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Intelligence community meets at MARCOM

LONDON - Military and civilian intelligence representatives from NATO countries attended the 2nd annual Maritime Intelligence Symposium at Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, to discuss NATO intelligence matters in support of current and future maritime operations. 

Various keynote speakers highlighted areas of the global maritime picture in which NATO maritime intelligence is interested. Nearly 70 members from Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Allied Land Command, Allied Air Command, and individual NATO nations participated in the symposium, which has become a model forum to discuss topics on global maritime intelligence matters to include counter terrorism and migration.   

Formulating ideas and focusing on common goals to support the overall intelligence collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination effort is part of the equation. The effort is amplified by identifying how NATO nations can leverage the community to build a more comprehensive common intelligence picture and understand patterns of analysis, trends, tactics, techniques and procedures of a particular nation. 

"This symposium provides an unparalleled opportunity for partners across our Alliance’s intelligence communities to collaborate and share assessments on the complex threat environment facing NATO today,” said US Navy Captain Daryl Hancock, of the NATO Maritime Command Headquarters. "Our ability to take intelligence from one nation, and fuse it with insight and analysis from another, is critical to successful Alliance operations both today and into the future.”

The relationship building through the symposium and other events is important for NATO nations as new technology prevails and the operational environment shifts.

Located in Northwood, outside London, United Kingdom, it is composed of a multinational headquarter manned by 300 officers, petty officers and civilians from many NATO countries. Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) is the central command of all NATO maritime forces and the Commander MARCOM is the prime maritime advisor to the Alliance. Like its land and air counterparts (LANDCOM & AIRCOM), MARCOM answers directly to NATO’s Allied Command Operations (ACO) which is located in Mons, Belgium.