Title:
Information Warfare: Planning the Campaign
Subject:
Provides a logical look at the generic information, analysis, and tools
required by an information warrior.
Author(s):
Richard R. Ayres;
Jay Patrice Bullock;
Donald J. Davitz (Faculty Advisor);
Brahim Erhili;
Bruce B. Harding;
Fredrick P. Okello;
Alan J. Perdigao
DTIC Keywords:
INFORMATION EXCHANGE,
INFORMATION PROCESSING,
INFORMATION SYSTEMS,
INFORMATION TRANSFER
Abstract:
Information warfare is a nebulous concept, but widely cited as a
keystone in any future campaign. Even though information warfare has
been used for centuries, current doctrine, policies, and guidance provide
little help for the warrior to understand first, what information warfare is,
and secondly, how to do it.
Information Warfare: Planning The Campaign provides a logical
approach for the information warrior to employ in planning for this aspect
of warfare. This paper addresses the:
- Current state of information warfare policy and doctrine,
- Modeling of a system to identify its critical nodes and links,
- Modeling of a Joint Forces Air Component Commander (JFACC) to
serve as an example,
- Examples of current and potential offensive and defensive
information warfare tools used in information encounters, and finally,
- A step-by-step approach to information warfare campaign planning.
Analysis of information and its flow is a daunting undertaking in all but
the most simple of organizations. To remedy this, one can view the
organization as a system and employ a model which will help illustrate
information flows. It is reasonable to employ the same model for this
purpose as is used by system engineers who create information systems.
This paper describes such a model, the Operational Architectures
Model, which employs the Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing
(ICAM) DEFinition Methods or IDEF for short, to identify the flow of
information in a system. Internal to the Operational Architectures Model
are five modeling perspectives: functional, physical, static,
informational, and dynamic. The functional perspective identifies what
functions a system must accomplish to achieve its overall purpose. The
physical perspective establishes what assets the system uses to
accomplish its purpose. Combining these assets with the functions they
support produces the static perspective, a view of the system at rest.
The informational perspective assesses the structure of the information
needed to support the functions of a system. Finally, the dynamic
perspective models the performance of the system over time. Going
beyond a theoretical discussion of this complex model, the paper then
provides a concrete example by using the model to analyze a Joint Force
Air Component Commander.
As stated earlier, information warfare has been around for centuries. To
help clarify the concept of information warfare in today’s environment,
the paper describes current and potential information warfare tools.
Understanding the tools and where they can be effectively employed
provides a strong foundation in building an understanding of information
warfare.
The final chapter brings the discussion to closure by providing a 4-step
method for information warriors to use in planning an information warfare
campaign. It employs the Operational Architectures Model to help the
planner identify centers of gravity and match information warfare tools to
those centers of gravity. The end product is a campaign which employs
information warfare to protect or attack informational centers of gravity.
Last updated 1997 Oct 09
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