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:

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.
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Last updated 1997 Oct 09
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