Site exploitation (SE), synonymous withtactical site exploitation[1] andsensitive site exploitation (SSE), is amilitary term used by theUnited States to describe "collecting information, material, and persons from a designated location and analyzing them to answer information requirements, facilitate subsequent operations, or support criminal prosecution."[2]
Sensitive site exploitation was conducted during the invasion of Iraq inOperation Iraqi Freedom when a key part of the Coalition Forces' mission was to discoverweapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The "sensitive" of SSE referred to the possibility that sites searched might have containedchemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) materials inherent in WMDs. Later, an effort was made to refer to the practice as "SE" (site exploitation) instead of "SSE" because sites were still being searched and exploited, but more generally for intelligence gathering and not with the intent of locating WMDs.
The main intent of site exploitation is to extract as much potential intelligence as possible from the site of a raid or point of interest in hopes that the data collected will lead to further enemy targets or answer priority intelligence requirements (PIR). A secondary benefit is that this data can be used to help prosecute criminals, if done correctly in accordance with local law.
Site exploitation consists of the following phases: securing the site (usually through a raid), documenting the site, searching the site, prioritizing exfiltration, and exploiting materials found.
The termSSE was used in the 2012 filmZero Dark Thirty, whenNavy SEALs attempt to retrieve as much data as possible from the computers and paper files ofOsama bin Laden once they have secured his compound inAbbottabad. It was also used in the 2017 television seriesSEAL Team during missions against high value targets (HVT) in several episodes, and in the 2018 seriesTom Clancy's Jack Ryan, when CIA Special Activities agents are discussing the plan to infiltrate Mousa Bin Suleiman's compound in season 1 episode 7. In the 2019 video gameCall of Duty: Modern Warfare it is mentioned at the end of the "Clean House" mission, in which the player clears a townhouse in north London with theSAS. In the 2022 filmThe Gray Man, the CIA agents used it when getting pocket litter from Sierra Four. It's also used in game Battlefield 6 when a site is secured during the Campaign mission Operation Gladius.
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