Building a force of cyber warriors

The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military is making progress on quickly adapting to ever-changing cyber technology, but nowhere near fast enough. “We build an application the same way we build an aircraft carrier and about as fast,” Cartwright said. “We have to figure out a way to change that.”

He said the problem is based upon a “Napoleonic command and control” structure that makes the cyber organizations fight over who’s in charge. “The technology is not what paces us, it is the culture,” he said. One of the other challenges is building a force of cyber warriors, Cartwright said. He said the military has to figure out the appropriate skills, schools and rank structure to build a force capable of both the “defend and operate skills” and the “exploit and attack skills.”

General James E. Cartwright, VCJCS, USMC

Once those forces are determined, the organizations will have to be built in such a way that they can present those forces to combatant commanders for employment. He said the backbone of the cyber warfare force needs people who are able to use constant innovation and adapt to constant change.