Information Operations

The Department of Defense (DoD) has made major strides in the development of concepts and doctrine for Information Operations (IO). In a substantive break with past traditions, the Secretary of Defense has made the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) and the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) supported commands rather than supporting commands. USSTRATCOM has the national mission and is taking the lead in IO. USSOCOM has the national mission and is taking the lead in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Across all other Combatant Commands, and within all services and agencies of DoD, the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence (USDI) is sponsoring transformative leap-ahead endeavors in Strategic Communication, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), and Joint Intelligence Operations Commands or Centers (JIOC) focused on interagency and interservice information-sharing and collaboration.