FAS

Document Exploitation as a New Intelligence Discipline

05.24.11 | 2 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

A recent article in the Army’s Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin argued that Document and Media Exploitation, or DOMEX — which refers to the analysis of captured enemy documents — should be recognized and designated as an independent intelligence discipline.

“Without question, our DOMEX capabilities have evolved into an increasingly specialized full-time mission that requires a professional force, advanced automation and communications support, analytical rigor, expert translators, and proper discipline to process valuable information into intelligence,” wrote Col. Joseph M. Cox.

“The true significance of DOMEX lies in the fact that terrorists, criminal, and other adversaries never expected their material to be captured,” Col. Cox wrote.  “The intelligence produced from exploitation is not marked with deception, exaggeration, and misdirection that routinely appear during live questioning of suspects.”

See “DOMEX: The Birth of a New Intelligence Discipline” which appeared in the April-June 2010 issue (large pdf) of Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, pp. 22-32.

The last six issues of Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, the U.S. Army’s quarterly journal of intelligence policy and practice, are newly available through the Federation of American Scientists website.

Although the Bulletin is unclassified and approved for public release, the Army has opted not to make it publicly available online.  Instead, it was released under the Freedom of Information Act upon request from FAS .  The latest issues address topics such as HUMINT Training,  Cross-Cultural Competence, and Intelligence in Full-Spectrum Operations.

Not all of the articles in the Bulletin are of broad interest or of significant originality.  But many of them are informative and reflective of current issues in Army intelligence.

An Intelligence Community Directive (ICD 302) on “Document and Media Exploitation” (pdf) was issued by the Director of National Intelligence on July 6, 2007.

publications
See all publications
Nuclear Weapons
Blog
New Voices on Nuclear Weapons Fellowship: Creative Perspectives on Rethinking Nuclear Deterrence 

To empower new voices to start their career in nuclear weapons studies, the Federation of American Scientists launched the New Voices on Nuclear Weapons Fellowship. Here’s what our inaugural cohort accomplished.

11.28.23 | 3 min read
read more
Science Policy
Article
Expected Utility Forecasting for Science Funding

Common frameworks for evaluating proposals leave this utility function implicit, often evaluating aspects of risk, uncertainty, and potential value independently and qualitatively.

11.20.23 | 11 min read
read more
Nuclear Weapons
Report
Nuclear Notebook: Nuclear Weapons Sharing, 2023

The FAS Nuclear Notebook is one of the most widely sourced reference materials worldwide for reliable information about the status of nuclear weapons and has been published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since 1987. The Nuclear Notebook is researched and written by the staff of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project: Director Hans […]

11.17.23 | 1 min read
read more
Social Innovation
Blog
Community School Approach Reaches High of 60%, Reports Latest Pulse Panel

According to the National Center for Education Statistics’ August 2023 pulse panel, 60% of public schools were utilizing a “community school” or “wraparound services model” at the start of this school year—up from 45% last year.

11.17.23 | 4 min read
read more