The U.S. Air Force’s cyber command, led by Lt. Gen. Kevin Kennedy of the 16th Air Force, is devoting more time to training airmen in information warfare, focusing on uncovering disinformation campaigns and networks and attempting to influence the audience. The U.S. military has spent relatively little effort on influence operations compared to China and Russia, and Kennedy’s goal is to fully integrate information operations into broader non-kinetic effects such as electronic and cyber warfare.
Kennedy is working with other partners in the government to reveal adversary information operations before they go viral and combat them, potentially reaching out to social media companies in the process. Kennedy also addressed the reality of foreign disinformation campaigns and their potential effects on the battlefield, emphasizing the importance of exposing and removing them through partnerships with U.S. Cyber Command and possibly the interagency in the case of terms of service violations on social media.
