海军陆战队为其信息战部门起草新的战略愿景

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps is working on a first-of-its-kind information warfare plan to translate complex technical concepts into a broader strategic vision for the Corps, policymakers and senior leaders across the Pentagon, according to the service.

The plan, still in draft, seeks to streamline the Corps’ information warfare training, justify funding requests to Congress, and explain to industry representatives what capabilities Marines seek to manipulate information on the battlefield, Eric Schaner, deputy director for information plans and strategy within the deputy commandant for information’s office, told Breaking Defense in response to emailed questions.

It is not clear when the forthcoming plan will be published.

This is the first time such a plan has been devised, but it is envisioned as akin to the Marine Corps Aviation Plan,an annual document that outlines the strategic vision of the service’s aviators and desired capabilities to industry, senior leaders and policymakers.

The information warfare plan’s“primary vision is to establish strategic initiatives that serve as the connective tissue between broad Marine Corps strategies and clear, time-phased modernization roadmaps,” Schaner said.

Non-kinetic and information warfare capabilities play a growing role in military operations, fromcyber missions that purported to aid in the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, to electronic warfare tactics that jam enemy communications and radars.

Schaner pointed out three key themes expected in the forthcoming plan.

The first theme centers around professionalizing the information warfare community, by transitioning the siloed information intelligence and communications occupational fields into an information warfare community with clear, standardized training and readiness pipelines. This will ensure Marine information warfighters are ready and equipped to meet the technical demands of modern conflict, Schaner said.