The current model for military services providing forces to U.S. Cyber Command is broken, and the only way to fix it is to create an independent Cyber Force, a new report asserts.
“America’s cyber force generation system is clearly broken. Fixing it demands nothing less than the establishment of an independent cyber service,” a report published Monday by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies states. “This research 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 … The current system compounds these force-generation challenges. Each of the services has developed its own solutions, leading to both inconsistencies and shortcomings.”
The report’s authors — retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, who is senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, and Erica Lonergan, an assistant professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University — interviewed over 75 active duty and retired U.S. military officers with significant leadership and command experience within cyber. Both authors were members of the now-sunset Cyberspace Solarium Commission.
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