Marine Expeditionary Force Information Groups, are the focal points for all information warfare capabilities within the expeditionary force.
The Marine Corps is using wargames and exercises to game how to operationalize their new information environment commands.
“How does the MIG, MEF Information Group, plug into the Navy?
That’s a question Marine Corps leaders are continuing to work through. Trainning centers will help commanders better understand the threats and vulnerabilities in the information sphere.
These centers are “always on” command and control nodes that work on understanding, planning and coordinating what the Marines describe as operations in the information environment. The centers work in concert with other Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force operations in physical domains.
The goal of these organizations is to show information warfare commanders the threats, vulnerabilities and opportunities that exist in their domain.
Until recently, there was no way for the Marine Corps to know what was happening in that arena because there was no consolidated understanding of day-to-day or real-time actions. But with new information groups, the Corps will be able to reduce stovepipes and improve collaboration.
The information command centers will exist within the combat operations centers, essentially expeditionary command and control centers, which already provide Marine commanders with a picture of the physical battlespace from air, ground and logistics.
The data for the new centers will come from the Marine Corps Air-Ground task force and will include intelligence, and information on the electromagnetic spectrum. While officials said they do not have a formal program of record to provide such a common operational picture, they are pursuing a concept they call the Spectrum Services Framework. The idea for the concept is similar to the Army program, the Command Post Computing Environment, which is a web-enabled system that will consolidate mission systems and programs into a single user interface.
Each information group, which is led by a colonel with six subordinate battalion-level commands, is expected to perform at least 5 functions. The are: 1) assuring enterprise command and control, 2) providing information environment battlespace awareness, 3) attacking and exploiting networks, 4) systems and information informing/deceiving foreign target audiences and 5) controlling information capabilities, resources and activities.
Those capabilities are part of a broader effort to expand the scope of these forces over the next several years. Part of that initiative includes creating new organizations within existing formations and rebranding existing formations.
For example, the Marines created electronic warfare support teams and an aviation support element under its existing radio battalions.
Electronic warfare will be a big portion of fighting capability being restored in information spaces.
The aviation support element will provide signals intelligence and electronic warfare support in general support to each Marine air wing.