MAGAZINE
SPRING 2019
TERRAIN WALK in the Information Environment
By Lt . Col . Ulrich M . Janssen ( DEU ), LANDCOM COMMS DIV .
“ In this direction , as I show , we have an up to 4 km clear view and excellent field of fire for guided anti-tank missiles . We should reserve this excellent gun position for our anti-tank platoon . The forest to our left provides a good option for a covered approach . And the broad and fast flowing river in the middle ground prevents the enemy from attacking us by surprise .” This is a typical sequence of a terrain assessment that every young Army soldier is supposed to learn by heart during the first steps of a military career . How does the terrain support our mission ? What is advantageous ; what is disadvantageous with regard to the accomplishment of my mission ? Identify and name the things that will affect our own mission , judge , and conclude . A terrain walk is due and a prerequisite for success of any kind of land-based military operation … in a two- or three-dimensional operational environment . Soldiers have to learn and apply a specific lexicon to be precise and clearly understood . But how is the situation in a rapidly evolving , multi-domain and constantly changing adaptive environment like the Information Environment ?
First and foremost , what is the Information Environment ( IE ), what are the specific characteristics , and what are the features to take into consideration when operating in the IE ? What is in the specific language soldiers have to learn to describe this environment and identify the things that are advantageous or disadvantageous for our own mission ? Well , first of all , there is information itself . Information and sharing of information are very natural for human beings and characterize social behaviour - no matter whether military or civilians . Either I don ’ t know but want to know or need to know , and ask a question , or I know and want to share my knowledge with others . “ Sharing information is a responsibility , not a risk ,” former Supreme Allied Commander Transformation ( SACT ) French Army Gen . Stephane Abrail said in 2010 . Actually , sharing or exchanging information is so natural that Paul Watzlawick 1 and his colleagues in 1967 stated the first axiom of modern communications that is still valid more than 50 years later , “ One cannot not communicate !” Translated for the soldier , everything you do ( or don ’ t do ), if observed , transmits a message . You cannot avoid communicating – no matter how hard you try .
But what is it that communicates ? Everything ! Once your request for information ( your question ) is out , the intelligence ( intel .) community gathers raw
Andrew Mackay and Steve Tatham : Behavioural Conflict : Why Understanding People and Their Motivation will Proof Decisive in Future Conflict , http :// www . behaviouralconflict . com /
1 Paul Watzlawick ( July 25 , 1921 – March 31 , 2007 ) was an Austrian-American psychologist , communication theorist , and philosopher :
a theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism . He was one of the most influential figures at the Mental Research Institute and lived and worked in Palo Alto , California .
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