Part One: The Intelligence Cycle

operated pursuant to a multitude of laws, executive orders, policies, and direc-tives. Aspects of its organization and operation are discussed in detail within the body of this report. The purpose of the following discussion is to provide an overall, admittedly simplistic, picture of the Community and how it functions, and to serve as a primer for those unfamiliar with the subject. The essential role of intelligence is not difficult to understand. It is to provide timely, relevant information to U.S. policymakers, decisionmakers, and warfighters. Accomplish-ing this mission involves tasking, collecting, processing, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence, commonly referred to as the “intelligence cycle.