About - DoD Information Strategy Research Center
About ISRC
The Department of Defense Information Strategy Research Center (DoD ISRC) facilitates research and exploration of information warfare strategies and concepts, conducts field experimentation and analysis, and supports graduate-level education on Operations in the Information Environment and Political Warfare. The DoD ISRC works to support information operations force development by working directly with graduate students on information operations focused theses as well as collaborating with our DoD partners and academic institutions.
Meet the ISRC Team
Ryan Maness
Ryan Maness (PhD, University of Illinois, Chicago) is the Director of the DoD’s Information Strategy Research Center (ISRC) and an assistant professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. His research includes operations in the information environment, specifically in cyberspace, cyber strategy, and power dynamics and interactions among states in cyberspace. His forthcoming book, Cyberwar versus Cyber Realities 2.0, is a second edition of his 2015 book with Oxford University Press. He has also published Cyber Strategy (2018, Oxford)and Russia’s Coercive Diplomacy (2015, Macmillan) as well as several top journals in security studies. He teaches Conflict in Cyberspace and Computer Network Attack and Defense in the Defense Analysis Department at NPS.
Edward L. Fisher
Lt Col (Ret) Ed Fisher is a Senior Lecturer of Information Sciences at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. He teaches courses in Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Autonomous Systems. In addition, Mr. Fisher is the Deputy Director of the DoD Information Operations Center for Research. Mr. Fisher received a regular commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force upon his graduation from the United States Air Force Academy in June 1983 (B.S History-Area Studies, Western Europe). Mr. Fisher served the early part of his career as an F-4G “Wild Weasel” Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO), later transitioning to the Predator UAV, F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter, higher headquarters staff, and Security Assistance. Mr. Fisher retired from the US Air Force in 2005 as a Lt. Colonel and joined the faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School as a US Navy civilian. Mr. Fisher received a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from the University of California, San Bernardino in 1989, and is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. He also maintains membership in the Association of Old Crows.
Rebecca Lorentz
Ms. Rebecca Lorentz joined the Naval Postgraduate School in 2009 and is currently the Deputy Director for Research for the DoD Information Operations Center in the Defense Analysis Department. She earned a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the Panetta Institute of Public Policy. Rebecca has published on topics such as wicked problems (Gangs and Guerrillas, 2010), civil society’s role in irregular warfare (Afghan Endgames, 2012), and cultural resiliency (CTX journal, Feb 2013). Her most current research focus is on cognitive and cultural biases and how they influence behavior in the information environment. Additionally, she conducts outreach and game facilitation support for Global ECCO (Education Collaboration Community Online), sponsored by the Combatting Terrorism Irregular Warfare Fellowship Program (CTFP) under the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Roland Miraco
LTC Roland Miraco is the Chair for Information Strategy at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. LTC Miraco received his commission as a Second Lieutenant from New Mexico Military Institute in May 1992 and finished his degree in Criminal Justice at California State University, Long Beach. After going active duty in 1995 he served the first half of his career as a Field Artillery Officer. In 2005, LTC Miraco transitioned over to Information Operations and has served at every level from Tactical, Operational and Strategic assignments throughout this time. LTC Miraco has been deployed to Bosnia in 1997 and Iraq in both 2005 and 2009
John Arquilla
John Arquilla earned his degrees in international relations from Rosary College (BA 1975) and Stanford University (MA 1989, PhD 1991). He is professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he has taught in the special operations curriculum since 1993. He also serves as director of the Information Operations Center. His teaching interests revolve around the history of irregular warfare, terrorism, and the implications of the information age for society and security. His books include: Dubious Battles: Aggression Defeat and the International System (1992); From Troy to Entebbe: Special Operations in Ancient & Modern Times (1996), which was a featured alternate of the Military Book Club; In Athena’s Camp (1997); Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime and Militancy (2001), named a notable book of the year by the American Library Association; The Reagan Imprint: Ideas in American Foreign Policy from the Collapse of Communism to the War on Terror (2006), and his latest study, Worst Enemy: The Reluctant Transformation of the American Military (2008), which is about military reform. Dr. Arquilla is also the author of more than one hundred articles on a wide range of topics in military and security affairs, with his work appearing in both the leading academic journals and in more general publications like The Atlantic Monthly, Wired and The New Republic. He is best known for his concept of “netwar” (i.e., the distinct manner in which those organized into networks fight), a notion developed with his colleague David Ronfeldt, and which former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld used on several occasions to describe the nature of the conflict in Iraq. In another area of their joint work, the Arquilla/Ronfeldt vision of “swarm tactics” was selected by The New York Times as one of the “big ideas” of 2001. In terms of policy experience, Dr. Arquilla worked as a consultant to General Norman Schwarzkopf during Operation Desert Storm, as part of a small team of RAND analysts. During the Kosovo War, he assisted deputy secretary of defense John Hamre on a range of issues in international information strategy. Since the onset of the war on terror, Dr. Arquilla’s policy contributions have included a brief period of service on the Information Operations Task Force, followed by more extended involvements with special operations forces and other units, on practical, information-related “field problems.”
Evan Salbego
MAJ Evan Salbego is a recent graduate of NPS with a Master’s Degree in Information Strategy and Political Warfare. Prior to attending his master’s program, he was assigned to 1st Armored Division staff where he deployed to Jordan and served as a liaison to the U.S. Embassy for Centcom Forward Jordan (CF-J). Following this assignment, he took his experience back to the U.S. Information Operations Proponent in Fort Leavenworth as an instructor in order to train new IO officers. MAJ Salbego received his Bachelor’s Degree from James Madison University in Technical and Scientific Communications where he also commissioned into the U.S Army through the JMU ROTC program in 2008.