Lawmakers backing separate cyber force see opening with Trump’s return – Breaking Defense

WASHINGTON
—
The
Pentagon
has
long
pushed
back
against
the
establishment
of
a
new
military
service
dedicated
to

cyberspace,
but
with
President-elect

Donald
Trump
on
his
way
back
to
the

White
House,
a
separate
cyber
force
has
a
real
shot
at
becoming
a
reality,
according
to
experts
and
to
lawmakers
who
support
the
move.

“This
change
in
administration
potentially
could
give
more
impetus
to
the
creation
of
a
separate
cyber
service,”


Quentin
Hodgson,
formerly
the
Pentagon’s
director
of
Cyber
Plans,
told
Breaking
Defense.
“[Trump]
did
that
with
the

Space
Force.
It
was
something
that
the
Department
of
Defense
didn’t
want,
but
he
decided
he
wanted
it,
and
it’s
possible
that
that
could
also
happen
with
cyberspace.”

Hodgson
was
hardly
alone
in
connecting
Trump’s
then-controversial
move
to
stand
up
the
Space
Force
in
2019
to
visions
of
what
his
second
term
could
bring
to
the
cyber
realm.
Among
those
who
made
the
comparison
to
Breaking
Defense
was
Rep.
Pat
Fallon,
a
Texas
Republican
and
vocal
supporter
of
the
cyber
force
idea.

“As
the
past
half
century
has
shown
us,
there
will
be
naysayers
and
contrarians
within
the
Pentagon
who
will
do
everything
to
slow-roll
major
changes.
However,
only
six
years
ago,
we
had
the
same
issue
in
the
space
domain,”
Fallon
said
in
an
email.
“We
need
concrete
progress
and
limited
stagnation
in
cyber,
something
I
know
the
Trump
Administration
will
emphasize
throughout
the
next
four
years.”

Fallon
and
Rep.
Morgan
Luttrell,
another
Texas
Republican,
authored
an
amendment
in
the

2025
National
Defense
Authorization
Act
that
called
for
an
independent
third-party
study
to
help
lawmakers
and
DoD
leaders
determine
if
a
separate
cyber
force
is
necessary.
The
study
is
being
conducted
by
the

National
Academies
of
Sciences,
Engineering
and
Medicine.

“Incumbent
on
the
results
of
the
commission,
which
I
think
will
affirm
the
need
for
a
cyber
service,
I
believe
there’s
a
good
chance
we
will
see
[a
cyber
service]
come
to
fruition
in
soon.
The
Trump
administration
has
shown
that
they
will
not
put
up
with
the
status
quo,
and
will
opt
for
bold
action,
if
necessary,
especially
when
US
national
security
is
at
risk,”
Fallon
said. 

Luttrell,
like
Fallon,
said
in
an
interview
that
he
thought
that
if
the
third-party
study
came
back
recommending
an
independent
cyber
force,
Trump
would
likely
be
on
board,
but
ultimately,
it
is
“most
certainly
the
president’s
call.”

“As
a
congressional
member,
if
I
want
to
know
the
advancements
in
AI,
technology,
name
any
given
space,
where
do
I
get
to
go
to
that?
Do
I
have
to
go
talk
to
the
Army,
Navy,
Air
Force,
Marines,
or
go
talk
to
[Cyber
Command]?”
Luttrell
told
Breaking
Defense.
“Or
could
I
go
to
cyber
force,
talk
to
the
leadership,
like,
‘Hey,
where
are
we?’
And
then
they
could
say,
‘This
is
where
we
stand.
This
is
what
we
implemented.’”

‘These
Guys
Like
To
Build
Things’

Outside
experts
agreed
that
a
Trump
administration
would,
as
the
Foundation
for
Defense
of
Democracies
Mark
Montgomery
put
it,
“look
more
favorably”
on
a
separate
cyber
service.
Montgomery,
the
senior
director
for
FDD’s
Center
on
Cyber
and
Technology
Innovation,
said
such
a
service
could
“address
our
poor
cyber
force
generation
efforts
over
the
past
decade.”

Emily
Harding,
vice
president
of
the
Defense
and
Security
Department
at
the
Center
for
Strategic
and
International
Studies,
told
Breaking
Defense
that
the
possibility
of
a
cyber
force
under
Trump’s
second
term
is
a
“big
shrug”
and
that
she
has
“zero
evidence”
it’s
in
the
works.
But,
she
said,
“I
also
know
these
guys
like
to
build
things,
and
you
know
they
were
the
ones
responsible
for
Space
Force,
so
why
not?” 

She
added
that
Trump’s
seemingly
close
relationship
with
SpaceX
founder
and
technology
innovator

Elon
Musk
—
who
was
recently
tapped
by
Trump
to
co-lead
the
new

Department
of
Government
Efficiency
—
is
another
factor
that
could
lead
to
a
cyber
force. 

“You
could
see
somebody
like
Elon
Musk
understanding
this
in
a
way
that
you
know
other
people
might
not.
So
I
don’t
know.
I
think
there’s
a
decent
chance
that
they
pursue
it.
I
think
they
should
pursue
it,”
she
said. 

Harding
said
she
primarily
supports
a
cyber
force
because
she
believes
an
independent
service
will
allow
the
military
to
find
the
most
cyber-capable
fighters. 

“The
kinds
of
skills
that
you’re
recruiting
for
in
a
cyber
service
or
in
a
cyber
role
are
very
different
from
the
kinds
of
skills
you’re
recruiting
for
in
what
you
consider
the
other
branches
of
the
military,”
she
said. 

“I
think
you
would
want
a
different
setup
for
recruiting
and
for
training.
In
the
other
services,
each
one
of
them
has
a
cyber
skill
set.
They
have
a
cyber
specialty,
but
there’s
not
necessarily
the
same
path
to
advancement.
So
I
think
it’s
worth
it
to
create
the
separate
service,
to
create
the
talent
pipeline
and
the
specific
structures
that
you
would
need
for
reserve,”
she
added. 

The
Pentagon
disagrees,
arguing
that
the
creation
of
a
separate
cyber
force
could
create
new
challenges
for
the
DoD
in
terms
of
understanding
warfighting
needs
within
each
service. 

“A
cyber
service
might
have
some
benefits
in
ease
of
administrative
management,
but
we
have
a
variety
of
…military
services
in
the
Department
of
Defense
who
perform
a
variety
of
missions,”

Mieke
Eoyang,
deputy
assistant
secretary
of
defense
for
cyber
policy,


said
last
year. “Having
a
cyber
service
that
is
divorced
from
those
particular
mission
sets
may
pose
some
challenges
in
understanding
the
warfighting
needs
of
the
services
to
provide
cyber
to
enable
that
fight.” 

“I
think
the
question
is
that
for
people
who
think
the
cyber
service
is
the
answer
to
our
…
current
challenges
in
cyber
personnel
management:
be
careful
what
you
wish
for,”
she
said.

Related:

‘Be
careful
what
you
wish
for:’
DoD
official
warns
separate
cyber
force
could
pose
new
challenges

Furthermore,


at
the
end
of
September,
the
department
formally
requested
that
lawmakers
shut
down
Fallon
and
Luttrell’s
proposal
for
the
independent
assessment.
DoD
leaders
contended
that
Congress
had
already
called
for
an
assessment
of
the
current
cyber
landscape
within
the
Pentagon,
which
included
the
potential
for
creating
a
cyber
service
in
the
2023
NDAA. 

Jacquelyn
Schneider,
a
fellow
at
the
Hoover
Institution
where
she
serves
as
the
director
of
the
Hoover
Wargaming
and
Crisis
Simulation
Initiative,
is
also
against
the
creation
of
a
new
cyber
service.
She
argued
that
rather
than
consolidating
cyber
expertise
and
infrastructure,
it
would
lead
to
information
silos
that
would
make
the
military
less
effective
in
the
cyber
domain.

“In
a
world
in
which
warfare
is
inherently
joint,
every
time
you
create
these
different
organizations,
you
create
information
stove
pipes,”
said
Schneider,
who
also
previously
served
as
a
senior
policy
advisor
to
the
Cyberspace
Solarium
Commission.

Right
now
it’s
unclear
where
exactly
Trump
stands,
and
his
transition
team
did
not
respond
to
a
request
for
comment. 

But
Scneider,
too,
said
she
could
see
a
new
cyber
force
taking
shape
under
a
Trump
administration.

“Trump
likes
to
make
services,”
she
said.