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Modern warfare transcends tactical victories; it targets the adversary's "will." Sean Heidgerken joins host Tom Spahr to discuss the Army’s newest capability: Theater Information Advantage Detachments, or TIADs. These specialized units integrate experts in cyber, intelligence, psychological operations, public affairs, electronic warfare, civil affairs, and information operations to influence foreign actors and protect friendly information systems. Heidgerken, the commander of the 1st TIAD in the Indo-Pacific, explains that these organizations break traditional military silos by organizing into cross-functional teams. Whether exposing corruption through media or leveraging emerging AI to sense the environment, the TIAD mission is to ensure the Joint Force maintains an advantage in the gray zone of competition.
The operations, whether it be psychological operations, electronic warfare, or cyber, have been siloed in those sub-staff sections… which inherently builds a lack of synchronization and coordination across those activities.
Sean Heidgerken is a colonel and an Information Operations Officer who has served over 30 years in the U.S. Army. He has deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom four times, supported Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria, supported the evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021, and conducted operations to support Ukraine during the Russian invasion in 2022, as well as operations against the Houthis in Yemen in 2023, and most recently in Operation Midnight Hammer against Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. He is the commander of the 1st Theater Information Advantage Detachment (TIAD) in the Indo-Pacific theater.
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