Success of US reward programme expands opportunities for tipsters

The ongoing success of the US military's reward programme has prompted its organisers to expand its scope, including increased opportunities for individuals willing to submit valuable information about adversarial actors in the region.

The programme (DoDRP) compensates individuals who share useful and verifiable information, and since its inception, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) has paid more than $23.4 million in rewards.

Its newly revamped website, which can be accessed here, is available in Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, Dari and English.

Individuals can now submit information via WhatsApp, Telegram or the secure online form or by calling +1 (251) 2779343.

These improvements were made upon the suggestion of tipsters in the Middle East and surrounding areas.

In addition, QR code scanning technology has proven effective in connecting informants to the many options for submitting tips and DoDRP will continue to enhance capabilities to facilitate ease of submission, according to programme officials.

The programme pays monetary rewards, or rewards in kind, of up to $5 million.

The payment for each rewardable activity varies, and depends upon many different factors, such as how valuable CENTCOM deems the information provided and the severity of the incident that is prevented or that has occurred.

If the tip is verifiably true and acted upon and if the individual's reward nomination is validated, the US military will contact the individual discreetly and arrange for direct payment.

Priority is given to tips on terrorist group operations, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), lone-wolf attacks against US forces and weapon caches.

Over $20 million in rewards paid

Over the years, the programme has notched a number of high-profile successes, and has paid more than $23 million in rewards.

Because of the sensitivity of the activity, hardly any of these success stories is shared openly with the public.

One such success, however, was on January 1, 2019, when a US drone strike in Marib, Yemen, killed al-Qaeda member Jamal al-Badawi.

Up until his death, al-Badawi spent years on the United States' Most Wanted Terrorist list for orchestrating the attack in Aden, Yemen, on the USS Cole in 2000, which killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others.

A tip to the reward programme led directly to al-Badawi's death, and the individual who provided the information was awarded handsomely for the information, according to programme officials.

More recently, the programme has seen success in eliciting information about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, in the region.

Earlier this year, CENTCOM made a push to gain tips and information from the public about the use of drones.

The reward programme pays individuals up to $10,000 for turning over these devices. The more complex the system the more valuable it is, according to programme officials.

Drones manufactured in Iran, and variants of Iranian drones made by the Islamic Republic's proxies, are being used more and more often to cause chaos and destruction in the region.

Iran regularly adds new UAVs to its arsenal, and has become increasingly ambitious in their manufacture, use and export.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force (IRGC-QF) frequently supplies Iranian-made drones to the Houthis in Yemen, allied Iraqi militias and Lebanese Hizbullah.

Weaponised Iranian UAVs have been used in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.