CYBERSECURITYU.S. Needs a New Independent Armed Service — a U.S. Cyber Force: Report
In the U.S. military, an officer who had never fired a rifle would never command an infantry unit. Yet officers with no experience behind a keyboard are commanding cyber warfare units. This should change, as the need to create a new independent armed service — a U.S. Cyber Force – become more urgent by the day.
In the U.S. military, an officer who had never fired a rifle would never command an infantry unit. Yet officers with no experience behind a keyboard are commanding cyber warfare units. Erica Lonergan and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery write a new report, issued by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), that this mismatch stems from the U.S. military’s failure to recruit, train, promote, and retain talented cyber warriors.
The report paints an alarming picture. The inefficient division of labor between the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps prevents the generation of a cyber force ready to carry out its mission. Recruitment suffers because cyber operations are not a top priority for any of the services, and incentives for new recruits vary wildly.
Lonergan and Montgomery write:
Resolving these issues requires the creation of a new independent armed service — a U.S. Cyber Force — alongside the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force. There is ample precedent for this approach; battlefield evolutions led to the establishment of the Air Force in 1947 and the Space Force in 2019. An independent cyber service would naturally prioritize the creation of a uniform approach to recruitment, training, promotion, and retention of qualified personnel whose skills correspond to CYBERCOM’s needs. In addition to a single, dedicated cyber training and development schoolhouse, an independent service could establish a cyber war college for advanced research and training, akin to the Army War College and its peers. Without the responsibility for procuring planes, tanks, or ships, a Cyber Force could also prioritize the rapid acquisition of new cyber warfare systems.
Here is the report’s Executive Summary
Executive Summary
In the U.S. military, an officer who had never fired a rifle would never command an infantry unit. Yet officers with no experience behind a keyboard are commanding cyber warfare units. This mismatch stems from the U.S. military’s failure to recruit, train, promote, and retain talented cyber warriors. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines each run their own recruitment, training, and promotion systems instead of having a single pipeline for talent. The result is a shortage of qualified personnel at U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), which has responsibility for both the offensive and defensive aspects of military cyber operations.
