{"id":31722,"date":"2020-10-16T17:36:19","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T17:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/16\/weaponized-truth-how-the-us-military-plans-to-compete-in-the-crowded-information-space\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:10:15","slug":"weaponized-truth-how-the-us-military-plans-to-compete-in-the-crowded-information-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/the-americas\/2020\/10\/16\/weaponized-truth-how-the-us-military-plans-to-compete-in-the-crowded-information-space\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Weaponized truth\u2019: How the US military plans to compete in the crowded information space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Investing in information warfare capabilities is as important as updating military platforms, according to Col. Myles Caggins, the director of public affairs for the U.S. Army\u2019s III Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSenior leaders need to embrace that public-communication warfare is important, and then have the policies that provide the resources to equip our words warriors and our soldiers with what they need,\u201d he said during a virtual presentation Oct. 15 as part of the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s annual meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To quickly thwart and defeat adversarial messages and campaigns in the information space \u2014 which includes social media and, more broadly, the internet \u2014 the Defense Department must invest in its information professionals and their tools just as it does in updating its tanks and planes, the officer argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caggins recently concluded a tour in the Middle East serving as the spokesman for the global coalition combating the Islamic Statet group in Iraq and Syria. At the AUSA event, he shared lessons learned about fighting in the information environment, which includes a host of both state and nonstate actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\t