On November 3, 2023, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Tearline Project and the University of Mississippi were presented with the inaugural OSINT Product of the Year award Nov. 3 for a product entitled “China’s Interests in Montenegro: Alternative Analysis Case Study.” The OSINT Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on promoting open-source intelligence (OSINT) tradecraft, elevating the discipline, and developing the OSINT practitioner community to advance the national security of the United States.

The Award criteria highlight a unique aspect of Tearline, it serves both national security and is a public good.

The OSINT Product of the Year award recognizes a finished OSINT product that has demonstrated exceptional value to the nation, materially contributed to the OSINT discipline, and benefitted the public good. The OSINT product must be entirely UNCLASSIFIED and publicly available. - Award Source

The Award also highlights unique student benefits from participating in the Tearline Project:

A big reason I wanted to do it is I want to do intelligence work, and this is intelligence work. It’s as close as you can get without being in an agency. That was a big appeal to me. - Student quote from the University of Mississippi News

On March 1, 2023, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Tearline Project received the OSINT Foundation's inaugural "OSINT Unit of the Year" for materially advancing the discipline of OSINT. The OSINT Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on promoting open-source intelligence (OSINT) tradecraft, elevating the discipline, and developing the OSINT practitioner community to advance the national security of the United States.

The Tearline Project has materially contributed to the national security of the United States by establishing a public-facing website which highlights OSINT-enabled GEOINT products of national security interest. The Program’s resulting intelligence products better inform decision makers and the general public regarding the topics covered, while also educating prospective Intelligence Community professionals on OSINT and GEOINT exploitation and analytical tradecraft. Tearline advances the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) mission by delivering world-class geospatial intelligence that provides a decisive advantage to its consumers. Tearline Project provides high-quality OSINT products that support NGA’s consumers, train the future NGA workforce, and educate the public. - See press release