Born from this legacy, the Information Warfare Battlelab is forging ahead in its mission to test new ideas which will improve Air Force information warfare capabilities, according to Col. John Watkins, the IWB Commander.

"We expect that the six battlelabs working together will rapidly identify innovative and superior ways to plan and employ information warfare capabilities, organize, train and equip Air Force information warfare forces, and influence the development of information warfare doctrine and tactics," said Watkins.

"The IWB is a core of information warfare experts linked with other information warfare organizations that support the full spectrum of Air Force operations," said Capt Bryan Ossolinski, an intelligence officer at the IWB.

The six Air Force Battlelabs were opened at the direction of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman to advance the Air Force's core competencies. The IWB will primarily support the core competency of Information Superiority, but will be equally committed to the other core competencies.

"The IW Battlelab will find a way to rapidly evaluate new ideas with regard to potential for improving or advancing Air Force core competencies," Watkins said.

The first of the battlelabs to open, Gen. Ronald Fogleman cut the facility's ribbon on March 17, christening the beginning of a new era in IW operations. "We've had some very smart people doing a lot of hard work. They were able to develop concepts, find resources and build facilities in the absolute minimum time," Watkins said.

Recently assuming command of the IWB, Watkins came to the Battlelab from an extended TDY in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he was the director of a NATO Air Operations Cell. Watkins is a F-15 pilot and former director of the Air Force Wargaming Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

The IWB supports IW needs in counterinformation. Offensively, the IWB is oriented at the operational and tactical level. Defensively, the IWB will explore innovative ways to defend information from a global and tactical view. Additionally, the IWB will look for better ways to protect deployed forces.

Ideas to evaluate may come in any form and from any source including industry, the Air Force or from other services. A broad agency announcement asking industry for innovative concepts was published in Commerce Business Daily on March 13. A message to major commands was sent out on March 26 from Gen. Michael Hayden, Air Intelligence Agency commander, asking for inputs from the field.

Approximately 50 new ideas have been submitted as of June, according to Watkins.

"We'll use internal working groups, which will include functional experts from within the battlelab, Air Force Information Warfare Center, and Air Intelligence Agency, who will carefully review each concept and select those that appear most valuable so that limited resources can be used to explore them.

"It will be a collaborative effort, to include subject matter experts, so a wise decision will be made," said Watkins.

The IWB's customers include Air Force major commands, numbered Air Forces, network control centers, and doctrine centers.

The IWB reports to the AFIWC commander. AIA is the sponsoring major command equivalent. The Air Staff Executive Officer provides Senior executive leadership. The Battlelab Integration Division, provides specific guidance to all six of the Air Force battlelabs.

"Collocated with the AFIWC, the IWB will capitalize on their expertise in developing and proving innovative information warfare ideas and solutions," said Ossolinski.

Air Force Battlelabs are considered to be a "do tank," similar to a think tank. The difference is that the Battlelabs will perform operations demonstrations that will prove the value of the initiative. These demos will have a time limit of 18 months.

"We believe the 18 months time line will be short enough so innovative ideas will not get bogged down in overly bureaucratic processes which will delay the decision to proceed until the concept is no longer valuable," said Watkins.

The IWB will use a team approach to accomplish its mission. The IWB leadership will create teams that will evaluate the IW concept. The teams will analyze the results and produce recommendations on how the specific IW initiative could be best utilized for the improvement of air and space power.

These recommendations are forwarded to the Air Force Requirements Oversight Council and the Air Force Board.

"Our IW expert in the IWB will be coordinating closely with personnel in other Battlelabs so that the ideas will be shared," Watkins said.

"In addition to conducting information warfare demonstrations, the IWB will join the other five Air Force battlelabs in conducting larger and/or multi-disciplinary demonstrations.

"The battlelabs will be connected with high speed data lines and video teleconferencing capability to facilitate collaborative multi-battlelab efforts," Ossolinski said.

Any Air Force member with an information warfare idea or operational need may reach the Information Warfare Battlelab via the IWB web at http://www.aia.af.mil/hqaia/afiwc/iwb.

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