PINEVILLE, La. – Fifteen human intelligence collector teams participated in the third annual Army interrogator team competition, “Tranquil Storm,” at the Louisiana National Guard Training Center from July 29 to Aug. 2.
The multi-component, multi-echelon event challenged intelligence Soldiers in leadership, tactical skills and technical tasks in a simulated large-scale combat environment. It fostered cohesion and esprit de corps while determining the Army’s best interrogation team.
“The competition idea came from watching HUMINT Soldiers at exercises and events where they provided training similar to the crawl, walk, run concept and then were evaluated,“ said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Juan Trevino, Army National Guard G2X HUMINT functional team lead. “We needed a way to assess Soldiers’ unit training effectiveness in a competitive environment in the ‘run’ phase as they are expected to perform in a large-scale combat operation environment.”
The 15 teams comprised four collectors, representing all Army components from the U.S. Army Forces Command, Intelligence and Security Command, U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve.
Before competitors arrived, INSCOM’s Intelligence Training Center held a role player and evaluator academy.
“In order for us to do our job or train, we have to have personnel to role-play individuals to conduct overt HUMINT activities, debriefings and interrogations,” said Nicholas Bowe, HUMINT senior adviser of operations for I2TC.
Bowe said the academy prepares role players to play the role and interact with the interrogators.
Tranquil Storm tested the teams’ HUMINT collection skills for three days on four lanes: Point of Capture, Detainee Collection Point, Division Holding Area and Joint Interrogation Debriefing Center.
Teams arrived at the capture point via UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and began screening personnel. While interrogating, teams received detainee information from LANG military police, who acted as area security and managed all detainee movement. After completing mass screening, teams rucked a mile and a half to the detainee collection point to further interrogate detainees in a field environment.
“It is important to work together and be on the same page because we all have the same end goal: to do well in the competition,” said team leader Staff Sgt. Roy James, a HUMINT collector with the LANG’s 415th Military Intelligence Battalion.
On Day 2, teams interrogated simulated enemy prisoners of war in a holding area. Each team had two hours for each interrogation and two hours to submit their reports.
LANG’s Sgt. Ian Chauvin acted as an enemy officer.
“Most of the packets for each character were pretty large and packed full of knowledge. It was not only learning all the information about your character, but also trying to become that person,“ Chauvin said. “You had to act like them and, while being interrogated, change your emotions based on your character.”
On Day 3, teams supported joint interrogation and debriefing center operations.
While teams conducted interrogations on the final day, LANG leaders and visitors from FORSCOM, the Australian Army, INSCOM, the Department of the Army, the Army National Guard G2 office, I2TC, the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Readiness Command, the Capability Development Integration Directorate and U.S. Army Pacific Command were briefed.
After placing second the past two years, the LANG’s 415th Military Intelligence Battalion placed first, the 524th Military Intelligence Battalion based in South Korea placed second and the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, placed third.