ATPS System

ATPS LTD was created on the basis of broad experience gained throughout many years of anti-terrorist activities which range from tactical and combat operations to information gaining and analysis. The Company’s methodological bases consist of a specialised methodical system (ATPS) and over 200 practical courses conducted throughout the world for the specialized national forces responsible for multifarious anti-terrorist warfare activities.

The aim of ATPS Ltd is to refine the skills of specialised national forces personnel responsible for the fight against terrorism both by means of specialized psychology as well as direct operations. In addition, ATPS Ltd prepares detailed assessment analyses of quality and effectiveness of the training programmes in the aforementioned areas.

The origins of the ATPS

The events of 2001.09.11 in the USA, showed not only the new ”modern” face of terrorism, but also a sharply disturbed proportion between the role played by the so called Humint (Human Intelligence or human gained intelligence) and Signit (Signals Intelligence i.e. technology gained intelligence). This tragic incident as well as other terrorist attacks (such as those most recently in London, Madrid and Bali) showed that such asymmetry in the field of operational techniques designed at gaining and analyzing information skewed in favour of modern Intelligence War technologies, was doomed to failure. There are multiple reasons for this imbalance which can be explained in the context of psychological intelligence operations.

One of the essential elements causing this asymmetry is (and has always been) not only the fascination with technological discoveries providing effective support for Intelligence Operations, but also, if not mainly, –on one hand the difficulties in the selection of suitable operational personnel, able to conduct direct operations of tactical, personal reconnaissance, and on the other hand, general interpersonal communication problems which stem from human psychological predisposition.

We ought to remember however that a human being is and will always be the most valuable source of information. Gaining access to this precious source will almost invariably require establishing of some kind of relationship with the human subject. It is not possible to understand the nature of the relationship between a human and his outer world without a knowledge of psychology. As such, a profound understanding of psychological techniques is essential for establishing the appropriate emotional tie which would enable the multidirectional drainage of information.

As far back as in the 3rd century BC, the Greek philosopher called Zeno of Citium had rightly said: “Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so that we listen twice as much as we speak”. However, from the psychological point of view, listening (and more importantly hearing) is one of the least developed human abilities. In addition, if we realize that consciousness is the weakest part of the human mind, and all that is interesting and valuable is placed unconsciously in the shadow of our psyche (which in turn means that extracting of those hidden contents requires deep specialist psychological knowledge), we will start to understand the reasons for the disproportion between Humint and Sigint.

Whereas Signal Intelligence relies upon relatively easy to operate technological devices, Humint requires not only specialist, nonacademic psychological knowledge but also broadly developed emotional self-control – an extremely difficult ability of interfering in own psychic mechanism that only very few will manage to acquire (ATPS research shows that only around 5% of students (who include qualified psychologists) have the requisite predisposition and ability to acquire such knowledge).

We fail to realize that globalisation and the advancement of telecommunication technology, by constantly exempting us from cultivating and perfecting our adaptation skills, often amounts to a Trojan Horse type of trap set in the realm of interpersonal communication. It is a classic pitfall for our emotional intelligence and a hindrance to human personal development which from a time perspective has a fundamentally negative influence on maintaining of appropriate psychic hygiene. This means that with each passing year Humint is becoming increasingly difficult to adopt as a line of intelligence work whilst at the same time it is indispensible and potentially the only valid approach to intelligence operations.

The ideological anchor has always been a tool that provided access to some of the best sources of information. However in order to have the anchor properly set in the subjects’ minds, there has to be a some kind of direct relation between the parties to this peculiar transaction, the success of which depends exclusively upon the knowledge on part of the inquirer of the individual psychological attributes of the subject who is investigated. In the age of technology development, psychological skills have become the most neglected and paradoxically the most desired ability required for the effective gaining and analysis of information. Placing the main emphasis upon electronic and satellite gained intelligence (that should be treated merely as a supplement and not the alternative to Humint), has resulted in many spectacular calamities. There are already some signs however (such as the return of many terrorist organisations to traditional communication methods due to highly developed interception techniques) that after the initial fascination with modern technologies has faded away, there will come a time for the assessment of damage stemming from focusing mainly on technology and Humint will finally return to its well-earned position in the hierarchy of information operations as a leading approach for effective Intelligence work.

This desired change of proportions between Humint and Sigint means that specialist psychology techniques will have to dominate in the training programmes designed for the Offensive Intelligence Service personnel. And this is where the ATPS has its role to play. The primary aims of the ATPS are twofold: firstly to change the proportion in favour of Humint and secondly to prepare specialist antiterrorist personnel for such change.

ATPS tools

ATPS has been developed as a classic system designed to support the Humint approach. It is a programme of methodology and education from the field of specialist psychology operations. The aim of the ATPS programme is to effectively prepare Operational Special Service personnel for conducting direct Intelligence operations. The system has been defined and mastered by its author from almost 20 years of his professional work on almost every continent and within different social, cultural and religious environments. This diversity of applications makes it both universal and global.

The research underlining the scientific fundamentals of ATPS has been carried out during operational training programmes for Special Forces personnel. The ATPS techniques were refined in the course of over 200 such specialist tactical courses. The system has been regularly and effectively applied in direct operations across the world. Due to its designation, ATPS is directed exclusively to highly specialised national forces involved in direct and multifarious antiterrorist activity.

ATPS has been designed and successfully applied across the world in the following operational work fields:

1. Information gaining and analysis
2. Noninvasive modelling of social attitudes (macro-psychology and micro-psychology)
3. Support of tactical and combat operations

1. At the information gaining and analysis level, ATPS aims to equip students with tools allowing them for effective self-defence against psychological attack and for conducting successful offensive psychological operations. The main emphases are placed upon noninvasive psychological analyses, which include drawing personal characteristic profiles. The fundamentals of ATPS lie with the knowledge of the principles that apply in gender specific unconscious interpersonal communication. The underlying idea of the analysis is the notion: „The consciousness is the weakest side of our mind”.

2. Noninvasive modelling of social attitudes is conducted with the help of the ATPS system both on the macro- and micro-psychological levels. On the macro level, the ATPS techniques relate to psychological operations which can be offensive (i.e. psychological diversion by application of active measures) and defensive (i.e. counterespionage to neutralize hostile psychological diversion) in nature. On the macropsychological level the objectives of such operations are twofold: firstly the assumption of intellectual control (offensive operations) and secondly the development of mechanisms securing ideological sovereignty (defensive operations). On the micropsychology level, the ATPS techniques are focused upon influencing an individual and as such they concern broad psychomanipulation activities.

3. Where tactical and combat operations are concerned, ATPS introduced a new method of manipulating atalistic mechanisms. The method provides completely innovatory possibilities for refining the skills of operational personnel through changing existing conditioning priorities.

Training courses enable modeling of emotional processes in situations of direct threat to life and are carried out in conditions reflecting complicated tactical and combat operations.

ATPS also enables preparation of directive and strategic analysis for subjects involved in training of antiterrorist personnel. The Company founder has broad experience in preparation of analyses for the highest national authorities, heads of special forces and other specialist subjects.

ATPS provides educational and analytical support for a few universities in some of which the author is a member of the Programme Council in the Study and Strategic Analysis Center.