AFDD 2-1.9, page 89

79 Information Operations Flight/Squadron These organizations offer depth of expertise about information operations in general. Such expertise is often spread to the other CAOC divisions for integration within specific CAOC processes. IOT personnel can assist targeteers in identifying key enemy nodes and in weaponeering and assessment for non-kinetic attacks. ESTABLISHING FEDERATED AND REACHBACK RELATIONSHIPS Targeting is, by nature, a cooperative effort. So is the intelligence support it requires. Neither can be accomplished without the aid of experts and agencies outside the CAOC. Both require reachback and federated support to be effective. Federation is the cooperative effort between the CAOC and/or COMAFFOR staff and all other Services and agencies (including joint and national) outside it. Reachback is a subset of federation; the cooperative effort between the CAOC and other Air Force agencies. Peacetime AOGs and AIGs are not manned to provide all the expertise needed to support wartime targeting and assessment. Augmentees will fill out the CAOC when it stands up or readies itself for conflict, but the peacetime core of the organization must establish the federated and reachback relationships agencies needed to support their efforts. Even peacetime targeting demands will probably require daily coordination with agencies outside the CAOC, as they produce and consolidate analysis that supports theater air and space planning. During peacetime, this coordination may be somewhat informal, as higher-level units provide intelligence to multiple users. However, combat demands much closer links and hence more formal coordination. The start of hostilities is not the time to begin solidifying these relationships. Many agencies support multiple theaters and have competing demands upon their time and effort. For this reason, proper coordination between CAOCs and other agencies is critical to ensure a continued, timely flow of pertinent intelligence. It is the responsibility of the CAOC to ensure these relationships are in place and that all federated and reachback partners understand their roles in how they support the CAOC’s battle rhythm. Federated and reachback relationships apply to both target development and assessment. Ideally, the organizations that support development of given targets or target systems should also conduct assessment on them during hostilities. The analysts that developed the targets already have a deep understanding of them and probably also developed MOE for them. However, manpower and tasking priorities will dictate if this is possible. The number of units and agencies that can be called upon to lend reachback or federated support is staggering. There are literally thousands of analysts who, with proper coordination, can be called upon to support CAOC targeting and assessment in