Information as Power Volume 3

200 Pages·2009·6.66 MB·English

US ARMY WAR COLLEGE
INFORMATION AS POWER
VOLUME 3
AN ANTHOLOGY OF SELECTED UNITED STATES
ARMY WAR COLLEGE STUDENT PAPERS
Faculty Review Board
Jeffrey L. Caton, Blane R. Clark, Jeffrey L. Groh,
Dennis M. Murphy, William O. Waddell, and Douglas Wake
Information as Power is a refereed anthology of United States Army War
College (USAWC) student papers related to the information element of na-
tional power. It provides a medium for the articulation of ideas promulgated
by independent student research in order to facilitate understanding of the
information element of power and to better address related national security
issues. The anthology serves as a vehicle for recognizing the analyses of
Army War College Students and provides a resource for USAWC gradu-
ates, senior military offcers, and interagency national security practitioners
concerned with the information element of national power.
Special thanks to Harry Phillips for his signifcant editorial and adminis-
trative support and to Ritchie Dion for his meticulous layout editing and
Jennifer Nevil for the cover design.
Information as
Power
INFORMATION AS POWER
An Anthology of Selected United States Army
War College Student Papers
Volume Three
Editors:
Jeffrey L. Caton, Blane R. Clark,
Jeffrey L. Groh, Dennis M. Murphy
Information as Power
An Anthology of Selected United States Army War College
Student Papers
Volume Three
Executive Agent for the Anthology:
United States Army War College
The views contained in this publication are those expressed
by the authors and do not necessarily refect the offcial
policy or position of the United States Army War College, the
Department of Defense, or any other Department or Agency
within the U.S. Government. This publication is cleared for
public release; distribution is unlimited.
Published January 2009.
This publication is available online at the following:
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/dime
http://www.csl.army.mil/Publications/Studies.aspx
Cover photograph by Staff Sgt. DeNoris A. Mickle, USAF.
Used by permission.
U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE
CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA 17013
Contents
Preface vii
Section 1: Information Efects in the Cognitive Dimension
Introduction 1
Professor Cynthia E. Ayers
Mass Media Teory, Leveraging Relationships and Reliable
Strategic Communication Efects 7
Colonel John R. Robinson
Strategic Communication, Psychological Operations and
Propaganda: Is a Unifed Strategic Message Possible? 25
Colonel Calvin C. DeWitt
Improving the United States’ Strategic Communication Strategy 39
Colonel Robert H. Risberg
Bridging the Cultural Communication Gap between America
and Its Army 61
Ms. Bobbie Galford
Section 2: Information Efects in the Physical Domain
Introduction 81
Colonel Jefrey L. Caton
Unmanned Aircraf Systems Role in Network Centric Warfare 87
Lieutenant Colonel Duane T. Carney
Blue Force Tracking: Building a Joint Capability’ 107
Lieutenant Colonel Michael M. Sweeney
Providing an Enterprise Service Architecture to the Net-Centric
Warfghter 127
Lieutenant Colonel David P. Acevedo
Achieving the Department of Defense’s Network Centric Vision
of Information Sharing while Overcoming Cultural Biases to
Control Information 147
Captain Paul M. Shaw
Endnotes 165
Preface
Te Information in Warfare Working Group (I2WG) of the U.S.
Army War College (USAWC) is pleased to present this anthology of
selected student work from Academic Year 2008 representing examples
of well-written and in-depth analyses on the vital subject of information
as power. Tis is the third volume of an efort that began in 2006. Te
I2WG charter calls for it to coordinate and recommend the design,
development and integration of content and courses related to the
information element of power into the curriculum to prepare students
for senior leadership positions. Tis publication is an important
component of that efort.
Interestingly, one needs to go back to the Reagan administration
to fnd the most succinct and pointed mention of information as an
1
element of power in formal government documents. Subsequent
national security documents, to include the 2007 National Strategy
for Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy, allude to diferent
aspects of information but without a holistic, overarching strategy or
defnition. Still, it is generally accepted in the United States government
today that information is an element of national power along with
diplomatic, military and economic power…and that information is
woven through the other elements since their activities will have an
2
informational impact. Given this dearth of ofcial documentation,
Drs. Dan Kuehl and Bob Nielson profered the following defnition of
the information element: “Use of information content and technology
as strategic instruments to shape fundamental political, economic,
military and cultural forces on a long-term basis to afect the global
behavior of governments, supra-governmental organizations, and
3
societies to support national security.” Information as power is wielded
in a complex environment consisting of the physical, information, and
cognitive dimensions.
Te current information environment has leveled the playing
feld for not only nation-states, but non-state actors, multinational
corporations and even individuals to afect strategic outcomes with
viii Information as Power
minimal information infrastructure and little capital expenditure.
Anyone with a camera cell phone and personal digital device with
Internet capability understands this. Adversary use of information
as an asymmetric strategic means has been extremely efective in the
current theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan leading Richard Holbrooke
to famously muse: “How can a man in a cave out-communicate the
4
world’s leading communications society?” And so, while it certainly is
a military “superpower” one has to question whether the United States
maintains that same status with regard to information.
On the other hand, the U.S. military has increasingly leveraged
advances in information infrastructure and technology to gain
advantages on the modern battlefeld. One example from Operation
Iraqi Freedom is the signifcant increase in situational awareness from
network centric operations that enabled the military to swiftly defeat
5
Iraqi forces in major combat operations.
Clearly managing the “message” while controlling the necessary
technological “means” represent critical challenges in today’s information
environment. We hope that this anthology will serve not only to
showcase the eforts of the College but to inform the broader body
of knowledge as the Nation struggles to operate efectively within this
environment and to counter current and potentially future adversaries
who so efectively exploit it.
Professor Dennis M. Murphy
Chair, Information in Warfare Working Group
United States Army War College