Marines get new information warfare leader

Maj. Gen. Lori Reynolds has been nominated for a third star and to serve as the recently established deputy commandant for information, according to a May 18 announcement from the Department of Defense.

Reynolds, who currently heads Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, will succeed Lt. Gen. Daniel O’Donohue, who is moving to the joint staff. The Defense Department has not yet announced a replacement for Reynolds at Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command.

The Marines established this new position, the deputy commandant for information, in summer 2017 to better compete in a 21st century world, aligning all information-related capability under a single entity. This includes cyber, signals intelligence and electronic warfare, among others.

RELATED

Why the Marine Corps needed a new deputy commandant

The Marine Corps has reorganized its leadership and forces to reflect a new reality: that information will play an outsized role in any future conflict.

By Mark Pomerleau

Reynolds’ move comes as the service is standing up Marine Expeditionary Force Information Groups (MIG) under the deputy commandant. Those groups will serve as the action arm at the tactical edge.

RELATED

How the Marines are mobilizing forces for information warfare

The Marine Corps is using wargames and exercises to game how to operationalize their new information environment commands.

By Mark Pomerleau

Two of these units recently completed a series of exercises aimed at gaming what capabilities at what level might reside within the units as a way to determine how these forces will be employed in the future.

More In C2/Comms

Lawmakers want Austin to report on progress, cost of JADC2

Concerns exist about the complexities and costs of Joint All-Domain Command and Control, a marquee Pentagon effort, and Congress has expressed its skepticism in the past.

Network Security

Army verifies info-sharing abilities with forces joining Project Convergence 22

The U.S. Army said a communications test known as COMMEX 1B was a success, replicating and informing the scale and scenarios of Project Convergence in far-flung laboratory and field settings.

GEOINT

US intelligence satellite launches from California

The NROL-85 satellite lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

New US Air Force secretary to shake up Advanced Battle Management Program

“I want to focus it more on specific operational return on investment,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told Defense News.

New Army tactical network leadership will try to stop frontline frustrations with data

The new leader of the Army's Network Cross-Functional Team has a unique understanding of soldiers' network needs in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East.