"The expert in battle seeks his victory from strategic advantage and does not demand it from his men" - Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
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| Unarmed and dangerous |
Army Within An Army:
As a service branch of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the Corps of Military Intelligence is the most celebrated within the forces, yet neither the public nor servicemen can pinpoint its exploits with accuracy or, know its operatives. This – serving in the shadows – is not a drawback for ZDF military intelligence personnel who, to a man (and woman!), care more about getting the job done than getting plaudits.
The successful last minute defence of Kinshasa, against the invading Ugandan and Rwandan forces, by Zimbabwe Special Forces has entered Zimbabwean folklore. The names of the Commandos involved in that operation are widely known but, not those of the Corps of Military Intelligence who deployed to Kinshasa (in business suits) at least a month earlier than the larger body of force.
The ethos of military intelligence units is the same worldwide, it is not a claim on behalf of standardisation to say that water is wet. It is simply stating fact. The same applies to the military intelligence sphere, as so accurately summarised in the creed of the United States Military Intelligence, that; we “perform the first task of an army: to find, know, and never lose the enemy” and, indeed, we are “always at silent war, while ready for a shooting war: The silent warrior of the ARMY team.” Whatever country you may think of, their military intelligence doctrine will not stray too far from the above creed. There may be differences in style but none of substance, and even then, the differences owe much to perceptions generated by propaganda films like James Bond than to fact of the matter. I know, because I took a front row seat for a full 3 years before deciding to resign from service, my debt to my country having been paid in full.
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| To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill - Sun Tzu |
Serving Secretly:
I have already intimated above that neither the public nor other servicemen can really know the operatives of Military Intelligence Corps. Other servicemen may suspect, because we will have undergone basic training together, to then find out that such fellow excellent recruits have left the service or did not make the grade, must raise their suspicions. As well, out of necessity, in the theatre – when war has already broken out – the other military personnel will meet their shadowy comrades-in-arms. Still, because properly conceived, the task of the Corps of Military Intelligence is to stop threats before they reach a stage that requires counter-force, I would hazard a confident guess that 80% of our work will never be documented. The military intelligence teams are also so diffuse in society that, it is better, for their effectiveness that this work remains undocumented.
I operated in one such unit, and having retired 5 years ago now, I believe I have the freedom to speak about my experiences without jeopardising current operations. I served secretly at Harare International Airport for 3 years, reporting not to Defence HQ at KG VI Barracks but to 1 Commando Battalion. It was quite strange in the first 3 months to be without a weapon or, to adjust to civilian mannerisms having so recently undergone the most thorough military training. But it wasn't all doom and gloom, being young and slightly rebellious at the time, I quite enjoyed walking past the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff, a phalanx of Brigadier Generals and various officers who severely outranked me without breaking my stride to salute them. Ah, good times those, What fun! You see, because I was embedded in the civilian workforce at the Airport, when official duty brought my superiors to the Airport, I was not allowed to “blow my cover” by saluting or adhering to any other stipulations in the code of conduct…
The Specifics of the Job:
In the 3 years that I served, my work can be summarised by the title of this article – Nothing to Report… Sir – still, what I did was important work. There are two ways to arrive at this conclusion; the first way is to view my work in the same terms as people understand insurance, and; the second way is to remember Sun Tzu’s counsel that: “to subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” I unreservedly believe that what my role allowed the military to do was…
I operated in one such unit, and having retired 5 years ago now, I believe I have the freedom to speak about my experiences without jeopardising current operations. I served secretly at Harare International Airport for 3 years, reporting not to Defence HQ at KG VI Barracks but to 1 Commando Battalion. It was quite strange in the first 3 months to be without a weapon or, to adjust to civilian mannerisms having so recently undergone the most thorough military training. But it wasn't all doom and gloom, being young and slightly rebellious at the time, I quite enjoyed walking past the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff, a phalanx of Brigadier Generals and various officers who severely outranked me without breaking my stride to salute them. Ah, good times those, What fun! You see, because I was embedded in the civilian workforce at the Airport, when official duty brought my superiors to the Airport, I was not allowed to “blow my cover” by saluting or adhering to any other stipulations in the code of conduct…
The Specifics of the Job:
In the 3 years that I served, my work can be summarised by the title of this article – Nothing to Report… Sir – still, what I did was important work. There are two ways to arrive at this conclusion; the first way is to view my work in the same terms as people understand insurance, and; the second way is to remember Sun Tzu’s counsel that: “to subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” I unreservedly believe that what my role allowed the military to do was…
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| All warfare is based on deception - Sun Tzu |
