From: FierceGovernmentIT
By Molly Bernhart Walker
Until the Defense Department provides specific guidance on preparing for sequestration, cyber components are not planning for cuts; however cuts would have a major impact on cyber defense, said officials.
“It would be devastating,” said Maj. Gen. Suzanne Vautrinot, commander of Air Force Network Operations, during a July 25 hearing of the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities.
“The strategy that’s been provided by the department to move us forward in cyberspace and the vision that’s been provided by General Alexander rests on future acquisitions, on future changes, and I believe that under sequestration those would not be realized,” she said.
Air Force could also lose ground on its recent advances in cyberspace that still need funding and are not yet stable.
While sequestration would impact staffing levels, readiness and training across the entire Marine Corps, “the impact on Marine forces cyber and probably all cyber programs would be disproportionate,” said Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, deputy commandant of combat development and integration commanding general for the Marine Corps. The impact would be greater because of “the speed with which we have to acquire new equipment and new software,” he said.
The biggest problem, should sequestration become reality, is that service commanders will lose the ability to prioritize their cuts in cyber, said Vice Adm. Michael Rogers, commander of the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command for the Department of the Navy.
“If we’re going to take cuts that are just done indiscriminately…if we lose the ability to attempt to identify what are the core capabilities that I want to make sure that we continue to fund at consistent levels. That concerns me,” he said.
If commanders do have the ability to prioritize cuts, Lt. Gen. Rhett Hernandez, commander for Army Cyber Command said he would look to preserve the cyber workforce as much as possible and continue investment in science and technology that informs future requirements.
Hernandez said Army currently has about 11,000 people focused on operating and defending the network, while the cyber brigade will only be about 1,200 once training is complete. Rogers estimated that DON has approximately 14,000 personnel in Fleet cyber command, with 75 percent focused on cyber operations and 25 percent focusing on cyber offensive or defensive capabilities. In the next few years the Marine Corps will complete training and have about 700 dedicated supporting cyber command. Air Force has about 17,000 personnel working in the cyber realm, estimated Vautrinot.
The cyber components are trying to recognize the people already within the services who could benefit the cyber mission and also be tapped quickly in case the cyber workforce needs to scale up quickly, but the process is not easy, say officials.
“Our personnel systems have limited visibility on the depth of skills that we would want to identify for this particular domain,” said Hernandez.
Army is trying a pilot in which cyber positions are posted to Green Pages simply as a list of “skills needed” for a certain job, in the hopes that it could attract unconventional workers with the right skill set, he said.
The Air Force personnel center is trying to identify cyber skills in the enlisted force during the testing that occurs during accessions, said Vautrinot. And Rogers said Navy has had some success picking out individuals with some skill and interest level in cyber during the broad cyber training and education across the entire force.
For more: – go to the hearing page (includes prepared testimony and an archived webcast)
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