House Lawmaker Mulls Dedicated Cyber Military Service

Rep. Mike Gallagher is considering the establishment of an independent cyber military service after the idea was raised at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Feb 9. Speaking to the press after the meeting, he expressed concerns about the potential for “more bureaucracy” and said that he would favor an approach built around an efficient “consolidation” of cyber teams.

Gallagher heads HASC’s cyber, innovative technologies and information systems subcommittee.

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center on Cyber Technology and Innovation, explained to lawmakers at the hearing that the U.S. military has not adapted its cyber mission force design to “significant changes in the threat from China and Russia.”  He added that readiness has not increased since the U.S. Cyber Command announced in 2018 that all 133 of its CMF units had reached full operational capability.

Chris Brose, Anduril Industries’ chief strategy officer, said in response to a query by Rep. Seth Moulton that the need for an independent military entity handling cyber capabilities and services is just as strong as that which drove the establishment of the U.S. Space Force, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Distributed across the military services, CMFs serve as CYBERCOM’s offensive capability. Lt. Gen. Charles Moore, CYBERCOM deputy commander, revealed plans to build out additional teams to strengthen protection against China and Russia.

Space Force Chief Gen. B. Chance Saltzman told lawmakers in advance of his confirmation hearing that the service needs more resources to support CMF efforts.