The Naval Brief: Marine infowar; Destroyers to Rota; Climate tabletop game; and more...

Welcome to The Naval Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the sea services’ future.

Corps’ infowar doctrine. When Marines go to war they need to be thinking about how information fits into their planning, and they can now refer to a new doctrinal publication on how to go about it, Defense One reports. These considerations can be seen in the war in Ukraine, with the U.S. release of intelligence before Russia’s invasion and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ability to maintain communications channels since.

More destroyers to Spain. The United States and Spain are working to add a pair of U.S. Navy destroyers to the four stationed permanently in Rota, Spain, Defense One reports. The U.S. is increasing its force presence in Europe in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including more training exercises and “heel-to-toe” deployments with Baltic allies.

Climate exercise. On Wednesday, the Navy conducted a tabletop exercise to explore some of the “most impactful” parts of their recent Climate Action 2030 strategy. The scenario concerned a Navy and Marine Corps amphibious exercise on a fictional island nation in the Pacific struck by a typhoon in 2030, according to Meredith Berger, the assistant Navy secretary for energy, installations, and environment, who spoke to reporters. Participants included officials from the Defense Department, Congress, and academia. 

Some takeaways. Berger said the exercise highlighted the importance of preparing for the effects of climate change and to reduce “dependencies” in the naval services’ logistics system. One of the services’ greatest dependencies is fossil fuels, so they’ll work on ways to use more diverse energy resources, but Berger did not elaborate what those could be. She did say the Navy plans to conduct more climate-related exercises and that lessons from this one will inform their budget process.

Sign up to get The Naval Brief every Thursday from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. On Wednesday, U.S. Marine Hershel “Woody” Williams, the last living World War II Medal of Honor recipient, died at 98. He received the award for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

From Defense One

Limited Abortions Will Continue On DOD Bases Despite Roe v. Wade Reversal // Jacqueline Feldscher

"There will be no interruption to this care," the Pentagon said in a memo.

Turkey Lifts Objection To Finland, Sweden Joining NATO // Jacqueline Feldscher

Leaders from the three nations signed an agreement in Madrid to cooperate more on counterterrorism.

China's Disinformation Warriors May Be Coming for Your Company // Patrick Tucker

A recent attack on a rare-earths processor shows a new facet of information warfare: weaponized NIMBYism.