As it conducts daily operations that are “short of war,” the U.S. Army Cyber Command is tackling the challenge of improving commanders’ understanding of an invisible enemy that is active in all domains.
The cyber battlefield is already “very active,” with many nations and nonstate groups displaying offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, a senior Army intelligence officer said.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley Jr., the Defense Intelligence Agency director, said he’s concerned that in a world filled with systems that are connected by the internet, the level of oncoming reconnaissance “creates a degree of vulnerability.”
The Army’s achievements in cyber operations, and the challenges it will face in the future, were the focus of a talk at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition Warrior’s Corner. Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, military deputy to the Chief Information Officer, G-6, on the Army Staff, reminded the audience that they “can’t watch the news today without something happening in cyber."
The head of the U.S. Army Cyber Command says the skills of Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers have been an important part of the command’s success.
“Readiness of the total force requires that our investment in cyber ensures that active and Reserve and Guard forces are trained and equipped to one standard,” Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty told a Senate subcommittee.
Building a more lethal force is the Pentagon’s top priority, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. “We have no room for complacency in any domain,” he said.
His remarks came as the Defense Department has elevated the U.S. Cyber Command to the status of a full combatant command and is taking the first steps toward creating the U.S. Space Force as a new and separate armed service. Outer space and cyberspace are “warfighting domains on par with air, land and sea,” he said.
An ongoing debate within the Army cyber branch is whether officers should focus on being technical experts or being the operational le
This daylong event called “Cyber Operations and the Future Fight” is part of AUSA’s Hot Topics series held at AUSA Headquarters in Arlington, VA.
The Army is looking to create a simple, secure data, voice and video communications network for the that is intuitive, operable, and maintainable by soldiers
The Army is a year ahead of schedule in attaining full operational capability for its Regular Army cyber mission teams and is quickly moving to build a combined 21 teams in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.
The 41 Regular Army teams will be ready in September, Lt. Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, the Army Cyber Command commanding general, told Congress. Additionally, the Army is preparing 10 teams in the Army Reserve and 11 in the Army National Guard.
The No. 1 mission of the nation’s emerging force of cyberwarriors is protecting military information networks because a successful attack on weapons, communications, navigation and targeting systems could cripple offensive and defensive capabilities, the U.S. Cyber Command chief told Congress.
