The intelligence cycle is a basic model or graph designed to assist intelligence analysts, operatives and interrogators in the systemic execution of intelligence operations. The US military has either created it by design, or through pure observation, noting there is some natural order to these things.
It could be either the former or the latter, or it could be both, or it could be neither.
The cycle consists of several layers and at the time of writing the publication that references it(FM 34-52) in 1992 was seen as a sort of universal law, therefore a model was constructed with scientific basis behind it, and experience, in the intelligence collection, operations, analysis and interrogation fields.
The first and outermost layer of the cycle is the Planning and Supervising cycle. You can envision it as a sort of shell that encases the rest of the operations and is directly involved in their execution. It is there to serve as an allegory for the guidance and direction more senior staff will provide to lower echelons involved in the undertaking of the day to day activities envisioned in the intelligence cycle. It has an overseer’s mandate and operational capabilities.
For the next part, we will require this resource in order to clarify the roles needed for each part of the cycle:
https://www.bls.gov/soc/2018/#classification
or the Standard Occupational Classification from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is basically a listing of every well outlined job with descriptions and possible duties and tasks each of these jobs entails.
The second and inner layer of the cycle consists of 4 important pillars of operational methodology:
1) Directing
Directing the process, and working in congruence with the collectors/operations specialists, planners, supervisors, processors/analysts, field agents as well as other echelons of the military.
2) Collecting
Collecting intelligence. This would be field operators and other sources of intelligence collection, which would be outlined in the intelligence collection disciplines in 1-3 in FM 34-52 as well as in the Human Intelligence Collector Operations FM 2-22.3 from 2006.
3) Processing
Processing the intelligence mostly rests on the shoulders of intelligence analysts, as well as other personnel including field personnel and military enlisted and officers with various duties and tasks assigned to them(depending on what you consider processing).
4) Disseminating and using
Disseminating and using the information is basically a concept where you spread or distribute or channel the various collected materials and information(intelligence) to various units, departments, agencies, personnel and whatnot, where it is requested or relevant to the execution of their duties, where it has been ordered to go, or where you think it needs to go. And then all of these said parties can utilize it in their own way, according to their own modus operandi and agenda.
The 4 pillars are the cycle that is constantly active and churns and does the bulk of the work, but would not be possible without the guidance of planners and supervisors who relay information back and fourth on a tactical, strategic, micro, macro and operational level.
The innermost part of the cycle, or at the heart/core of the intelligence cycle is the mission itself.
How the mission is carried, whether it is successful, who is in charge of the mission, what units are involved, times, dates, locations, parties, tactical and operational strategies, plans and their execution, requirements, qualifications, necessities, all are determined based on the rest of the cycle, and the rest of the cycle’s job is constantly changing and adjusts to pressure to conform from the situation presented by the mission itself.
On paper, it’s all very complicated and organizing it sometimes takes years, if not decades.
But the execution is much more simpler when everything gets put together into a live action take.
All of these aspects are interdependent on each other, as the paragraph under the intelligence cycle diagram points out – all layers are inter-dependent and digress in various levels of interoperability.