Intelligence cycle

In the federal government of the United States, requirements (or priorities) can be issued from the White House or the Congress.

[citation needed] In NATO, a commander uses requirements (sometimes called Essential elements of information (EEIs)) to initiate the intelligence cycle.

Finished intelligence products take many forms depending on the needs of the decision maker and reporting requirements.

The intelligence cycle is a closed loop; feedback is received from the decision maker and revised requirements issued.

The first conflict point, collection, occurs when private transitions to secret information (intelligence).