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An Army IO officer briefs soldiers
An Army major explains information-related capabilities to soldiers during exercise Cyber Blitz.
U.S. Army (Kurt Rauschenberg)

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The Army’s Information Operations Profession Has an Identity Crisis

By Major Bradley Young and Major Jonathan Wood, U.S. Army
March 2021
Proceedings
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The U.S. Army information operations (IO) community faces an identity crisis. Army IO officers, known by their career field designation of Functional Area 30 (FA30), are the “staff focal point for IO,” and perform a vital function to synchronize, coordinate, and integrate information effects into unit operations. However, the FA30 community lacks a coherent group identity in part because of a widespread misunderstanding of IO stemming from years of constantly changing doctrine, terminology, and theories of execution. As a result, the Army lacks a shared institutional understanding of both IO and the purpose of FA30s. The degree to which the FA30 community can overcome this identity crisis will determine how well the Army can recruit, train, retain, and employ its IO professionals to meet the current and future challenges of information warfare.

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Major Bradley Young, U.S. Army

Major Young is an Army information operations officer with deployments to Afghanistan, Jordan, and most recently to Iraq as an IO and military deception (MilDec) planner. He is currently assigned to V Corps at Fort Knox, KY and recently graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California with a master of science degree in information strategy and political warfare. 

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Major Jonathan Wood, U.S. Army

Major Wood is an Army information operations officer with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. He is a recent graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California earning a master of science degree in information strategy and political warfare.  He is currently serving in the U.S. Army as an information operations officer.

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