LTG MARY LEGERE

Intelligence Priorities for the Army and the Nation

LTG Mary Legere just completed a four-year tenure as

the U.S. Army’s Senior Intelligence Officer, and the

Principal Advisor on Intelligence and Security Policy,

Program and Operations for the Secretary of the Army

and Army Chief of Staff.

She is the fourth female Three Star General in the

Army’s 240-year history, and was promoted to the rank

of Lieutenant General in April 2012.

For four years, Legere oversaw the global operations of the

Army’s 58,000-person Intelligence Corps. In a recent

interview, she shared her thoughts on the role of the Army G2

and on the challenges confronting the Army Intelligence

Corps.

“As the Army’s Senior Intelligence Officer” Legere explained,

“it was my responsibility - and those I worked with - to ensure

our Army was capable of providing the best military

intelligence support to the warfighter possible, both for

current and emerging threats, at home and abroad.”

She continued, “The United States is confronted by an

increasingly complex security environment and equally

complex range of threat actors.

Our success in anticipating threats and in shaping the

global environment is dependent on the capability and

capacity of our Intelligence Community, and our ability to

provide warning, to enhance situational understanding

and to support decisive action by national decision

makers and warfighters across the globe. “

An integral part of Defense Intelligence in this effort,

Legere explained, “the Army’s Intelligence Corps of

58,000 must have the capabilities, skill sets,

organizations and capacity to support our regionally

engaged and globally responsive Army forces, and to

contribute as part of Defense team to support joint and

coalition operations in every theater.”

To support these requirements, Army Intelligence

continuously seeks to improve its ability to satisfy its

supported commanders, adapting our force structure,

training and systems to meet the needs of each specific

theater in order to intelligence support at every

echelon.

“Whether supporting combat or counterterrorism

operations in the Middle East and Central Asia,

contributing to indications and warning in North East

Asia, responding to Russian aggression on the European

continent, or organizing with the Joint Force to defend

against cyber and Insider

Threat attacks in the homeland, we must be capable of

providing the intelligence our Commanders require to

prevent conflict, to shape the strategic environment, and

to win decisively in the event of war. “