The Cognitive Crucible

Dr. Leigh Armistead discusses securing homes from cyber threats, the 20th anniversary of the Journal of Information Warfare, and revisiting its first issue. He explores the weaponization of information, deep fake technologies, historical and contemporary aspects of information warfare, and the impact on modern society. Recommendations on resources and conferences are also shared.

During this episode, Dr. Tod Schuck of Lockheed Martin discusses Command and Control (C2) and the importance of information maneuverability. Our wide ranging conversation covers Shannon information theory, cybernetics, the evolution of C2, business, the "million dollar microsecond," as well as military applications. We conclude with Schuck’s new formulation of the OODA loop, where he adds an explicit cognitive dimension: the C-OODA loop. Full Show Notes with Resources Guest Bio: Dr. Tod Schuck received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1989, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Florida Tech in 1994, and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2010 concentrating in knowledge representation in distributed, network-centric systems. He has worked extensively solving real-world problems for the Warfighter in the areas of data processing and fusion in cooperative, non-cooperative sensor and C2 systems. Since 1999, Dr. Schuck has been with Lockheed Martin RMS, where he is currently an LM Fellow specializing in information and knowledge fusion (representation and distribution for surface, air, and missile defense combat systems) and in complex systems architecture and design.  Dr. Schuck is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, holding the title of Lecturer in the Whiting School of Engineering and Applied Science, Programs for Professionals; and at Rowan University where he developed and is teaching a course on Command and Control for the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering – Electrical & Computer Engineering. He has published over 50 papers and conference proceedings and holds two US patents, two Lockheed Martin trade secrets, and has two recent patent applications submitted to the USPTO. 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. Phil Chudoba discusses technology acquisition at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Our conversation covers NGA’s mission, how NGA facilitates operations in the information environments, as well as NGA’s “moonshot” initiative. Link to full show notes Guest Bio: Mr. Phillip C. Chudoba serves as the Associate Director for Capabilities, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. In this capacity, he is responsible for defining the strategic direction of the agency and implementing that strategy. He provides oversight, synchronization, guidance, and development of NGA, National System for Geospatial Intelligence, and Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence strategic direction, future resource programming, capabilities planning, and oversees acquisition, innovation, research, and the adoption of new technologies supporting GEOINT requirements. In his prior position, Mr. Chudoba was Director of the GEOINT Enterprise Directorate. Previously, he served as the Assistant Director of Intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, from 2010 to 2018. Mr. Chudoba served as a U.S. Marine from 1980 to 2010, first as a Marine Infantryman before being commissioned, and then as an Intelligence Officer until his retirement as a Colonel. He commanded the 3rd Force Imagery Interpretation Unit during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and commanded the 1st Intelligence Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He participated in several major Joint Task Force operations, including Operations Deny Flight, Joint Endeavor, Deliberate Guard, and Guardian Retrieval. In addition, he completed numerous intelligence assignments in the Marine Division and the Marine Aircraft Wing. While assigned to the Deputy Directorate for Crisis Operations (J-2) at the Pentagon, he served as the Operations Officer for the National Intelligence Support Team. In later assignments, Mr. Chudoba managed all Marine Corps intelligence capability requirements as Director, Intelligence Integration Division, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and he subsequently managed the entire acquisition portfolio of Marine Corps intelligence capabilities as the Program Manager for Intelligence Systems, Marine Corps Systems Command. Mr. Chudoba earned his baccalaureate degree in Political Science/Soviet and East European Studies from Rutgers University, and earned graduate degrees from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Marine Corps University, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now The Eisenhower School). He is an alumnus of the Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, and is a former Associate Dean for Warfighting Studies at Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He also is a DAWIA Level 3 Certified Program Manager and an All-Marine Athlete. Mr. Chudoba’s distinctions include the Presidential Rank Award, the National Military Intelligence Association John T. Hughes Award, and numerous military decorations. 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. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who was the President of Estonia from 2006-2016, discusses a variety of cyber, information operations, and cognitive security topics including: Russian influence, cyber operations vs. kinetic operations, anti-vaxxer disinformation, coding education, and technology adoption in the United States. The episode concludes with Toomas passing along social media security advice to digital native youths. Full show notes: here Bio: Toomas Hendrik Ilves is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth President of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s. He served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2002. Later, he was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2006. He acquired his education in the United States – he graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1976 and received his Master's degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. 1984 he moved to Europe, to work at the office of Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany, first as a researcher and foreign policy analyst and later as the Head of the Estonian Desk. From 1993 to 1996 Toomas Hendrik Ilves served in Washington as the Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the United States of America and Canada. During this time he initiated with education minister Jaak Aaviksoo the Tiger Leap initiative to computerize and connect all Estonian schools online. From 1996 to 1998, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. After a brief period as Chairman of the North Atlantic Institute in 1998, he was again appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until 2002. From 1996 to 1998, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. After a brief period as a Chairman of the North Atlantic Institute in 1998, he was again appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until 2002. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Ilves was a Member of the Estonian Parliament; in 2004 he was elected a Member of the European Parliament, where he was Vice-president of the Foreign Affairs Committee. As a MEP, he initiated the Baltic Sea Strategy that later was implemented as official regional policy of the European Union. He also served as the standing rapporteur on the Association agreement with Albania. 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, LTC Erica Mitchell discusses the Army Cyber Institute’s Jack Voltaic (JV) project, which studies response gaps alongside assembled partners to identify interdependencies among critical infrastructure sectors, provide recommendations, and prevent strategic surprise. JV provides an innovative, bottom‐up approach to critical infrastructure resilience in two unique ways. Whereas most federal efforts to improve resiliency focus on regional or multistate emergency response, JV focuses on cities and municipalities where critical infrastructure and populations are most heavily populated. Furthermore, JV deviates from other cybersecurity and national preparedness exercises in that it builds around areas of interest nominated by the participants. Although JV events include national-level capabilities and resources, they are conceptually driven by the concerns of the cities and their infrastructure partners. Through this approach, the Department of Defense is able to harvest insights about potential roles, dependencies, partners, and support requests, while cities are able to discover potential capability gaps and expand their critical infrastructure information-sharing networks before a potential disaster strikes. The flexible JV platform is capable of including information operations scenarios, as well. Link to full show notes and resources Bio: Lieutenant Colonel Erica Mitchell is the Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) Research Group Chief for the Army Cyber Institute and Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. She graduated from West Point with a B.S. in American Legal Systems, was commissioned as a Signal Corps officer, and later transitioned to an Information Systems Management Officer (FA26B). She attended Syracuse University, where she earned an M.S. in Information Systems Management, C.A.S. in Information Security Management, and PhD in Information Science and Technology. Her military service includes serving at increasing levels of responsibility starting at the tactical level as a platoon leader, up to and including project management on DoD-level enterprise technology programs. She has authored and co-authored several conference papers and a journal article. Her main research focus at ACI is critical infrastructure resilience. She is a member of ACM and ISC2 and maintains the CISSP certification. 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, VADM Joe Dyer USN (Ret.) recaps his service on the Section 809 Panel, which was chartered by the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). He also discusses 5G technology, investment strategy, enterprise portfolio management, changing from process to product, and the Congressionally-funded National Spectrum Consortium. Full show notes Bio: Vice Admiral Joseph W. Dyer USN (Ret.) is Chief Strategy Officer for the National Spectrum Consortium. He was a C-Level executive at iRobot Corp for over a decade. Formerly he was the Commander of the Naval Air Systems Command. He received the James H. Doolittle award for outstanding engineering achievement in aerospace. Joe holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s in finance from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is an elected fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the National Academy of Public Administration. 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.

LtGen Lori Reynolds leads the Marine Corps’ modernization efforts related to operations in the information environment. During this episode, our wide ranging discussion covers competition, professional military education, authorities, technology, and partnerships. Full Show Notes with Links and Resources Bio: Lieutenant General Reynolds was commissioned in May 1986 upon graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy and assigned as a Communications Officer. As a Company grade officer, she served in various billets at 1st Marine Division Communications Company, Marine Wing Communication Squadron 18 in Okinawa, Marine Corps Systems Command, and 9th Communication Battalion, I MEF. As a Field Grade officer, she was selected to command Recruiting Station Harrisburg PA and then served as an Action Officer and Division Head at HQMC C4. She was selected to command 9th Communication Battalion in 2003 and deployed the battalion to Fallujah Iraq in support of I MEF during Operation Iraqi Freedom II. She was subsequently assigned to duty with the Joint Staff J6 in Washington DC where she was an Action Officer and Division Head. Col Reynolds assumed command of 1 MEF Headquarters Group in 2009 and deployed the Group to Helmand Province Afghanistan in support of I MEF and RC Southwest during Operation Enduring Freedom. As a General Officer, she commanded Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island/Eastern Recruiting Region from 2011-2014, was the Principal Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense South and Southeast Asia in OSD Policy from 2014-2015 and commanded Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command from 2015-2018. LtGen Reynolds has commanded at every rank. Her professional military education includes The Basic School, the Basic Communication Officer’s Course, Command and Control Systems Course, the Naval War College and the Army War College. She has earned Masters Degrees from both the Naval War College and the Army War College. 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, one of the principal authors of Marine Corps Doctrinal Pub (MCDP) 1-4 (“Competing”), Col Bill Vivian, USMC (ret.), discusses the creation of this timely document. After recapping the Marine Corps' capstone doctrinal publication, which is called "Warfighting," he then offers a perspective on the evolution of information operations and great power competition from the vantage of a career infantry officer. More information about the Phoenix Challenge conference with Keynote by former Director of National Intelligence, LtGen (ret.) James Clapper. Link to show notes Bio: Bill Vivian of Freestone Solutions Group retired from the Marine Corps in 2018 after 31 years on active duty. Starting as an enlisted Marine, he rose through the ranks to colonel. Bill was an infantry officer who commanded at each level from a platoon of 40 to a regiment of 4,000 Marines. Along the way he earned master’s degrees in operational planning, military studies, and resource strategy. In 2018, Bill launched Freestone Solutions Group, a leadership coaching and consulting business. 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. Shomit Ghose of ONSET Ventures outlines the difference between marginal and disruptive innovation. We also talk about the embodiment of the Red Queen Hypothesis and the OODA loop in today’s competitive business climate where companies are expected to innovate quickly in order to stay ahead of their competition. Shomit asserts that the big tech companies are outpacing most others, which has analogues for national security, as well. We conclude the episode talking about driving innovation with entrepreneurship and teaching the next generation of business and technology leaders. More information about the Phoenix Challenge conference with Keynote by former Director of National Intelligence, LtGen (ret.) James Clapper. Link to full show notes and resources Bio: Shomit Ghose is a general partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm ONSET Ventures, which he joined in 2001.  Prior to entering the world of VC, Shomit was a software entrepreneur himself and was part of multiple successful exits.  In his start-up career Shomit has held all operating positions from software engineer to CEO.  He currently serves on multiple corporate and non-profit boards, and has also held teaching positions at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, the University of San Francisco's School of Management, and the Technical University of Denmark.  Shomit received his degree in computer science from UC Berkeley, where he also played attack on the Cal men's lacrosse team. 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, MAJ Jessica Dawson of the Army Cyber Institute at West Point shares recent research about the social media ecosystem and how it is being weaponized. We also discuss the concept of identity and a new framework for understanding narrative weaponization for the purposes of mobilization and radicalization. Our conversation concludes with Jess’ policy and regulatory recommendations for mitigating risk. Link to full show notes and resources Bio: MAJ Jessica Dawson is a native of rural Maine who enlisted in the Army in 1995 and reached the rank of Sergeant First Class before she commissioned into the Signal Corps in 2007. MAJ Dawson has served in Korea, Germany, Iraq and Fort Hood. She is currently serving as the lead research scientist for the Army Cyber Institute’s Information Warfare team and teaches sociology in the Department Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University and is currently researching social media and extremism along with the implications of the digital disruption of social processes. 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.