Paradigm Change: Operational Art and the Information Joint Function
Abstract
As Brigadier General Alexus Grynkewich, USAF, states in the preceding article, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved information as the first addition to the joint functions since the other six were codified in doctrine over 20 years ago. General Joseph Dunfords approval of this function is a vital step on the pathway to achieve the end state articulated in the 2016 Department of Defense (DOD) Strategy for Operations in the Information Environment (SOIE): Through operations, actions, and activities in the IE [information environment], DOD has the ability to affect the decision making and behavior f adversaries and designated others to gain advantage across the range of military operations. The strategy correctly explains that Effects in the physical and informational dimensions of the IE ultimately register an impact in the human cognitive dimension, making it the central object of operations in the IE.1 The need for this addition to the joint functions has become increasingly obvious to military leaders over time. It reveals itself in the difficulty of addressing gray zone challenges, which often displace the strategic utility of physical power; the survival of violent extremist organizations (VEOs) despite sustained physical punishment; and in the rapid proliferation of, and the U.S. militarys reliance on, information technology. During a recent effort by the Joint Staff to update Joint Publication (JP) 3-13, Information Operations, leaders recognized that the joint force was already attempting to use information as a function and that the time to institutionalize information as a function was therefore overdue. This change in capstone doctrine is by itself insufficient to solve contemporary challenges. Without supporting efforts and adequate resourcing, little will change. The real work of institutionalizing and operationalizing information is in stride throughout various DOD components.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1056965
Entities
People
- Christopher E Paul
- Scott K Thompson
Organizations
- Office Of The Under Secretary Of Defense