Digital Data Warfare Tools: Should CINCs Have Control

The meteoric explosion of information-age technologies led by the ongoing rapid evolution of cyberspace and microcomputers has brought about a revolution in Military Affairs. A new form of Information Operations (IO) Warfare, Digital Data Warfare, portends enormous ramifications for the national security of the United States, its allies, and potential coalition partners. Joint Pub 3-13 provides doctrine for the execution of IO in joint operations. It discusses integration and synchronization of offensive and defensive IO in the planning and execution of combatant commanders' plans and operations to support the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. What Joint Pub 3-13 does not do is state that combatant commanders should have control of Digital Data Warfare tools. This paper examines and answers important strategic questions concerning combatant commander's control and authority to employ offensive Digital Data Warfare tools. The guideposts of this study provide a primer for understanding control and employment of Digital Data Warfare. Strategy Research Project.