Should Cyber Force become the next service? – By David Dimolfetta (Defense One) / May 24, 2024
The House will vote on a proposal to study the question as part of the 2025 defense authorization bill.
A measure requiring the National Academy of Sciences to study the creation of an independent Cyber Force military branch advanced out of a key House panel late Wednesday.
The amendment, led by Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, was lodged in the House Armed Services Committee’s National Defense Authorization Act, an annual must-pass defense policy bill that funds the U.S. military and national security apparatus across the Defense Department, and the intelligence community.
The measure comes amid studies and complaints from military personnel and outside analysts who have called the current U.S. military cyber formations inadequate and cumbersome. A Foundation for Defense of Democracies research paper released in March urged Congress to create a new cyber branch that sits alongside the Air Force, Navy and other armed forces, arguing current configurations don’t give the U.S. the best chance at combating adversaries in cyberspace.
The FDD study proposed that the branch should be tethered to the Army and granted 10,000 personnel with a $16.5 billion budget, arguing the DOD’s current cyber staff buildout has caused multiple shortfalls, including inability to fully use cyber talent and tools and poor culture that damages troops’ morale.
