US Cyber Command will now be a Unified Combatant Command. How will this impact the Cyber mission and operations?

SSG Carlos Madden — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 13:24:29 -0400

Unified Combatant Commands for reference:
https://www.defense.gov/About/Military-Departments/Unified-Combatant-Commands/

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE About Military Departments Unified Combatant Commands

Official website for U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2017 1:32 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 13:32:08 -0400

This is something that they've been working towards and will help unify certain aspects of the operation as a whole, and you can still expect the individual branches to have disagreements among their own on how things should be done and executed. The platform of the Cyber Protection Units as set forth by the DoD for all the branches should in theory look and work identically but the mission requirements and the difference in organization and training and actual operations will lead to their fluctuations. Overall a great thing, but we can expect to see growing pains as the latest Combatant Command for many years to come.

Edited to add:
The missions of the teams will still be executed and the defense of the nations network resources whether united under one command or not. This gives us more muscle as an important strategic terrain in future wars.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 18 at 2017 1:45 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 13:45:14 -0400

I suspect that this makes as much sense as having a unified command of special operations units such as Special Forces, SEALs, et al. A lot of sense...

Response by Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin made Aug 18 at 2017 3:56 PM

Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 15:56:50 -0400

I have watched this evolve for over 23 years now. I started out as a communications officer who wanted nothing to do with traditional comm. I was ready to leave the Air Force if I could not find my way into an operational role. That changed when I moved on to my next assignment with a unit which eventually became the 92d Information Warfare Aggressor Squadron (now the 92d Cyberspace Operations Squadron), aligned under Air Combat Command. This exposed me to a lot of initiatives to better secure our military networks, build information operations doctrine, and even advise on the creation of the Air Force's first numbered Air Force (24th) for cyberspace operations when I worked for the person who eventually went on to be it's first commander. This was the a major step by the Air Force to integrate cyber. The cyber operators of this period were essentially the Billy Mitchell's for cyber, proving it's capability and impact to military operations (both offensively and defensively).

A few years ago CYBERCOM was created by combining several organizations together under STRATCOM (such as JTF-GNO and the JFCC-NW). This was the a major step by the DOD to integrate cyber. Today we have a single unified command which has their own seat at the top table. With that I expect more priorities in facilities, capabilities, and personnel. It's been a long time coming, but such is life in the military. Note that Air Power was realized by the US War Dept back in 1907. 40 years later the Army Air Corps became a semi-independent capability to the Army during WWII. It wasn't until 1947 before the Air Force became it's own service. So I would say Cyber is pretty much on track as it started a viable dimension of warfare back in the 80s (depending on how you look at it). I don't believe Cyber should become it's own service, but it certainly has earned its way to the COCOM level for good reasons. More realignments are coming (at least in the Air Force anyway), to include a possible realignment back to Air Combat Command from AF Space Command. It will be an interesting transition which I look forward to observing.