Centeralizing to Achieve Information Superiority

The purpose of this thesis is to propose a potential organizational structure for effectively utilizing Information Operations (IO) within the Department of Defense (DOD), This thesis is in response to a request for research from the vice commander of the 193 Special Operations Wing. According to this individual, the FY 1999 Joint Warfighting Capabilities Assessment, IO panel cycle, highlighted various deficiencies ranging from inadequate manning and force structure, to ineffective planning and integration processes, to inadequate capabilities available to support CINC requirements. Currently no one federal agency or military department has total responsibility or authority to bring all the disparate, but dependent, IO function/requirements together. As a result, funding, personnel resourcing, and control is fragmented to the detriment of the nation's warfighting capabilities. As demonstrated by the above finding, the subject of IO has pervaded numerous warfighting commands, doctrinal documents, and future vision plans. Despite this pervasion, there is no single agency within DOD that has the sole responsibility for providing or prosecuting information operations. The thesis will answer the question: What is an effective organizational structure for providing information operations that produces the synergistic effects of centralization without reducing the gains achieved at unit levels by having a decentralized approach? The answer to this question will provide an organizational model that may be applied to any individual service, or DOD as a whole, to provide an organized approach to IO. The authors of this thesis do not contend that this model will be the only way to organize for IO, only one way to organize for IO.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Centeralizing to Achieve Information Superiority' with ISBN 9781423509387 and ISBN 1423509382.