence Strategy, Plans, Doctrine . ........................35 Strategic Intent . ...................................................................35 Objectives for the Organization of Marine Corps Intelligence . .............37 Effectiveness and Efficiency . ...................................................39 ChAPTer SIx Issue Identification and Analysis of Data . ..................................49 Ranking the Issues . ...............................................................49 Why Include Nonstructural Issues, and Why Prioritize? . ...................51 Issues . ...............................................................................57 ChAPTer Seven Alternative Structures and Their Assessment . ..............................81 Intelligence Department . ........................................................83 As Is...............................................................................83 Concerns . ....................................................................... 84 Should Be . ...................................................................... 84