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Brian Kerg

@briankerg.bsky.social

2.7K followers 340 following 500 posts

Writer | Atlantic Council Fellow | Irregular Warfare Initiative Fellow | Naval Institute Editorial Board alumnus | Krulak Center alumnus | Pacific Forum alumnus | School of Advanced Warfighting alumnus | Amateur Historian | I Do War Stuff | Views My Own |

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Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · Jul 10

My latest for the @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social.

BLUF: Peninsular stability is linked directly to Taiwan Strait stability. Military planners should approach the simultaneous threats of the #PRC and #DPRK with this fact in mind. #WriteFightWin

www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...

South Korea is the ideal anchor for the first island chain

Discussion of the first island chain largely overlooks South Korea, an ideal "anchor" that could prove decisive in a US-China conflict involving Taiwan.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 14m

#BOOM! #RedLightning! Your favorite comm squadron, MWCS-38, broke squelch with @taskandpurpose.com.

Below is their write up of our development and hosting of the inaugural #USMC service-wide Comms Super Squad competition, #Thunderstruck:

taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-...

Marine communications experts were 'Thunderstruck' in first-ever competition

Squads of Marine communication experts competed in Thunderstruck, a first-of-its-kind contest of field radio and combat skills.

taskandpurpose.com

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

Failing that, the MIG will still be cloaked in mystery, and it will remain difficult to tell the story of why it is worth the people and resources we put against it. FIN.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

There is a strong case to be made regarding what it does, and what it can do - I just think this piece focused on the wrong areas. I'd really like to see someone with MIG credentials dig deep into the ICC, show that the MIG is greater than the sum of its parts, and do so in plain language.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

The MIG is still relatively new. Any new organization takes time to mature. Change is hard, and organizing around non-kinetic capabilities and effects is harder still.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

The big 'miss' here is alluded to near the end of the article, when the authors discuss the information coordination center.

The ICC is the organization where the many contributions of the MIG are purportedly synchronized on behalf of the MEF commander. This is where they could have made money!

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

The plug for MSS also isn't really a case for the MIG. The MSS isn't MIG centric or MIG exclusive, in fact it's now a default platform.

www.marines.mil/News/Message...

www.marines.mil

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

That doesn't describe how that task unit is synchronizing information at all. That just says, "We CHOP'd stuff that we house at the MIG to the MEU."

That's not to say having an O-6 organization over these O-5 formations, then CHOP'ing them, is bad. It's just not different from the old model.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

"... and influence and civil reconnaissance teams from an information maneuver company. This information task unit — led by a major — can provide timely options for the expeditionary commander to attack and protect information in ways that disorient the enemy while conducting amphibious operations."

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

This sentence: "... might pull signals intelligence Marines from 2nd Radio Battalion, all-source analysts from 2nd Intelligence Battalion, a fires liaison from 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, expeditionary communications and defensive cyber operators from 8th Communications Battalion..."

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

And that's, really, where the authors missed an opportunity.

What they describe - the effects provided by the MIG, inasmuch as they are discussed here - sound like 'the MIG is a force provider'.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

It would have been more effective for the authors to contextualize the debate about the MIG - discuss why people thing the MIG isn't worth the force structure committed to it, and then show the opposite.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

Moreover, the real 'debate' is about the MIG, full stop, so that is a lot of time/word count that would have been better spent on building the case of the MIG's value proposition.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

I'm not quibbling with the utility of information - rather, the authors' use of doctrine, and quotes from ADM Paparo, are not good evidence for the case. There are many other battles and campaigns that would have provided more meaningful weight to the argument.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

About half of the article goes after the strawman set up in sentence one, justifying the utility of information to combat operations.

It is very doctrine centric, and uses the existence of doctrine as proof for information's utility. It also throws in some appeals to authority by citing IPC CCDR.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

The article also brings up the case for the Information Combat Element (ICE). If such a debate exists, it is very muted, and has yet to spill out into public discourse in a meaningful way.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

The real debate is accurately described in the second sentence, which discusses the MIG, or MEF Information Group, specifically. This is a debate about the MIG, not about information and maneuver warfare.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

There is no debate on that point, and it is absolutely central to MCDP-1 and maneuver warfare. The entire USMC approach to warfighting is premised on the utility of everything you can bin under information, from decentralized C2 to cognitive defeat mechanisms.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

And now, back to the WoTR piece and its content.

The first line sets it up for a bad start: "There is an active debate in the U.S. Marine Corps about the value of operations in the information environment as a central aspect of maneuver warfare."

This is a non-starter.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

In turn, here was a response article standing up for the MIG's utility:

information-professionals.org/killing-the-...

Killing the MIG is the Last Thing We Should Do - Information Professionals Association

IPA encourages members to submit content in the form of articles, commentary, and research summaries for inclusion on the blog. Below is an article by retired U.S. Marine Corps intelligence […]

information-professionals.org

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

For greater context, here is the article that got the latest debate underway. This piece provides a pretty strong indictment of the MIG, and demonstrates specific elements of why the MIG is challenged to fulfill its mandate. Much of it is authorities.

information-professionals.org/kill-it-or-f...

Kill It or Fix It: Why Marine Corps Information Warfare Has Failed After a Decade of MIGs - Information Professionals Association

IPA encourages members to submit content in the form of articles, commentary, and research summaries for inclusion on the blog. Below is an article by U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer […]

information-professionals.org

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 2d

The #MIG debate has broken squelch at @warontherocks.bsky.social.

The authors make a strong case for the importance of using information to generate effects. But they don't demonstrate why the MIG, specifically, helps the Marine Corps do that:
warontherocks.com/2025/10/blin...

Blinding First, Striking Fast: Why the Marine Corps Needs Information Groups

There is an active debate in the U.S. Marine Corps about the value of operations in the information environment as a central aspect of maneuver warfare.

warontherocks.com

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 6d

"Sling some missiles then demand capitulation." This is next level Douhet going on here. Not to say the PRC wouldn't try it, and so it is valuable to wargame - but illustrating that it's not compelling to the defending force on its own.

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 6d

I dug this one too! But to your point, so much of the analysis on this issue completely discounts the role of the people who call the objective home.

How often do countries that are attacked immediately offer unconditional surrender? Especially when the outcome for them is existential?

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 7d

Story can be found here: www.marines.mil/News/News-Di...

www.marines.mil

Brian Kerg @briankerg.bsky.social · 7d

#BOOM! #RedLightning! The official write-up on #Thunderstruck, the inaugural service-wide Comms Super Squad Competition, is the number one story on the official #USMC home page. Super proud of my squadron for putting this thing together. Story link is in the comments: