Department of Defense
DIRECTIVE
NUMBER 3600.01
May 2, 2013
Incorporating Change 1, May 4, 2017
USD(P)
SUBJECT: Information Operations (IO)
References: See Enclosure 1
1. PURPOSE. This directive:
a. Reissues DoD Directive 3600.01 (Reference (a)) in accordance with the authority in DoD
Directive 5111.1 (Reference (b)) and, pursuant to the authority and guidance in Secretary of
Defense Memorandum (Reference (c)), updates established policy and assigned responsibilities
for IO.
b. Updates IO definitions.
c. Directs the establishment of the Information Operations Executive Steering Group (IO
ESG).
2. APPLICABILITY. This directive applies to OSD, the Military Departments, the Office of
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) and the Joint Staff, the Combatant Commands
(CCMDs), the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Defense
Agencies, the DoD Field Activities, and all other organizational entities within the DoD
(hereinafter referred to collectively as the “DoD Components”).
3. POLICY. It is DoD policy that:
a. IO will be the principal mechanism used during military operations to integrate,
synchronize, employ, and assess a wide variety of information-related capabilities (IRCs) in
concert with other lines of operations to effect adversaries’ or potential adversaries’ decision-
making while protecting our own.
b. IRCs constitute tools, techniques, or activities employed within a dimension of the
information environment (IE) that can be used to achieve a specific end at a specific time and
place. IRCs can include, but are not be limited to, a variety of technical and non-technical
activities that intersect the traditional areas of electronic warfare, cyberspace operations, military
