Manipulating the Ooda Loop: the Overlooked Role of Information Resource Management in Information Warfare

A ground–swell of interest in information as a weapon of warfare is growing within the U.S. armed services. Military strategists are looking at information as a tool to leverage our forces and make them irresistible in battle. Yet, there is little agreement as to what information warfare (IW) is, let alone how it is best fought. This fundamental disagreement is serving as an impediment to unified actions as the Air Force seeks its role in this arena. In particular, information resource management practitioners are questioning their role in supporting this mission. This thesis discusses limitations of existing information warfare interpretations in light of Col John R. Boyd’s decision model, the Observation–Orientation–Decision–Action (OODA) Loop, and offers a synthesized model of information warfare for use in the Air Force. It then offers information resource management (IRM) as a viable decision–support mechanism in that interpretation. By analyzing the applicability of information resource management to the Air Force IW mission, this thesis proposes a better way to view information: a tool for winning the information war through making superior decisions more rapidly than our opponents. An understanding of how IRM and IW relate to one another will provide a model for achieving and maintaining dominance of this new realm of warfare.