Strategic Arts and Sciences Alliance
The Brand Name of the Media Revolution
|
Idiosyntactix Strategic Arts and Sciences Alliance The Brand Name of the Media Revolution |
|
[library]
Air Force
Information Warfare CenterThe focus for achieving Information Superiority
by Col. Frank Morgan
AFIWC/CC
Kelly Air Force Base, Texas
Photo: Col. Frank Morgan AFIWC commander.
Information Superiority - it’s the new military buzzword for the 90s. But what does it really mean?To gain a greater understanding of IS and how to achieve it, let’s go back almost 30 years in time. Since 1970, the technological basis of computer information systems has literally exploded. Fallout of this technology explosion includes increases in storage density, access speed and communication rates. Couple these increases with decreases in size, weight and price, and you have information systems permeating almost every aspect of our lives.
The foundation upon which all modern technologies are built, is the microchip and it is responsible for all modern information technologies.
By allowing us to change reality, alter conclusions, and redirect actions, the microchip enables us to exploit information using satellites, computers, telephones, fax machines and video cameras.
It has given us the ability to create, disseminate, access, and manipulate our own information and to control the information available to our competitors and adversaries. This is termed Information Warfare, and we can use it to our military advantage.
Traditionally, militaries use indirect means to manipulate or control enemy information through their collection and analysis functions.
As a result of the information explosion, however, IW now gives the military direct access to huge amounts of information and brings with it tremendously powerful capabilities. We must recognize, however, that the same qualities making modern information functions so indispensable, make them alarmingly vulnerable.
When we look at the adversary’s information as a lucrative target, we must realize that our information is equally attractive to our adversaries, so it’s imperative we establish vigilant defenses against the enemy’s information warfare efforts.
Why are we discussing IW? Because IW is the means to achieve Information Superiority - it is the strategy, tactics and procedures used to achieve IS, which is fought for and protected just as superiority of the air, land, sea and space are fought for and protected.
There is a risk in perceiving all warfare in the information age as "information warfare," which is not the case. There are two key parts to the IW definition. Any action taken:
(1) to deny, exploit, corrupt, or destroy the enemy’s information and its functions; and,
(2) to protect ourselves against those actions.
IW encompasses activities in which information is used as a target or as a weapon. Methods used to conduct information warfare include electronic warfare, psychological operations, military deception, physical attack, security measures and information attack.
Information attack directly corrupts an adversary’s information without visibly altering the physical entity in which it resides. Note that it is limited to directly altering data or instructions. That is to say, after being subjected to information attack, an information function is indistinguishable from its original state except through inspecting its data or instructions. An example would be a Special Operations Forces team dropping a powerful magnet on a hard disk.
Just as today’s technology explosion could not have occurred without the microchip, IW cannot occur without Information Operations. IO is the foundation of IW and allows us to manipulate (acquire/store, transform, transmit) information so we can use it to our advantage to achieve IS, or for the Air Force, Air Superiority.
So, just what is IS? It is denying the adversary the information necessary to successfully engage friendly forces. It permits the conduct of operations by friendly forces within the information and associated air, land, sea, or space realms at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by opposing forces.
IS strives to achieve an information advantage over the enemy, which increases the probability of us achieving our military objectives and leads to our ultimate goal - victory.
Note that without Information Operations, Information Superiority cannot be achieved. After all, what good is having information if you are not able to effectively use it to your advantage? Enter the Air Force Information Warfare Center.
When the Air Force made a corporate commitment to integrate IW into its way of doing business, it formed the Air Force Information Warfare Center as the premier defense organization for producing the tools and solutions necessary to enable our forces to conduct information operations into the 21st century.
The AFIWC is the focal point in the Air Force for IW application. AFIWC personnel provide war-fighters with the expertise, applications, and data to destroy an enemy’s ability to achieve information dominance. We also analyze friendly electronic systems and vulnerabilities, and protect command and control against adversary attacks, thus providing information dominance for the ommanders in chief and Joint Forces Air Component Commanders.
The next century will bring advances in the numbers and varieties of threats. Our threats today are becoming less structured, more ambiguous, and unpredictable. Today and in the future, Information Operations is going to be this nation’s bodyguard, Information Warfare its weapon, and Information Superiority, its destination.
The Air Intelligence Agency’s vision is to be the leader in integrating and conducting information operations that shape the international security environment and the battlespace, and maintaining information dominance for the decision-maker. The AFIWC has already taken on the challenge with a vengeance.
.
.
.
[library]
.
.
.
.
.
.
