Sailors, soldiers need skills to fight

propaganda, Navy’s Cleary says

By Colin Demarest
Tuesday, Feb 14

A phone screen with a statement from the head of security policy at META is
seen in front of a fake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
calling on his soldiers to lay down their weapons. (Oliver Douliery/AFP via
Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO — Members of the U.S. military must beef up their media
literacy skills as propaganda proliferates and sources of dubious information
explode at home and abroad, according to the Navy’s principal cyber adviser,
Chris Cleary.

The Navy in October published its so-called Cyberspace Superiority Vision,

which highlights the values the service is using to shape its future cyber
investments and improve its virtual posture, including through what Cleary
previously described as the ability to “fight hurt.” Months prior, the Marine
Corps unveiled its philosophies and frameworks for the information
environment, known as Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 8.

“There is something to be said about being resilient to information

operations. How resilient are we to messaging that we might believe is
false?” Cleary told reporters Feb. 14, on the sidelines of the West 2023
conference in San Diego. “It’s not just sailors, you know. It’s everybody.”

Determining fact from fiction, misleading from straightforward, is critical as

world powers such as China and Russia wage influence campaigns that are
for the public but a keystroke, touch screen or app installation away.

“There’s a good Clausewitz line that says: War is the application of force to
compel my adversary to do my will. Well, then, the question today is: What
is force? And what does it take to compel an adversary to win?” Cleary said.
“If I can just change your mental calculus on what you want to do, well, I
win. My end state is achieved.”
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By Colin Demarest

By tapping into sources of discord and division, Russia meddled in the 2016
presidential election. The Kremlin is also pumping out streams of
misinformation regarding its latest invasion of Ukraine, now nearing the one-
year mark. China, likewise, used misinformation to recolor its authoritarian
seizure of Hong Kong and to exert influence over Taiwan.

“If I can convince, through a million different reasons, that the United States
shouldn’t get involved in a defense of Taiwan scenario, and enough of the
public feels that way,” Cleary said, “the Chinese might be like, ‘We’ve won.
I didn’t have to fight them.’”

Hazards exist stateside, as well.

Fringe groups use social media to distribute malicious information — like

coronavirus conspiracies and faked footage of lawmakers — and stand up
faux media outlets to circumvent bans. Navy officials in March warned
sailors they are prime targets for hacking and deception.

“It’s not just big media outlets. There are 100 ways to get information these
days,” Cleary said. “Sailors and Marines are as every bit susceptible to that as
anyone.”
About Colin Demarest
Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and
IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security
Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a
daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.