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Article Excerpt
During the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), commanders were skeptical of the importance of integrating information operations (IO) into day-to-day operations in theater. At the time, few commanders and leaders realized the impact IO could have on the local population and how critical it could be to mission success.
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To illustrate this point, we use the scenario of a brigade combat team (BCT) cordon and search mission in the beginning of Phase IV of OIF I. The BCT, which was organized and trained for conventional combat operations, conducted a cordon and search over a large area near Baghdad.
The mission required the BCT to search 1,200 Iraqi homes. With no plan to influence the populace, the BCT searched the homes, confiscated one rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and 10 AK-47s and detained two citizens suspected of supporting terrorists. No evidence established that the two suspects were networked with any insurgency cell. Possessing an AK-47 technically is illegal; however, AK-47s in Iraqi neighborhoods are as common as shotguns in the average American home. Possessing the RPG is illegal; however, ownership was difficult to prove.
The mission was planned and executed without considering the impact on the populace and, therefore, the operational environment. (1) The cordon and search left the Iraqi community leaders confused and distrustful of the Coalition Forces.
Initially, the BCT considered the mission successful as it garnered illegal weapons. But, in fact, the mission was unsuccessful in the eyes of the locals. What was gained militarily was lost in the populace's trust and future cooperation.
Integration of IO into day-to-day operations in theater has improved significantly in the last few years. However, we have not fully leveraged IO's enormous capacity in contemporary battle command.
IO Today. Integrating IO into the battle command process requires intensive staff input to visualize, describe, direct, lead and assess the effect of IO. Educating leaders on integrating IO at the tactical level is now part of the curriculum at the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The new three-week Tactical IO Course provides the basic tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for commanders and their staffs to integrate IO into battle command. The course teaches planners how to visualize and describe the information environment, use IO to shape the information environment and assess the effectiveness of IO. It includes data from the latest after-action reviews (AARs) at the Army's combat training centers (CTCs) and lessons learned from units fresh out of theater.
BCTs sometimes struggle to implement IO effectively. In many cases, IO becomes a reactive measure designed to mitigate consequences rather than a deliberate process to shape the information environment.
Today, the IO battle of ideas requires more "bytes than bullets." The military can achieve this by using the science of IO to focus on decision making in the physical environment and using the art of IO to shape the information environment. IO can be as complicated or as simple as one makes it.
Conceptualizing the IO Environment. One of the first challenges commanders face after receiving a mission is to visualize the operational environment. Understanding the adversary's capabilities, intentions, strengths and vulnerabilities is critical. However, the commander also must be cognizant of the impact of his unit's interaction with the adversary and the populace within the information environment.
For any operation, analyzing all factors is fundamental: mission, enemy, terrain and weather, troops, time available and civil considerations (METT-TC). These factors also must be considered as they relate to the information environment. For a commander to analyze his battlespace effectively in terms of the information environment, he must have the answers to the questions in Figure 1.
FM3-13 Information Operations: Doctrine, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures defines the information environment as "the aggregate of individuals, systems or organizations that collect, process and disseminate information. Also included is the information itself." The information environment has three interrelated dimensions: physical, cognitive and information. See Figure 2.
Physical Domain. The physical domain comprises the information infrastructure, including the communications infrastructure, media, Internet, word-of-mouth and rumors.
The physical domain illustrates what is real. To help the commander visualize his information environment, critical infrastructure, such as mosques, schools, police stations, markets and radio stations, should be treated as key terrain. Relationships between events and critical infrastructure are important and rarely coincidental.
Key sites on planning maps help the commander visualize his area of operations (AO). For example, he can see concentrations of Sunni mosques or know immediately if there is a school near the latest report of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack. Maps that illustrate this information can be used in command posts, on presence patrols or during the military decision-making process (MDMP).
While the commander's platoon, company and battalion leaders may be able to navigate to these sensitive locations "in their sleep," maps and overlays with key locations are vital planning tools for higher staffs that lack the situational awareness of those working in and around the key sites on a routine basis.
Media and other elements of the information environment directly affect the physical domain of the operational environment. When dealing with the media, leaders should...
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