Using the Targeting Process to Synchronize Information Operations at the Tactical Level

The U.S. Army's new capstone doctrine, Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations, recognizes that information is a powerful weapon in the conduct of full-spectrum operations. Like other weapons, the effects of information must be synchronized with the effects of other systems to produce optimal results. Unfortunately, current U.S. Army doctrine does not provide a single coherent method for integrating the effects of maneuver, fires and information. This monograph seeks to remedy that flaw by analyzing the utility of the targeting process as a means of synchronizing information with the other elements of combat power at the tactical level. The decide-detect-deliver-assess (D3A) methodology of the targeting process is a useful conceptual tool for synchronizing effects on hostile forces. However, in practice the targeting process contains a bias towards lethal effects. With minor modifications, the targeting process could become a far more effective synchronization tool. The most important doctrinal modification required to target information effectively is to fully integrate the targeting process into the military decision making process (MDMP). Current U.S. Army doctrine does not make clear the scope of the targeting process, or the relationship between the targeting process and the MDMP. These flaws often lead to a targeting process that is too ?#128;~fires-centric.' This monograph remedies these flaws by providing a framework that fully integrates the ?#128;~effects based' targeting process into the MDMP. A second important doctrinal modification required to target information effectively is the development of a single doctrinal lexicon that applies to the effects generated by maneuver, fires and information. U.S. Army doctrine currently permits each of these elements of combat power to have its own language of effects. This flaw often leads to confusion, as battlefield operating system (BOS) representatives use the same words to describe different effects, or different words to desc

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