Bridging the Gap: Enhancing SNA Within the Marine Corps Intelligence Community
Masters thesis — Naval Postgraduate School, 2015. Full text: https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA632494
Masters thesis — Naval Postgraduate School, 2015. Full text: https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA632494
It documents a capability gap by name — the analytic method the force's own roadmaps call for is the one its people can't distinguish from two adjacent techniques.
Social network analysis (SNA) is a worthwhile intelligence method that the Marine Corps intelligence enterprise (MCISRE) does not currently use — survey and interview findings show Marine Corps intelligence personnel are not proficient in SNA and routinely confuse it with link analysis and social media analysis (SMA), with causal factors mapped across the DOTmLPF pillars.
Why it matters
It documents a capability gap by name — the analytic method the force's own roadmaps call for is the one its people can't distinguish from two adjacent techniques.
Use when: A tool nobody can tell apart from its neighbors is a tool nobody can use — naming the confusion precisely (SNA vs. link analysis vs. social media analysis) is the first step to closing the gap.