text: Operational Art and Science
  The Army executes intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) through the operations and
  intelligence processes, with an emphasis on intelligence analysis and information collection. (See ADP 2-0
  for more information on the intelligence warfighting function.)
  INTELLIGENCE AT ECHELONS ABOVE BRIGADE
  2-106. Commanders and staffs at each echelon need timely, accurate, relevant, and predictive intelligence
  to understand threat centers of gravity, goals and objectives, capabilities, capacity, and courses of action.
  Commanders must also have detailed knowledge of threat strengths, vulnerabilities, organizations,
  equipment, capabilities, and tactics to plan for and execute friendly operations. The intelligence warfighting
  function supports operations from the theater army down to the battalion level.
  2-107. The basic intelligence support provided by the intelligence staff at each echelon is the same. What
  differs is the size, composition, and number of supporting capabilities for the intelligence staff; access to
  broader-scope information and intelligence; additional ISR capability and capacity, number and complexity
  of the requirements; and the time available to answer those requirements. In general, the higher the echelon,
  the greater the volume, depth, and complexity of analysis and intelligence production the intelligence staff
  can perform. Lower echelon intelligence staffs often depend on the higher echelon for certain intelligence
  products and support. Therefore, commanders and staffs must understand the intricacies of the intelligence
  warfighting function across each echelon.
  INTEGRATING INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE
  2-108. Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance is 1. An integrated operations and intelligence
  activity that synchronizes and integrates the planning and operation of sensors, assets, and processing,
  exploitation, and dissemination systems in direct support of current and future operations. 2. The
  organizations or assets conducting such activities (JP 2-01). The Army executes ISR through the operations
  and intelligence processes (with an emphasis on intelligence analysis and leveraging the larger intelligence
  enterprise) and information collection. Information collection is an activity that synchronizes and integrates
  the planning and employment of sensors and assets as well as the processing, exploitation, and dissemination
  systems in direct support of current and future operations (FM 3-55).
  2-109. At the operational level, whether considering an entire theater or a JOA, intelligence staffs manage
  information collection by weighing the need for answering their own requirements against the capability or
  capacity gap of subordinate formations to answer their own requirements. Additionally, higher level
  requirements can sometimes be answered by lower echelon assets, which can simply result in a task for an
  operation. For example, a corps may need information about the condition of a bridge. Rather than tasking
  corps assets to answer these requirements, the corps can task the division responsible for the area containing
  the bridge to answer these requirements. The division would further task a subordinate brigade, and so forth
  until a maneuver unit receives the task for an area reconnaissance or similar task to answer the requirement
  and provide a report, ultimately, back to the corps. When tasking subordinate formations for reconnaissance,
  a higher echelon must be clear about its information requirements and provide adequate time to collect the
  information.
  2-110. In addition to organic and supporting information collection assets, echelons above brigade have
  access to joint ISR assets upon request. The joint ISR request process typically requires significant prior
  planning and approval. In order to receive joint apportionment and allocation for ISR, the theater army and
  corps intelligence staffs collaborate and coordinate early in the joint planning process. These staffs must also
  understand the various joint ISR scheduling and collection management mechanisms, such as joint targeting
  and the joint air tasking cycle.
  2-111. Joint ISR assets are a scarce resource. The platforms are limited in number, and in most cases, can
  only collect for limited periods. Many have limited range and are negatively impacted by terrain,
  infrastructure, enemy jamming and air defense, and both terrestrial and space weather. Dedicated ISR assets
  become more available at higher echelons, but the inability to collect everywhere and all the time still presents
  challenges in prioritizing collection missions. Beyond sensor availability, analytical capacity to conduct
  processing, exploitation, and dissemination is also limited, and this can result in delays from the time
  information is collected to when it is received by a tactical headquarters.