The Pentagon on Nov. 17 publicly released new strategic guidance for operations in the information environment, which calls for a shift in how the Defense Department (DoD) approaches the integration of “informational and physical power.”
The Strategy for Operations in the Information Environment (SOIE) – which was originally signed in July by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin – marks the first update to the policy document since 2016.
The department said it plans to follow the SOIE up with an implementation plan, assigning specific sub-tasks and responsibilities to various offices across the Pentagon.
“The 2023 DOD SOIE will improve the Department’s ability to plan, resource, and apply informational power toward integrated deterrence, campaigning, and building enduring advantage as described in the 2022 National Defense Strategy,” the department wrote. “This will enable the DOD to deter challenges to U.S. vital national interests in any arena or domain.”
The document describes the information environment as the “aggregate of social, cultural, linguistic, psychological, technical, and physical factors that affect how humans and automated systems derive meaning from, act upon, and are impacted by information.”
Operations in that realm include “military actions involving the integrated employment of multiple information forces to affect drivers of behavior by informing audiences; influencing foreign relevant actors; attacking and exploiting relevant actor information … systems and protecting friendly information … systems,” the SOIE clarified.
The strategy outlines that the DoD must evolve from the “legacy” view of the information environment – referred to in the past as an “afterthought” – to the future of integrating informational and physical power.
The 24-page document outlines four main lines of effort to enable the Pentagon to fully integrate and modernize operations in the information environment: people and organizations, programs, policies and governance, and partnerships.
The people and organizations aspect calls on the DoD to provide all its members – including those assigned to the services, joint organizations, and combat support agencies – with the education, training, and resources needed to enable an effective information environment.
The effort calls on the department to “invest in, secure, and integrate the research, development, maintenance, and sustainment of information capabilities and capacities” to successfully conduct operations in the information environment and achieve and sustain information advantage.
“DoD will continue to mature the structure surrounding the SIOB to identify optimal organization, to maximize information flow across components, and to strengthen ability of leadership to make more informed decisions regarding DoD’s strategic approach and investments,” the document says of the policies and governance effort.
To execute the partnerships effort, the strategy notes that “with an emphasis on people, processes and capabilities, DoD must facilitate the integration of our partners into our military and our military into theirs.”
“This strategy informs and guides the investments that the Department should make to improve its abilities to influence our rivals and adversaries’ decisions and behaviors, while protecting DoD personnel and institutions against foreign malign influence,” the document concludes. “This is an enduring effort and significant work remains.”
