Covert Humint Agent Tradecraft for Information Collection Training

Learning Outcomes

• Apply covert tradecraft techniques to identify, assess, and recruit Humint agents.
• Establish secure communication channels and protocols for agent handling.
• Task agents to collect specific mandated information while maintaining operational security.
• Evaluate the reliability and validity of information collected from agents.
• Implement counter-surveillance measures to protect agent networks and operations.
• Demonstrate ethical and legal compliance in all covert collection activities.

Target Audience

This course is designed for intelligence professionals, security analysts, law enforcement officers, and corporate investigators who require advanced skills in covert human intelligence operations to collect sensitive information.

Prerequisites

Learners must have completed foundational training in intelligence gathering or possess equivalent practical experience. A security clearance may be required.

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

Practicals are essential to develop hands-on tradecraft skills such as surveillance detection, dead drop operations, elicitation, and agent meetings. Learners apply theory in realistic field exercises under supervision, building competence and confidence for operational environments.

Practical Activities

• Surveillance Detection and Counter-Surveillance — Learners conduct foot and vehicle surveillance detection routes (SDRs) in an urban area, identifying and evading simulated surveillance teams. (16h)
• Covert Communications: Dead Drops and Signals — Learners set up, service, and retrieve dead drops, and use signal sites to indicate status, following strict OPSEC procedures. (12h)
• Elicitation and Agent Meeting Simulation — Learners practice elicitation techniques in role-played social settings and conduct structured agent meetings, including handling reluctant sources. (16h)
• Operational Planning and Final Exercise — Teams plan and execute a multi-phase covert HUMINT operation, including recruitment approach, meeting, communication, and extraction, with full OPSEC. (24h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.