The Joint Information Operations Warfare Center (JIOWC) was created by the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) sometime around 2004 or 2005 at

Lackland Air Force Base Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Bexar County, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of the city of Sa ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, with the intent of coordinating and executing U.S. information operations at the strategic level. On September 12, 2011, by executive order, the JIOWC was chartered as a Chairman's Controlled Activity aligned under the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

. The JIOWC falls within the Joint Staff Operations Directorate (J3), through the Deputy Director Global Operations, J39 (DDGO).

History

The Joint Electronic Warfare Center (JEWC) was established by the Secretary of Defense in October 1980 and reported to the Joint Staff. In September 1994, the JEWC’s mission was expanded and the organization was renamed the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center (JC2WC). At this time the JC2WC was staffed with 166 personnel and provided operational support to missions including:

Operation Vigilant Warrior Operation Vigilant Warrior ( ar, عملية المحارب اليقظ) was a military operation from 8 October 1994 to 15 December 1994 by the United States in response to two divisions of Iraqi Republican Guard troops moving toward the Kuwaiti ...

and

Operation Deny Flight Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation that began on 12 April 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations (UN) no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United Nations and NATO later expanded the mis ...

. In 1998, as a result of the Defense Reform Initiative (DRI), the JC2WC was realigned from the Joint Staff to US Atlantic Command. Further expansion of the JC2WC mission resulted in redesignation as the Joint Information Operations Center (JIOC). In October 1999, the JIOC was realigned as a subordinate command of USSPACECOM. In conjunction with the October 1, 2002 transition of USSPACECOM to USSTRATCOM, the JIOC was realigned as a subordinate command to USSTRATCOM. In 2006 the JIOC was redesignated the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center (JIOWC) and at the time it was located at Lackland Air Force Base, near

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, Texas with the intent of coordinating and executing U.S.

information operations Information Operations is a category of direct and indirect support operations for the United States Military. By definition in Joint Publication 3-13, "IO are described as the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer network ...

at the strategic level. Potentially due to concerns from then Secretary of Defense,

Robert Gates Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was originally appointed by president George W. Bush an ...

, the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

, and the National Security Staff, President Obama signed Change One to the 2011 Unified Command Plan, on September 12, 2011. This plan transferred the JIOWC’s Information Operations, Military Deception, and Operations Security missions from USSTRATCOM to the Joint Staff as a Chairman-controlled activity (CCA). On January 30, 2018, the JIOWC was awarded the

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritori ...

for meritorious service or achievement during the period of service from January 1, 2012 to September 15, 2015.

Mission

Currently, the JIOWC is tasked with supporting the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

in improving the ability of the United States Department of Defense (USDOD) to "meet combatant command information-related requirements, improve development of information-related capabilities, and ensure operational integration and coherence across combatant commands and other DOD activities." The JIOWC director is a member of the

Senior Executive Service The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service ...

and the deputy director will serve on a 3-year rotational basis among the military services. A sub organization of the JIOWC is the Joint OPSEC Support Element (JOSE). The JOSE is designed to provide OPSEC training, program review, surveys, and plans and exercise support to the

combatant commands A unified combatant command (CCMD), also referred to as a combatant command, is a joint military command of the United States Department of Defense that is composed of units from two or more service branches of the United States Armed Forces, an ...

References

* {{cite web , title=Charter of the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center , url=https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Library/Instructions/CJCSI%205125.01%C2%A0.pdf?ver=2017-02-08-175018-130 , website=Joint Chief of Staff directive Centers of the U.S. Department of Defense Information operations units and formations

History

Mission

See also

References