The Cognitive Crucible

During this episode, Chan Swallow discusses the Air Force's A9 office, as well as how the Air Force builds capability while confronting technology acquisition tradeoffs. The wide ranging conversation also covers manpower and talent acquisition issues--especially the competition for talent which can take raw data and turn it into actionable insights. Link to full show notes and resources https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-60 Guest Bio: Robert Chandler Swallow, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is Principal Deputy Director, Studies, Analyses and Assessments, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. He is responsible for the development of Air Force-wide policy, guidance, and analyses that inform Air Force leadership decisions concerning current and future warfighting capabilities. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Swallow was the Technical Director for the Joint Warfare Analysis Center in Dahlgren, Virginia. Leading the JWAC advancement of targeting analysis with a focus on providing future combatant commanders with more targeting options faster, he worked across the interagency to provide modeling and simulation, network analysis, wargaming, and operations research optimized weapons pairings that leveraged emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and directed energy to conduct conventional, cyber, information, space, economic, and gray zone warfare. Specific partnerships with U.S. Cyber Command, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Air Combat Command and the Joint Technical Coordination Group for Munitions Effectiveness, led to breakthroughs in threat representative network simulation and advanced weapons pairings. Mr. Swallow gained experience in policy, strategy, military operations, counter-terrorism, cyber warfare, economics, infrastructure, operations research, and nuclear engineering while serving in the U.S. Navy. He concluded his military service in three joint assignments: Commander of the JWAC, Professor at the National Defense University teaching Economics of the National Security Strategy during the Great Recession and developing the Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands Fellowship. Mr. Swallow also worked in the Pentagon serving as the Senior Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs developing policy options for the Middle East, Russia, the Caucasus, Europe, Africa and NATO. His sea tours include operations around the world highlighted by commanding the guided missile frigate, USS Nicholas, that intercepted the merchant ship, BBC China, carrying contraband nuclear centrifuges to Libya exposing the illegal nuclear efforts of Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, and Libya; executing emergency relief efforts in Yemen after the terrorist attack on USS Cole; and driving the carrier, USS Enterprise. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

During this sprawling episode, biologist and author, Dr. Mark Moffett, discusses societies. Mark observes that the acceptance of strangers was a breakthrough in the evolution of humanity. Moreover, humans maintain allegiance to group identities, and our uneasy coexistence with outsiders is reflected both in the fault lines within societies and in the relationships between nations. These topics are explored along with the involuntary nature of social membership, cosmopolitanism, immigration, and subtle micro-signals which indicate group belonging. Mark's upcoming research efforts will examine how animal societies stay together and what causes them to break apart, and compare the situation for humans; his field work will encompass a wide range of vertebrate animals, from lions and chimpanzees to Florida scrub jays and parrot fish. Link to full show notes and resources https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-59 Guest Bio: Dr. Mark Moffett is a biologist at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian and the author of 'The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall.' Dr. Moffett has published three other highly regarded books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles. He has carried out research and exploration in over one hundred countries, earning him a medal from The Explorers Club, and has received an award for writing from Harvard. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

During this episode, Prof. Jan Kallberg and COL Stephen Hamilton of the Army Cyber Institute return to the Cognitive Crucible and discuss prisoner of war (POW) considerations in the digital world. After Jan recaps his recent article, In Great Power Wars, Americans Could Again Become POWs, the conversation covers the will to fight, cognitive preparation of the battlefield, and ways the enemy might harvest information about service members in advance to identify exploitable information. Both Jan and Stephen give some policy suggestions, as well. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bios: Dr. Jan Kallberg is an Assistant Professor in Political Science with the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy, and a Research Scientist with the Army Cyber Institute at West Point. Before joining the Army Cyber Institute at West Point, he was a researcher with the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute, the University of Texas at Dallas, and an Assistant Professor with Arkansas Tech University. Dr. Kallberg earned his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas and holds a J.D. from the University of Stockholm. COL Stephen Hamilton is a Cyber officer and former Information System Management officer and former Signal officer. He has held numerous command and staff assignments at the tactical and operation unit levels as well as with the Joint Staff. Stephen is currently the Technical Director of the Army Cyber Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy, a Master of Science in Software Engineering from Auburn University, and a PhD in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

During this episode, we talk with Prof. Kathleen Carley of Carnegie Mellon University about social cybersecurity, the BEND framework, and the challenges and promise of developing understandings and technologies on how to manage the safety of online discourse. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio: Kathleen M. Carley is a professor in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard and her undergraduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the director of the Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS), a university-wide interdisciplinary center that brings together network analysis, computer science, and organization science and she is the founding director of the Center for Informed Democracy and Social-cybersecurity (IDeaS), CMU's university wide center for disinformation, hate-speech and extremism online. She is also the CEO of Netanomics. Kathleen M. Carley's research combines cognitive science, social networks and computer science to address complex social and organizational problems. Her specific research areas are dynamic network analysis, computational social and organization theory, adaptation and evolution, text mining, social media, information diffusion, disaster response and social-cybersecurity. She and her groups have developed infrastructure tools for analyzing large scale dynamic networks and various multi-agent simulation systems. The infrastructure tools include ORA, a statistical toolkit for analyzing and visualizing high-dimensional networks across time and space. ORA-PRO contains the BEND analytics. AutoMap, a text-mining system for extracting semantic networks, and high dimensional networks. NetMapper, a text-mining tool for extracting semantic networks, high dimensional networks, sentiment and subconscious CUES from texts and social media. Construct, an agent-based dynamic-network simulation system for examining information diffusion and belief formation in various social, organizational and media environments. She is the founding co-editor of the journal Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory which she now co-edits with Dr. Terrill Frantz. She has co-edited several books in the computational organizations and dynamic network area and over 400 published papers. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

During this thought provoking episode, Mr. Bob Jones asserts that governance is a critical and often overlooked source of destabilizing tensions within societies. Simultaneously, governance is the solution for managing irregular warfare. Our discussion centers around a recent article that Bob authored called: "Strategic Influence: Applying the Principles of Unconventional Warfare in Peace." Bob reviews his framework which helps visualize how governance affects populations (see show notes link or article for the diagram itself). Additionally, we discuss irregular warfare as a continuum which includes revolution-democracy-tyranny, the imperative for the United States to remain as the leader of the international rules-based system, and the critical feedback he has received from various national security stakeholders. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio: Mr. Robert Jones is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel; a former Deputy District Attorney; a Fellow with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), and the Senior Strategist at U.S. Special Operations Command. Currently serving as a member of the SOCOM J5 Donovan Group, Mr. Jones is responsible for leading innovative thinking on the strategic environment and understanding how it impacts factors critical to national security, such as competition, the character of conflict, deterrence and societal stability. Mr. Robert Jones is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel; a former Deputy District Attorney; and the Senior Strategist at U.S. Special Operations Command. Currently serving as a member of the SOCOM J5 Donovan Group, Mr. Jones is responsible for leading innovative thinking on the strategic environment and understanding how it impacts factors critical to national security, such as competition, the character of conflict, deterrence and societal stability. Mr. Jones's principle focus is on the fundamental human aspects of political conflict. In a rapidly evolving strategic environment, good strategy is rooted in understanding what remains constant and why; while good tactics demands a realistic appreciation for what is different or changed. Successful campaigning demands a fusion of the two. He enjoys "wire brushing" concepts by routinely standing in front of tough audiences. None of these is tougher than those he faces in his role as a fixture in the Joint Special Operations University's Enlisted Academy, applying a commonsense perspective to bring our most experienced Special Operators strategic insights they can actually use. This is also the third consecutive year that Mr. Jones has addressed the Air War College class during the Operational Design phase of their curriculum, sharing practical insights gleaned from his experiences. He has been a featured speaker at Universities as storied as Oxford, St Andrews, Stanford and Harvard; and has led professional development events with operational units across the SOCOM enterprise. Mr. Jones is also a Fellow with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS). About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

During this episode, Mr. Harrison Schramm of Group W discusses information-related challenges formed by artificial intelligence, supply chains, and data science talent. Our wide-ranging discussion touches upon AI and ethics, life and death decision making, and immigration. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio: Mr. Harrison Schramm is a principal research scientist at Group W, and works at the intersection of data, models and policy. After a 20 year career in the US Navy where he served as both a helicopter pilot and operations analyst, he entered practice as a professional statistician. He's been active in this community, where he has served as vice president of the Military Operations Research Society (MORS), and is the recipient of the Clayton Thomas prize for contributions to the profession. Of note, he chaired the inaugural INFORMS Conference on Security in February of this year. He enjoys professional accreditation from INFORMS, American Statistical Association, and the Royal (UK) Statistical Society. He is President of the Analytics Society of INFORMS. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

During this episode, RADM Steve Parode discusses a variety of information-related topics including the Cold War peace dividend, the Tri-service Maritime Strategy, the Joint Concept of Information Advantage, cognitive preparation of the battlefield, information PTSD, and Information Technology – Operational Technology (IT-OT) convergence, plus more. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio: Rear Adm. Steve Parode retired recently from the United States Navy after 35 years in uniform. His last assignment was with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations where he was the Director of the Warfare Integration Directorate. Other assignments included service with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence as the deputy director for Information Operations, also as the director of intelligence (J2) for U.S. Strategic Command, and as deputy chief of Computer Network Operations (X43) at the National Security Agency. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Mr Clint Watts joins the Cognitive Crucible and gives an FBI-perspective on domestic extremism. The conversation references a recent article on Clint's Selected Wisdom substack: Virtual Insanity to Real World Calamity: "How Will Lies Power Domestic Terrorism in 2021?" Clint asserts that domestic terrorist groups are far from homogeneous. Particularly worrisome are young, largely single, largely male, "stochastic haters" who tend to be committed to violence and are accelerating destabilizing trajectories. Clint unpacks the landscape, discusses hard trade-offs between security and privacy, and provides some policy recommendations. Link to full show notes and resources Guest Bio: Clint Watts is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He previously was an infantry officer in the United States Army, and was the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at United States Military Academy at West Point. Additionally, he was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He's also the author of: "Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News." A Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Also a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. Recently examined the rise of social media influence by publishing my first book entitled Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians and Fake News. His research and writing focuses on terrorism, counterterrorism, social media influence and Russian disinformation. Clint's tracking of terrorist foreign fighters allowed him to predict the rise of the Islamic State over al Qaeda in 2014. From 2014 – 2016, Clint worked with a team to track and model the rise of Russian influence operations via social media leading up to the U.S. Presidential election of 2016. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

During this episode, CDR Erika Gelen and Prof. Frank Smith discuss their co-authored article: "Advantage At Sea Requires Rethinking Influence." After reviewing the tri-service (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard) strategy "Advantage at Sea," they make the case that the US Navy handicaps itself in great-power competition--especially relative to military information support operations (MISO). They also have some concrete recommendations for senior leaders regarding competition. To get onto the weekly GHOST POST email distribution, contact US Army COL David Acosta at: david.a.acosta.mil {at} mail [...dot...] mil Links to full show notes Guest Bios Dr. Frank Smith is the director of the Cyber and Innovation Policy Institute (or CIPI), part of the Strategic and Operational Research Department in the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the U.S. Naval War College. Smith was previously a senior lecturer in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. His interdisciplinary research examines the relationship between emerging technology and national security, particularly in cyberspace. He has a Ph.D. in political science and a B.S. in biological chemistry, both from the University of Chicago. Cmdr Erika De La Parra Gehlen is a student in the Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute (CIPI) Gravely program at the U.S. Naval War College. She is an active-duty judge advocate in the U.S. Navy and, most recently, the legal advisor to Special Operations Command, Pacific. Her expertise in national security law ranges from counter-terrorism to information operations. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Whittier College School of Law. About IPA IPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

In this bonus episode, we replay an excerpt from Dr. Michael Vickers' Phoenix Challenge 2021 Keynote address. Dr. Vickers is the former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. He spoke about the growing criticality of Information Operations and the ways in which our adversaries in great power competition have learned to use our openness, values, and our own technologies against Western democracies. Here is more information about the 2021 Phoenix Challenge Conference as well as the agenda. All of the Phoenix Challenge videos, as well as the detailed conference report are available for IPA members. If you're not a member, why not join now? About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.