Growing Cyber threats prompt Philippine Army’s 1st 16th AF visit
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas — Colonel Edward Rivera, 616th Operations Center, director of operations, welcomed Philippine Army Col. Windell Rebong, Command and Control Communications and Cyber Systems, deputy assistant chief, and five associates, here, July 18, for a subject-matter-expert exchange amid rising cyberattacks.
The exchange centered around maturing information warfare by strengthening interdependencies between several domains: electronic warfare, information operations and warfare, and cyber operations.
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“This exchange was a warm, engaging and open discussion from both sides and included military, civilian, officer and enlisted of different ranks, all bringing forward their experiences in the form of vibrant discussions,” said Rebong. “It’s an honor and a privilege for a Philippine Army officer to visit a U.S. Air Force facility. [The 16th Air Force] has an expertise that all Philippine branches of service will benefit from.”
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Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber), headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, focuses on information warfare in the modern age and ensures that our Air Force and Nation are fast, resilient, and fully integrated in competition, crisis, and conflict by incorporating Information Warfare at operational and tactical levels, capitalizing on the value of information by leading the charge for uniquely-21st century challenges in the highly dynamic, seamless, and global information domain.
Information operations, sometimes referred to as influence operations, entail disseminating false information to persuade people and gathering tactical intelligence on rivals to gain the upper hand. Traditional media and social media platforms are just two examples of the many tools and techniques that can be used to carry out information operations.
Related:
[11-13-2023] 16th Air Force Seeks ‘Unity of Effort’ on Information Warfare
The 16th Air Force is working on an “information warfare operations center concept” to more effectively counteract narratives pushed by China and Russia, said its commander, Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Kennedy Jr., Nov. 13. Enhanced “unity of effort” across the service is the goal, Kennedy said during a livestreamed discussion with AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
“We have public affairs [works with media and civil society organizations] Airmen that are trained in how to get messages out and how to transmit what we’re seeing to the American population as well as global audiences,” Kennedy said. “We have cyber experts that understand how to gain access and understand what’s happening in that domain. Clearly we have our intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance experts.
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Information warfare is intensifying as U.S. competition with China intensifies. China is the “pacing challenge” according to the National Defense Strategy. Information warfare activities “can have real strategic advantage,” Kennedy said.
On one hand, the Pentagon has stepped up its efforts to expose dangerous or provocative behavior on the part of Chinese or Russian forces, declassifying hundreds of incidents and releasing photos and videos from dozens of them.
On the other, the 16th Air Force and its partners across U.S. Cyber Command, the FBI, and other government agencies are working to disrupt IW efforts like disinformation and misinformation being pumped onto social media.
On American-owned platforms, disrupting those efforts can merely mean reporting Chinese or Russian propaganda as violating Terms of Service. But Kennedy noted that the effort is more complicated on the hugely popular app TikTok, which has drawn scrutiny for its connections with the People’s Republic of China and possible data collection.
The US government is permitted to use propaganda against Americans under the 2012 NDAA:
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