Biometrics in Support of Military Operations Lessons from the Battlefield

Biometrics in Support of Military Operations: Lessons from the Battlefield examines and evaluates recent U.S. military experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan in the context of the use of biometrics and related technologies. The book takes a comprehensive look at how biometrics has been used to support various military operations and suggests ways that its uses can be further developed. It fills a void in understanding how to incorporate biometrics by providing a guide to develop and establish formal operational roles and procedures when applying the technology.

Written in an informal style that makes it accessible to people who are not necessarily operators or technicians of biometrics technologies, this book bridges an existing gap to better educate leaders inside and outside of the U.S. military on the far-reaching potential of biometrics in support of tactical operations. It argues that the gap between those inside and outside the military is the result of failure to document lessons learned from battle experience, as well as a lack of a combined vision among the Joint Forces to fully recognize and exploit the capabilities of biometrics for enhanced future success. This book fills that gap.

Biometrics has great potential as an effective tool if properly developed and utilized. The book concludes with a look at the future of emerging applications for the military but also considers a wider range of deployment of biometrics outside the military, such as in governmental organizations, including foreign diplomacy. Biometrics can be applied to any operational area that requires accurate and rapid identification of unknown individuals in order to support its operations and protect personnel and resources. Biometrics in Support of Military Operations is an important beginning point in an emerging field for gaining understanding and better mastery of biometrics.

Why Do We Need Biometrics? Biometrics Basics. General Operational Issues. Intelligence Support to Biometrics (and Vice Versa). Biometric Support to Offensive Operations. Biometrics Support for Defensive Operations. Biometrics Support to Operations across the Military Spectrum. What’s Next for Military (and Other) Biometrics Operations? The Future of the U.S. Military Biometrics Capability. Afterword: The U.S. Department of Defense Needs an Advanced Identity Enterprise.

William C. Buhrow was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Wake Forest University and graduated in 1983 with a BA in history and a commission as a Military Intelligence Officer in the United States Army. He earned a master’s degree in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College before leaving active service in 1993 as a civilian intelligence analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He returned to active service in 2003 as an intelligence officer for the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G2). In 2007, he began a series of active duty tours with the Army’s Biometrics Task Force/Biometrics Identity Management Agency. He retired from the Army in 2012 and currently works as a contractor supporting the Department of Defense in the areas of biometrics and identity intelligence.