The Intelligence Division of Defence Command ( fi, Pääesikunnan tiedusteluosasto, PE TIEDOS; ) is the unit in charge of Finnish military intelligence. Operational since the creation of the Finnish Defence Forces, its responsibility as a military intelligence service is to support the defence of Finland through information gathering and analysis with the Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency under its command. The division's predecessors have been organized within Defence Command of the Finnish Defence Forces under multiple names and configurations—partly to conceal covert operations. The first iteration, the Information Office, was created in 1918 at the start of the Finnish Civil War.

Function

The Intelligence Division is self-statedly in charge of military intelligence in the Defence Forces and responsible for the use of intelligence capabilities. Its tasks include monitoring changes in the security environment, providing early warning of military and external threats, and counter-intelligence—similar to the tasks its predecessors have performed. In a 2014 interview, Chief of Intelligence, then Brigadier General

Harri Ohra-aho Harri is a given name, and may refer to: *Guto Harri (born 1966), Welsh former BBC Chief Political Correspondent *Harri Anne Smith, American Republican member of the Alabama Senate *Harri Eloranta (born 1963), Finnish biathlete * Harri Hänninen ...

stated that the military gathers information according to Finnish and host country legislation with signals (SIGINT),

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory ima ...

(IMINT), geospatial (GEOINT) and open-source intelligence (OSINT) as well as through

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

s. Most information regarding the division or its predecessors is not public per Finnish law.

History

On 11 February 1918, in the early stages of the Finnish Civil War, commander-in-chief of White Finland's military, General

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comma ...

, appointed Lieutenant

Isak Alfthan Isak may refer to: * Isak (given name) * Isak (surname) See also *Izak (disambiguation) Izak is a given name. Izak may also refer to: * Izak catshark, a type of cat shark * Izak, a character in Suikoden IV * Piotr "Izak" Skowyrski, Polish espor ...

to command the Information Office () of Mannerheim's headquarters and start gathering military intelligence on the civil war enemy Red Finland as well as on Russian units. During the Continuation War and Lapland War, Intelligence Division was in charge of directing the four long-range reconnaissance patrol detachments (), intended to assault assets as well as disrupt supply and communications behind enemy lines. In July 1943, the detachments were reorganized as companies within Detached Battalion 4, commanded by the Intelligence Division. The units conducted around 350 long-range reconnaissance patrols during wartime. Utti Jaeger Regiment was established de facto in 1962 to mimic the special operations of Detached Battalion 4.

Notes and references

Notes

* As some of the early units mentioned do not have official English translations, Wikipedia editors have taken the liberty to translate them. * Due to intelligence documentation being destroyed or hidden and intelligence officers fleeing to Sweden during

Operation Stella Polaris Operation Stella Polaris was the cover name for an operation in which Finnish signals intelligence records, equipment and personnel were transported into Sweden in late September 1944 after the end of combat on the Finnish-Soviet front in the Se ...

, material and research into Finnish military intelligence is scarce at points.

References

External links

Finnish Defence Forces official website

Ministry of Defence official website
{{Portal bar, Finland, War Military intelligence agencies Finnish intelligence agencies Military of Finland 1918 establishments in Finland