{"id":2213506,"date":"2024-04-05T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T04:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/does-the-us-need-another-new-branch-of-the-armed-forces-for-cyber-warriors\/"},"modified":"2024-04-05T00:00:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T04:00:43","slug":"does-the-us-need-another-new-branch-of-the-armed-forces-for-cyber-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/does-the-us-need-another-new-branch-of-the-armed-forces-for-cyber-warriors\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the US establish a new military branch specifically for cyber warriors?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoes-the-us-need-another-new-branch-of-the-armed-forces-for-cyber-warriors%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2213506&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The US \u200cmilitary\u2064 is \u200cfacing challenges in cyber defense\u2063 due to recruitment strategies. A report suggests a need for \u2064a dedicated Cyber Force branch to address the growing threats effectively. Advocates highlight the importance of recruiting individuals with strong technical skills for cyber warfare. The proposed Cyber Force aims to enhance national security in the \u2063digital age. The \u2064US\u2064 military is\u2063 encountering cyber\u2064 defense challenges due to its recruitment methods.\u200c A report recommends the establishment of a specialized Cyber Force branch to \u2064tackle escalating threats efficiently. Supporters \u2063emphasize the recruitment of tech-savvy individuals for cyber warfare. The envisaged Cyber\u200d Force is poised to bolster national \u2064security in the \u2064modern digital landscape.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>America is falling behind in its ability to carry out and defend against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cybersecurity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>cyberattacks<\/a>. And one reason, according to a new report, is that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>U.S. military<\/a> is recruiting too many jocks and not enough nerds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re going for the kids that are physically fit, mentally able, and that means they\u2019re sitting outside the basketball locker rooms, the men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer locker rooms, the football locker room,\u201d retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery said. \u201cIf they\u2019re recruiting the right Cyber Force, they would be sitting outside the robotics lab, the e-gaming basement, hub, whatever it is, at the school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Montgomery, former executive director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>congressionally mandated<\/a> Cyberspace Solarium Commission, is coauthor of the report published by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he is senior director of its Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Gen. Paul Nakasone, United States Cyber Command \/ Director, National Security Agency \/ Chief, Central Security Service. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Along with Erica Lonergan, who was lead writer of the Pentagon\u2019s 2023 Cyber Posture Review and is now an associate professor at Columbia University, the authors interviewed with more than 75 active-duty and recently retired military personnel. They all said the current system, in which each military service recruits its own cyber warriors, is failing to produce a force robust enough to counter China, Russia, and a host of other malign cyber adversaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe consensus was nearly universal,\u201d Lonergan said. \u201cIt was overwhelming in that everyone who was interviewed agreed that the status quo is not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 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,\u201d the authors wrote in the just-published monograph\u00a0U.S. Cyber Force: A Defense Imperative. In it, they call for a new, separate branch of the armed services that would recruit, train, and employ at least 10,000 troops who would be singularly focused on offensive and defensive battles in cyberspace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is ample precedent for this approach; battlefield evolutions led to the establishment of the Air Force in 1947 and the Space Force in 2019,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Bowling Green-native, four-star Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, the current Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force. (Grace Ramey\/Daily News via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When then-President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> became enamored of the idea of a separate Space Force, during his second year in office, the Air Force initially resisted. The military branch insisted it could handle the space mission without creating a whole new bureaucracy, and the proposal quickly became the target of internet mockery and the subject of a farcical, short-lived Netflix series.<\/p>\n<p>But the logic of having one service concentrating on the increasingly import warfighting domain of space won over the critics, despite the running jokes about Star Trek-like logo and \u201cSpace Cadets\u201d in funny uniforms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe crazy uniform thing has already been taken by Space Force. I don\u2019t think we have to worry there,\u201d Montgomery said at a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdd.org\/events\/2024\/03\/25\/exploring-the-potential-of-a-us-cyber-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">virtual event<\/a>, where he laid out the vision of a Cyber Force that would appeal to young people who otherwise might never consider a career in the military.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re recruiting the wrong people,\u201d Montgomery said, asserting that because the services look for the best candidates overall, the question of whether they are computer savvy is an afterthought.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>We get the best, most cyber-relevant person the service <em>happened<\/em> to have recruited. Unless, of course, that person\u2019s needed as a special operator, a nuclear operator in the Navy, or an AEGIS technician in the Navy,\u201d Montgomery said<strong>. <\/strong>\u201cWhat I\u2019m talking about is going for people that you probably don\u2019t even show up at the door if you haven\u2019t learned Python (a popular\u00a0computer programming\u00a0language), if you haven\u2019t learned basic coding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Currently each service has its own cyber warriors who can be employed by the U.S. Cyber Command, which is led by a four-star officer who wears two hats and is also director of the National Security Agency.<\/p>\n<p>What Montgomery and Lonergan propose is a small service, beginning with about 10,000 people, and growing to maybe 17,000, with full autonomy and a distinct culture oriented to the unique and requirements of operating in cyberspace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCyber Force should be initially stood up within the Department of the Army, similar to how the Space Force is within the Department of the Air Force, the Marine Corps is within the Department of the Navy,\u201d Montgomery said. <\/p>\n<p>The way it works now, with cyber forces distributed among all the services, commanders have to spread their human resources among multiple important priorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 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,\u201d the report concludes. \u201cRecruitment suffers because cyber operations are not a top priority for any of the services, and incentives for new recruits vary wildly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrying to grow it by going to services and saying, \u2018Could you man one less destroyer or one less F-35 squadron, or one less battalion, and give us the troops?\u2019 They\u2019re not going to do that,\u201d Montgomery argued. \u201cThe only way you\u2019re going to raise this is a Cyber Force commander, joined at the hip with a Cyber Command commander, going to the Secretary of Defense or the Chairman and getting it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As was the case with the birth of the Space Force, there are doubters who question the need to establish another new service, but one skeptic who has been won over is Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who though one of the most respected members of Congress on national security affairs, is quitting the House on April 19.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI came in skeptical, right because \u2026 we\u2019ve just created Space Force. We don\u2019t need more different uniforms. The risk is you create more bureaucracy, and it isn\u2019t an efficiency over time,\u201d Gallagher said. <\/p>\n<p>But Gallagher found the report \u201cpowerful\u201d and said that it has persuaded him that \u201cthe status quo is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the past decade, my colleagues in Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, working together, have tried to address force design and readiness,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cWe\u2019ve passed dozens of pieces of legislation to try and fix the problem in the military cyber workforce acquisition and overall force readiness. And yet, we are seemingly no better off because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the end of January, Gallagher\u2019s bipartisan House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party\u00a0heard testimony from the FBI and the U.S. Cyber Command about an effort known as \u201cVolt Typhoon,\u201d a Chinese attempt to embed malicious software in vulnerable office routers that could later be activated to cripple America\u2019s water treatment plants, electrical grid, oil and gas pipelines, and transportation systems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina\u2019s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if and when China decides the time has come to strike,\u201d FBI Director Christopher Wray testified at the Jan. 31 hearing.<\/p>\n<p>The attack was thwarted, but Gallagher\u00a0warned it was the kind of cyberwarfare that could presage a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the cyberspace equivalent of placing bombs on American bridges, water treatment facilities, and power plants,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cIt\u2019s an active and direct threat to our homeland, to our military, our ability to surge forces forward in the event of a conflict, and it\u2019s not a hypothetical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo quantify what we\u2019re up against, the [People\u2019s Republic of China] has a bigger hacking program than that of every major nation combined,\u201d Wray said. \u201cIn fact, if you took every single one of the FBI\u2019s cyber agents and intelligence analysts and focused them exclusively on the China threat, China\u2019s hackers would still outnumber FBI cyber personnel by at least 50-1.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe future of our nation, the future of our economy is tied so closely to the future of our ability to operate in cyberspace,\u201d Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, said when asked if he had a message for\u00a0young Americans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re looking for challenge, if you\u2019re looking for fulfillment, I would tell you that any of the agencies that you see here provide a mission and a responsibility that would dwarf your imaginable expectations.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent report suggests that the US military&#8217;s emphasis on recruiting physically fit individuals is hindering its capability to counter cyber threats effectively. By prioritizing athleticism over technical prowess, there&#8217;s a concern that the nation may be lagging behind in cyber defense capabilities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2639,"featured_media":2213507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23326059913285-1024x686.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2213506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23326059913285-1024x686.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2639"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}