Marine Air-Ground Task Force Offensive Information Operations, Supporting Operational Maneuver from the Sea

The Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) is the organizational structure that the Marine Corps will continue to use to task organize forces. The Marine Corps must prepare doctrine to meet the challenges and opportunities that Information Operations (IO) offers. The challenges and opportunities of IO are only now beginning to be defined by the Marine Corps. Currently, there is no Marine Corps doctrine to assist MAGTF personnel in the conduct of offensive IO. This thesis proposes thirteen doctrinal principles for the employment of the elements of offensive IO for a forward deployed MAGTF operating in a littoral, unformed or developing operational environment. These proposed doctrinal principles support Operational Maneuver From the Sea and provide a link between the 1998 Marine Corps Concept Paper A Concept for Information Operations and actual operating procedures. These proposed doctrinal principles are more specific than current Joint doctrine. This thesis also proposes several recommendations for the implementation of these principles into procedure. The documentary (historical) method and the case studies, based on successful historical examples of operations in the littorals from World War II to the present, are used.