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CHAPTER V
LIAISON
INTRODUCTION:
The purpose of this chapter is to enable you to plan and carry out
Liaison with Government and civilian Agencies for collection of
information/intelligence required, in compliance with the commanders
requirements, without losing a mutual confidence with the Source.
GENERAL:
A. Before carrying out a Liaison, it has to be determined first which
agency or source will be contacted and the purpose for the contact:
1. Liaison could be carried out with the following sources or
agencies:
a. Government agencies
b. Military units or agencies
c. Civilian agencies and industry
2. The purposes for carrying out the liaison are:
a. To establish a relationship of mutual confidence between the
various government agencies.
b. To develop sources of information for immediate or future
exploitation.
c. To collect and exchange information that might be useful for
future investigation.
d. To obtain assistance in investigations or CI operations.
B. With this in mind, there are two forms or types of Liaison that
can be carried out:
FORMAL LIAISON and INFORMAL LIAISON
1. Formal liaison is carried out to obtain:
a. Specific information for an ongoing investigation.
b. Information related to security violations.
c. Information of threats to the national security.
2. Informal Liaison is carried out to:
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a. Establish a relationship of mutual confidence.
b. Develop Sources.
c. Obtain information related to specific investigations.
d. Obtain information that has not been requested
specifically but is related to one or more incidents or investigations.
e. Maintain friendly relationship among the Sources of
information and the CI agents.
C. Before starting a liaison, you should review the SOP of the unit to
determine the proper Liaison procedure in your area of operations.
D. Upon reviewing the SOP you should determine the requirements and
establish priorities according to the SOP. Some of these areas are:
1. The priority of intelligence requirements are selected by the
Commander, higher authority or by the mission.
2. The requirements are generated by the direction taken by the
investigation.
3. The priorities that have been established based on the
recommendations by the Commander or the urgency of the mission.
E. Once the requirements have been reviewed, you can establish the liaison
contact.
1. There are three basic methods to establish a contact, and these
are:
a. Personal Approach: This is done by the person (Agent)
actually carrying out the liaison with the Source. This individual (Agent)
introduces personally the new Agent to the Source. This method is preferred
because it has the advantage of transferring the credibility and confidence of
the old Agent directly to the new Agent or contact.
b. Introductory letter: In this method the new Agent obtains a
letter of introduction from a person or old Agent that knows the Source. This
letter is presented to the Source during the first contact. The other method
of introduction letter is to send a letter to the Source indicating that you
wish to visit him.
c. Cold Approach. This is the least effective method since it
involved making the initial contact with a strange person. The first visit of
this approach should always be on a social level and must be a short one.
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2. When you have not done any personal contact with the Source, you
must take into consideration the following:
a. The Agent must introduce himself and present his official
credentials identifying him as a Special Agent of Officer of Military
Intelligence.
b. Indicate the purpose of the visit.
c. Based on your personal observation of the Source's reaction,
determine if a casual conversation is appropriate.
d. As the Agent you must be alert all the time to the signals
by the Source that might indicate what kind of approach is better to use with
the Source.
e. The Agent must be cordial, professional and sincere.
f. Must show respect for the position or profession of the
Source.
3. If there has been a previous personal contact with the Source, the
actions of the Agent could be more relaxed (calm) according to the
relationship established by previous contacts.
F. During the liaison, you must establish a Relationship of Mutual
Confidence in order to:
1. Establish cooperation between you and the Source. A great deal of
precaution should be used to develop the Source's willingness to cooperate,
because you do not want to compromise the Source.
2. Have in mind that you can obtain information from previous liaison
reports and other documentation that may assist you in determining the type of
approach that would be best for the Source in particular in order to:
a. Adopt the proper attitude.
b. Be ready to change attitude if it is necessary. As the
Source calms down and starts to cooperate, a more relaxed attitude could be
helpful.
3. One of the techniques that you can use is to deal with subjects of
mutual interest.
EXAMPLE: "If a person is a football fanatic, he would very
receptive to talk about that sport instead of another sport that he does not
know, or does not care to about."
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4. During the liaison contact you must show sincere interest in the
Source's opinions. If the Agent shows that his (Agent's) opinion is better
than the Source's, you might lose the Source's confidence.
5. It is important, also, that you study well the capabilities of the
Source before asking him for information. This might embarrass the Source if a
request is made that he cannot fulfill.
6. You must always be aware of the jealousy existing among the
various Agencies. And remember always that you do not have to compare the
effectiveness of one Agency against the other, this could cause a serious
problem because the Source could also be providing information to other
agencies where you might also have another contact.
7. During the Liaison contact, maintain always your position as a CI
Special Agent and do not fall into discussion of military ranking; this is
very important because you are a direct representative of the government.
8. If you do not have any previous knowledge of the Source, establish
the contact and mutual confidence in the manner already discussed. In this
situation, maintain flexibility and allow the circumstances to dictate on the
approach that can be used with the Source.
G. During the liaison contact there will be instances when information of
mutual interest will be exchanged.
1. Before exchanging such information, first determine if that
information can be divulged. Consider the following points as basis for such
exchange:
a. Whether the information does not violate the SOP
stipulations.
b. Whether it is classified and cannot be divulged among other
agencies, even if they are part of the Government.
NOTE: The exchange of information is important because if you only
obtain information and does not offer certain information in return there is
the possibility of losing the Source's confidence.
2. The Liaison contact can be considered successful when:
a. both parts involved in the Liaison decide or discuss the
exchange of information.
b. both parts can use the information exchanged to their
advantage.
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