Pentagon revising cyber mission force generation

The Defense Department last night unveiled a new model for how the military builds specialized cyber forces, focusing on a more targeted approach.

When the Pentagon built its initial 133-team cyber mission force in 2018, each military service’s cyber component took a set number of personnel to form teams that would go through standardized training, preparing them to serve as part of U.S. Cyber Command’s “action arm.”

The department said that approach isn’t setting CMF up for success, though.

“While appropriate for other warfighting domains, these traditional models have not met the unique requirements necessary to fight and win in the cyber domain,” DOD said.

A 2019 Government Accountability Office report found that to be the case, as well. GAO concluded Pentagon leaders prioritized building up CMF at the cost of sufficient training and readiness.

The new model -- driven by seven core attributes and three supporting department components -- would integrate CYBERCOM with the military departments to build the cyber force it needs.

“This model fundamentally changes the department’s approach to generating cyber forces, enabling increased lethality in our cyber forces and establishing a warrior ethos built on domain mastery, specialized skills and mission agility,” said Katie Sutton, assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy.

Sutton also said the new model would be well-positioned to help the department achieve its near and long-term goals in the cyber domain.