Final presentation given in my INLS 200 (Data Analysis and Retrieval) class at UNC.

1. Jack S. Michel
20 April 2009

2.  First Draft
 How did advances in Information Warfare give
American military forces a significant advantage over
their Iraqi opponent in Operation Desert Storm?
 Problems…
 The Definition of Information Warfare
 Turns out different people say different things
 Whose definition should I use?

3.  Second (and Final) Draft
 How does the United States military define Information
Warfare and how did American forces use this definition of
Information Warfare to gain an advantage over their Iraqi
opponent in Operation Desert Storm?
 Comments
 Decided to use the United States Military definition since the U.S. is
the force being studied
 No clear consensus exists within historians or academia
 Problems…
 Have not changed question since this draft

4.  I am a history major
 Concentration in American
history – coursework
primarily in American war
and conflict
 I am a male
 War, tanks, and planes are
interesting
 Importance
 Desert Storm was the first
conflict where Information
Warfare had a drastic effect
on the outcome
 War’s lessons and
technologies can be applied
elsewhere

5.  “The integrated employment of the core capabilities of
electronic warfare [EW], computer network operations
[CNO], psychological operations [PSYOP], military
deception, and operations security [OPSEC], with specified
supporting and related capabilities to
influence, disrupt, corrupt, or usurp adversarial human
and automated decision making while protecting our own.”
DOD Information Operations Roadmap, 30. October 2003
Retrieved March 1, 2009 from Information Warfare site http://www.iwar.org.uk/iwar/

6.  In reference to “Information Operations” rather than
“Information Warfare”
 DoD Information Operations Roadmap created in
2003 and recently de-classified in 2006.
 Shows newness of subject
 No definition existed during Operation Desert Storm
 Very Broad
 Includes Electronic Warfare, Computer Network
Operations, Psychological Operations, Military
Deception, and Operations Security.

7.  Dr. George Stein, professor at Air War College at
Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, stated in 1995
 “Information Warfare, in its largest sense, is simply the
use of information to achieve our national objectives.”
 Vice-Admiral Arthur Cebrowski’s “Cornerstones of
Information Warfare” definition made in 1997
 quot;Information Warfare is any action to Deny, Exploit,
Corrupt or Destroy the enemy’s information and its
functions; protecting ourselves against those actions
and exploiting our own military information functionsquot;.

8.  Desert Storm is the name of the
U.S. Operation that invaded Iraq
between February 24 and 28, 1991
as part of the United Nation’s
authorized invasion of Iraq
following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait
in August 1990.
 It lasted 100 hours total before
President Bush called a ceasefire
upon the liberation of Kuwait.
 The entire conflict is known as the
Persian Gulf War (or the First Gulf
War). The United Nation’s coalition
consisted of 34 countries in conflict
with Iraq as the enemy.
 There was a significant
technological difference between
the two sides.

10.  Website – The Information Warfare Site
 Very useful site with many documents relating to Information
Warfare
 (2009, February 15) IWS - The Information Warfare Site. Retrieved
March 1, 2009, from http://www.iwar.org.uk/index.htm
 Book – The First Information War: The Story of
Communications, Computers, and Intelligence Systems in the
Persian Gulf War
 Could a book be any more perfect for meeting the subject?
 Campen, A. D. (Ed.). (2002). The first information war: The story of
communications, computers and intelligence systems in the Persian Gulf
War. Fairfax, VA: AFCEA International.
 Journal – “Military Theory and Information Warfare” from
Parameters
 First Thing I *read* actually describing specific detailed use of
Information Warfare in Operation Desert Storm.
 Henry R., and Peartree C. (1998). Military theory and information
warfare. Parameters, 28 (3), Retrieved March 29, 2009, from
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/USAWC/Parameters/98autumn/henry.ht
m

11.  Website: Used Google
 Search query “Information Warfare in Desert Storm”
 Very easy process due to ease of use of Google
 Book: Used UNC online library catalog.
 Search query was “Information Warfare in the Gulf War”
 I am used to navigating the Davis Library stacks for my history
major so this was an easy process
 Title was perfect
 Used table of contents to determine book relevance
 Used “about the authors” section to determine credibility
 Journal: Tried UNC e-resources  Failure. Instead used
Google Scholar with success.
 Two separate search queries: “Information Warfare in Desert
Storm” and “Information Warfare in the Persian Gulf”
 Second one worked to find article
 Google Scholar was as easy to use as normal Google
 Passed the “looks test,” strong “about the authors” section, and
credibility of Parameters

12.  Offensive and Defensive Electronic jamming
utilized by aircraft (Electronic Warfare)
 Iraqis could not effectively operate radar devices or
target American aircraft
 Information Systems
 Satellite uplinks providing real time connectivity
 JSTARS and AWACS aircraft and their information
systems controlled the air war and provided an
unseen level of detail in radar/targeting
 Sensor Equipment (Subdivision of Information
Systems)
 Long range ground based sensor equipment able to
detect enemy way beyond line of sight
 Satellite imagery
 Night Vision – Iraqis were unable to see in the dark

13.  Dealing with the multiple definitions of Information
Warfare
 Finding a Journal Article
 Luckily Google Scholar was helpful
 Fitting findings into the official U.S. Definition
 It is a broad definition, but also very specific
 APA citation
 Not my normal style and hard to adapt from the usual
 Creating a presentation not similar to the 15 or so
before this one
 It gets boring to hear about Boolean operators and
source evaluations after a certain number of times

14.  Much about Operation Desert Storm and Information
Warfare
 How to identify, analyze, and critique sources
according to certain guidelines
 APA Citation lesson

15.  What is...?
 Anything else about Desert Storm?