Joint Publication 3-13, Information Operations - The Global ...

CHAPTER VII
INFORMATION OPERATIONS IN JOINT EDUCATION, TRAINING,
EXERCISES, AND EXPERIMENTS
“The Romans are sure of victory . . . for their exercises are battles without
bloodshed, and their battles bloody exercises.”
1. Introduction
Flavius Josephus
Historian, 37-100 AD
The development of IO as a core military competency and critical component to joint
operations requires specific expertise and capabilities at all levels of DOD. At the highest
professional levels, senior leaders develop joint warfighting core competencies that are the
capstone to American military power. The Services, USSOCOM, and other agencies develop
capabilities oriented on their core competencies embodied in law, policy, and lessons learned.
At each level of command, a solid foundation of education and training is essential to the
development of a core competency. Professional education and training, in turn, are dependent
on the accumulation, documentation, and validation of experience gained in operations, exercises,
and experimentation. This chapter discusses the education, training, joint exercise, and
experimentation necessary to achieve and maintain the goal of establishing IO as a core
competency.
2. Information Operations Education
As DOD conceptualization of the information environment and the role of IO in military
affairs has evolved, the necessity of an IO career force has been realized. The basic tenets of
education and training necessary for this force are:
a. The IO career force should consist of both core capability specialists (EW, PSYOP,
CNO, MILDEC, and OPSEC) and IO planners. Both groups require an understanding of
the information environment, the role of IO in military affairs, how IO differs from other
information functions that contribute to information superiority, and specific knowledge of each
of the core capabilities to ensure integration of IO into joint operations.
b. Initial capability specialist training and education requirements are Service and
capability specific. Capability specialists may be officers or enlisted. As Service-trained
specialists become more experienced and senior, their training and education must be broadened
to prepare them for responsibilities to plan and supervise the employment of other capabilities
that are employed in IO, and to synchronize IO with other aspects of joint operations and USG
policy.
c. IO planners are required at both the component and the joint level. Personnel
assigned to IO planning must have a working knowledge of the various capabilities potentially
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