Ask A Former Army Interrogator

[Commodore]

Well just as the thread title suggests, you can ask me anything you might want to know about what a United States Army interrogator does.

I have only one rule for this thread though: Don't ask any questions that would obviously be classified information. I signed a lifetime non-disclosure agreement with the United States government so I cannot reveal any classified info or I will go to jail. If it is a question you aren't sure about, go ahead and ask it anyway and if it's classified I'll just say "I can't answer that".

So.....ask away!!

 

[madviking]

Can you handle the truth?

 

[MobBoss]

Why did you leave service?

 

[Commodore]

Why did you leave service?

Family and money. My wife didn't want me to get deployed again and my skills as an interrogator makes me a lot more money in the civilian world than in the military.

 

[Ajidica]

How similar is 'standard' army interrogation to 'enhanced interrogation techniques'?

 

[Synobun]

While in service, did you ever face a situation where you were asked to do something questionable?

 

[Commodore]

How similar is 'standard' army interrogation to 'enhanced interrogation techniques'?

Not similar at all. Army interrogation revolves around mental manipulation and getting the subject to believe you are either his only friend or his only hope of ever being released from our detention facility.

While in service, did you ever face a situation where you were asked to do something questionable?

Yes, but I can't go into the details. I can say it was never any of my superiors that asked me to do anything questionable. All the questionable activities came from my time embedded with an Iraqi intelligence unit.

 

[Synobun]

Yes, but I can't go into the details. I can say it was never any of my superiors that asked me to do anything questionable. All the questionable activities came from my time embedded with an Iraqi intelligence unit.

Furthering on that point, how much did their tactics differ from yours? Were they more prone to using violence as a practical interrogation method or were they more prone to using questionable methods when under pressure?

 

[Commodore]

Furthering on that point, how much did their tactics differ from yours? Were they more prone to using violence as a practical interrogation method or were they more prone to using questionable methods when under pressure?

Yeah they would use more violent techniques than us, but we were supposed to report it if we saw them do it. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't.

On the flip side, sometimes they would do better than us just by virtue of them knowing their own people better than we did. This made it easier to manipualte them without violence once we finally drilled it into their heads that they shouldn't use violence.

 

[emzie]

How does one become an interrogator?

 

[Commodore]

How does one become an interrogator?

When you sign up for the Army you have to take a test. How well you do on that test as well as the results of a medical examination determine what jobs you are qualified for. I scored high enough that any job I wanted was available to me (except pilot since I require glasses).

So basically to be an interrogator, you have to be smart enough, pick the job, and then complete the training. Oh and of course you have to be able to obtain at least a Secret level security clearance.

EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, the requirements changed right before I got out of the Army. Human Intelligence Collector (my job title) is no longer a MOS you can select if you are just joining the Army. Now you have to at least be an E-5 (Sergeant) to reclass into Human Intelligence Collector.

 

[GenjiKhan]

What would you do if the person that is interrogated gives you the information that your superiors are traitors(like double agents or something like that)?
Consider two situations to this case,where in the first situation the info is reliable and the second situation the info is not reliable enough.

 

[Mise]

Family and money. My wife didn't want me to get deployed again and my skills as an interrogator makes me a lot more money in the civilian world than in the military.

What do you do now?

 

[NedimNapoleon]

As an HIC did you have to get close to the locals? Did you wear a complete US uniform or did you try to blend in.

 

[Commodore]

What would you do if the person that is interrogated gives you the information that your superiors are traitors(like double agents or something like that)?
Consider two situations to this case,where in the first situation the info is reliable and the second situation the info is not reliable enough.

If the info were reliable, I would have to pass it on to the appropriate agency since we are talking about investigating a US person*.

As for the info not being reliable: Well that's why we never act on single source reporting. Before information is taken as fact, it has to be confirmed by multiple intelligence sources.

What do you do now?

Well, pretty soon I'll be starting as an instructor down at Fort Huachuca. I'll be training the new interrogators for the Army. I had to wait six months for a position there to open up, but the pay and benefits are well worth the wait.

As an HIC did you have to get close to the locals? Did you wear a complete US uniform or did you try to blend in

Yes I had to get very close to the locals. As a HIC my two main responsibilities are to interrogate EPWs and detainees, as well as maintain and expand a source network among the local population.

As for whether or not I wore a uniform: It depended on the situation. There are some situations where wearing the uniform worked to my advantage and others where looking like a civilian contractor was better.

 

[Dreadnought]

What languages can you speak fluently?

 

[bathsheba666]

How many times have you found yourself interviewing a goatherd,
but having to keep the interviews going so your superiors don't look stupid for pulling him in in the first place ?

 

[Commodore]

What languages can you speak fluently?

Fluently? English. However I did learn enough Arabic to get by in Iraq. The reason they didn't send us to a language school is because at the time our MOS was considered "mission critical". All the Arabic I learned was taught to me by my interpreter.

 

[Commodore]

How many times have you found yourself interviewing a goatherd,
but having to keep the interviews going so your superiors don't look stupid for pulling him in in the first place ?

It actually doesn't happen as often as you would think, especially since the people they detain are based off the intelligence a HIC collects from other sources. Of course, that's not to say mistakes aren't made, but a HIC can determine that pretty quickly and the subject is promptly released.

A situation like that also acutally embarrasses the intelligence community rather than the guys that actually made the arrest.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

How do you ensure the veracity of the subject's statements?