Information Operations Planning

Syllabus / Curriculum

This introductory module sets the scene for an appreciation of the modern information
battlespace with respect to Information Operations. It will provide a coherent foundation
perspective for the modern practitioner. Students will study a historical perspective of
influence activity, contrasting techniques and approaches for similarities and
differences within the modern context. They will critically examine current doctrine and
planning procedures across a variety of military trades and capabilities to examine their
contribution to Information Operations. Exercises involving actual case studies will allow
students to examine the strengths and the obstacles to combining diverse military and
civilian capability to achieve a systematic, flexible and defensible plan for Information
Operations. This will include governance arrangements concerning how influence
activity and its risks can be managed and authorised within a wider context of the UK
Government’s Comprehensive Strategy. Emphasis will be placed on the value of audit
trails and the need for shared understanding across diverse stakeholders to achieve a
co-ordinated campaign.

The module will therefore cover:

• Relevant military history
• Effects based theory, with specific reference to Key Leader Engagement and
Presence, Posture and Profile
• Information Operations, PSYOPS, Media Ops and CIMIC
• Approaches to counter-insurgency and asymmetric warfare

Emphasis will be placed on raising the students’ critical thinking around the variables
within the complex socio-technical systems and the potential relationships these
systems have to each other. Module elements that touch on research methods and
organising paradigms for information classification and management will introduce a
systematic and empowering perspective for students to carry them through the
remaining modules.

Specific elements that will be covered include:

• Critical Thinking
• Value of information
• Sources of Information
• Situational Awareness
• Decision Making

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module the student will be able to:

Knowledge
• Describe the main elements and key management issues in the conduct of
Information Operations
• Analyze historical examples of surprise and deception, use of fear and
intimidation and propaganda wars.
Skills
• Construct an Information Operations plan in the UK style
• Formulate the effects sought through Information Operations
• Recommend alternate courses of action based on self evaluation, evaluation
of the target audience, and the needs of the primary stakeholder in the
planning process

Course Text
• Allen, P.D. (2007) Information Operations Planning, Artech House, Boston.
Indicative Reading
• Adams, J. (1998) The Next World War, Hutchinson, London
• Alberts, D.S., Garstka, J.J., Stein, F.P. (1999) Network Centric Warfare:
Developing and Leveraging Information Superiority – 2nd Edition, CCRP Publications,
Vienna, VA. Can be downloaded free of charge from: http://www,dodccrp.com
• Arquilla, J., Ronfeldt, D. (1996) The Advent of Netwar, Rand Corporation,
Santa Monica. Can be downloaded free of charge from: http://www.rand.org
• Arquilla, J., Ronfeldt, D. (Eds.). (2001). Networks and netwars. Santa Monica:
Rand. Can be downloaded free of charge from: http://www.rand.org
• Armistead, L. (ed.) Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of
Soft Power, Brasseys Inc. Washington DC.
• Denning, D.E. (1999) Information Warfare and Security, Addison Wesley,
Reading: Mass.
• Erbschloe, M., Vacca, J.R. (2001) Information Warfare, McGraw-Hill.
• Forno, R., Baklarz R. (1999) The Art of Information Warfare – second edition,
Universal Publishers.
• Kott, A. [Ed.] (2007) Information Warfare and Organizational Decision Making,
Artech House, Boston.
• Smith, E.R. (2002) Effects Based Operations: Applying Network Centric
Warfare in Peace, Crisis, and War, CCRP, Washington. Can be downloaded free of
charge from: http://www,dodccrp.com
• Waltz, E. (1998). Information Warfare – Principles and Operations. Artech
House, Norwood.
 Target Audience Dynamics
Syllabus / Curriculum
The module focuses on the need to change the behaviour of people, whether that
behaviour is the internal cognitions of the target audience or their observable activities.

This module will be built on three core foundations:

• That the military and other security organisations cannot avoid communicating
messages in some form by direct action or inaction.
• That when seeking to change the behaviour of a target audience, there is an
implicit need to understand that target audience from their own stakeholder
perspectives.
• In designing an Influence Activity to modify the behaviour of a target audience
the designer should be aware of their own perspectives, assumptions and
values around the target behaviours.

These three foundations underpin the module’s recognition of and empathy towards
the unique challenges of behaviour modification in a military context. This context
includes the need to consider and exploit the use of lethal force as well as non-kinetic
alternatives. This added dimension will be discussed with respect to the legal and
ethical contexts to help students consider where the limits for interventions lie and what
balances and trade-offs might be appropriate.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module the student will be able to:

• Describe theories of behavioural and social change relevant to Information
Operations
• Summarize the approaches to individual, group and mass audience profiling

Skills
• Critically evaluate behavioural change techniques used in military and other
domains, e.g. health education, marketing, educational programmes, offender
rehabilitation, social development programmes, mine awareness campaigns,
weapons amnesties, mass civilian evacuations, crime prevention and
informing behaviour within the general public.
• Formulate robust and defensible programmes for behavioural change in
benign and non-benign environments

Course Text
• Augoustinos, P. et al (2004) Social Cognition
Indicative Reading
• Taylor, P. (2005) Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the
Ancient World to the Present Day