Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

SNIEs usually look into the immediate future, defined as up to two

months ahead. However, they do go through the same production

process as NIEs, including coordination. See alsoNATIONAL IN-

TELLIGENCE COUNCIL.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE (SOE). The SOE was a secret

British unit established in June 1940 to conduct guerrilla warfare

against Nazi Germany. SOE agents, including women, were trained in

the use of guns, explosives, sabotage, and infiltration. They were sent to

any country under Nazi occupation, in part to organize resistance

against the occupiers and in part to control operations against German

forces. SOE representative in Washington, D.C., William S. Stephen-

son, also known by his code name INTREPID, is generally credited

with convincing President Franklin D. Rooseveltto establish the posi-

tion of coordinator of information(COI) in 1941 and later the Office of

Strategic Services (OSS) in 1942. The SOE was fully incorporated into

Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service(SIS) at the end of World War II.

SPOT (SYSTEM).SPOT is a French commercial imaging satellite

whose images are at times employed by North Atlantic Treaty Or-

ganization (NATO) peacekeeping forces. The first SPOT satellite

was launched in 1986 and was followed by later versions in 1988,

1993, and 1998. The latest version, launched on 4 May 2002, has in-

creased resolution and spectral capabilities.

SPOTsatellites have the capability to view areas that are under dif-

ferent orbital tracks. According to Jeffrey Richelsen, a noted observer

of satellite capabilities, color and black and white images can be

recorded simultaneously with the satellite’s two imaging sensors and

then digitally merged.

SPUTNIK. Sputnik refers to a series of artificial satellites launched by

the Soviet Unionbeginning on 4 October 1957. The first four Sputniks

were unmanned, but Sputnik 5, launched on 15 May 1960, carried an-

imals that were recovered alive after their return to earth the next day.

The launch of the first Sputnik satellite shocked the United States

and contributed to the “missile gap” controversy in the late 1950s. In

response, the U.S. government undertook a crash program to catch up

with the Soviet Union, first establishing the National Aeronautics and

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