Coronial Intelligencery (Kouralia)

The Coronial Intelligencery is the principal foreign intelligence-gathering agency of the Crown Union of Kouralia. Amongst the principal members of the Kouralian Intelligence Community it has responsibility for the production of provenanced and assessed information products - intelligence - through espionage. Within the Kouralian Government, this purpose is frequently described as responsibility for the 'covert acquisition of information that it would be impractical, or inappropriate for diplomatic efforts to obtain.' The Intelligencery focuses on the discipline of Human Intelligence as opposed to the more technical means like Signals Intelligence which are the purview of the Signals Information & Security Service. Methods employed include the compromise of confidential conversations (eavesdropping), copying or removal of confidential documents, the installation of recording devices, and reporting on observed events such as troop movements.

The Intelligencery is staffed by career intelligence professional Clerks-Adjutant, formally known as Intelligencers or Intelligence Officers who typically gather intelligence by cultivating covert relationships with non-employees, usually foreign citizens, who hold positions that give them access to desireable information. Unlike the Intelligence Officers, these individuals are referred to as Intelligence Agents.

History

The Coronial Intelligencery shares its name with a previous, historical organisation which was subsequently merged with the other intelligence agencies of the day to form the single National Security Service in the 1960s. On paper, and in public, this was an efficiency measure designed to provide greater strategic direction to the intelligence gathering capabilities of Republican Kouralia. The end result, and unsaid intention of this move, however was to merge techniques and disciplines of gathering foreign intelligence and covertly influencing and sabotaging foreign bodies, paramilitary operations, and counter-espionage with criminal investigation into 'politically sensitive crimes' and disaffection with the republican government. Following the restitution of the monarchy in the early 21st century, the National Security Service was rebranded into the Intelligence & Security Agency with most of its operational capabilities split into the military and the Special Branches of the City Watches. However, retained operational capabilities, overmingling of disciplines, techniques and missions, and frequent scandals involving the uncovering of ethically-compromised NSS staff who had secured new identities for themselves to avoid prosecution resulted in the singular agency being broken up in August 2017. As a result of this scandal, many staff were transferred to the

Organisation

The Coronial Intelligencery is headquartered in the Palæ XX in the city of Kurton, as well holding offices and other facilities at several other sites throughout the Union. Given the nature of its work - gathering information about foreign nations and non-state actors abroad - the Intelligencery operates many offices in other countries throughout the world from which its staff can manage the relationships with their agents.

The organisation is headed by the Intelligencer-General, currently Sir Keresen Sutegha , who is a Director-General-equivalent senior Clerk-Adjutant appointed by and reporting-to the Gyusticiaræ-Ynvieryn at the Justiciary of Foreign Affairs. Traditionally this role was held by a career Intelligence Officer, often one with former service as a Military Officer. Increasing appetite for multi-disciplinary expertise and partnership working has recently seen significant service in non-Intelligence roles as an essential quality for candidates. The current Intelligencer-General fully embodies these values as Sir Keresen is the first to lack any previous Military Service as well as holding previous posts in the Crown Chancellery and as Ambassador to pre-Communist Urmanian before taking up the post in 2020.

The Intelligencer-General is supported by a Private Office headed by their own Principal Staff Officer. Other senior executives in the organisation include the Assistant Intelligencer-General - the designated deputy and head of the Directorate of Plans, and the Board of Directors which consists of the heads of each major department within the Intelligencery, whose titles are shared with their area of responsibility.

• The Directorate of Plans is responsible for supporting the Board of Directors and the Intelligencer-General in developing and promoting improvements in both operational and administrative strategy for the organisation.
• The Directorate of Requirement is responsible for the liaison between the Intelligencery and its 'customers' - those other Government Services which make use of the intelligence packages. This includes Justiciaries as well as the Armed Services and other intelligence agencies. The Directorate of Requirement is responsible not only for disseminating gathered intelligence, but also for receiving and for proactively sourcing topics of interest from the customer departments.
• The Directorate of Production is the single largest department within the Intelligencery, being that which is responsible for the gathering of intelligence. The staff of the Directorate of Production are largely based overseas in Stations and Sub-Stations abroad, though management of the Directorate and certain functions such as the Controllerate, Liaison are based within the Union.
• The Directorate of Support is responsible for the provision of several operational support functions such as the Intelligencery's foreign counter-intelligence network, the Technical Development & Assessment Establishment, and liaison with Armed Services Special-Duties Formations and other Special Operations resources.
• The Directorate of Security is responsible for non-operational support functions such as audit, security, recruitment, vetting and training.
• The Directorate of Administration is responsible for universal corporate functions such as IT, legal services, HR, fleet, estates & facilities management, and payroll & procurement.

Administration of the Production and Counter-Intelligence functions of the Intelligencery is split into geographic and functional 'Controllerates', which many of those being grouped into the 'Principal Controllerates' of Mystria and the Pony Lands. Operations within a given nation are usually carried out by a team of Intelligence Officers working at a 'Station', usually based in that nation's capital city. Larger nations which host more significant resources may also host smaller, satellite teams referred to as 'Sub-Stations.' In certain circumstances, a unit in a minor nation may be categorised as a Sub-Station of a 'full' station in a different, nearby or neighbouring foreign country. By convention it is preferred for Stations not to target the country they are hosted in because of the enhanced level of embarrassment that would likely be felt should an Intelligencer be publically compromised. For example, the majority of intelligence-gathering efforts focused on Rohane Alista are based in the United Kingfom of Malgrave. This is not always possible, however - particularly in the field of Counter-Intelligence where such Officers may be expected to cultivate working relationships with host-nations' own Intelligence services to disrupt hostile threat actors working within that country.