Cyberwar

CYBERCOM: We’re Ready For War

U.S. Cyber Command’s 133 Cyber Mission Force teams reached initial operating capability last week, the command said in a statement Monday. 

The milestone comes six years after the new command launched and two years before it’s scheduled to reach full operating capability.

It also comes as the Pentagon and intelligence agencies are considering whether to recommend decoupling Cyber Command from the National Security Agency with which it currently shares a single leader and numerous resources. That idea faces opposition in Congress, including from Senate Armed Services Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who chairs the Armed Services subcommittee that oversees cyber operations.Initial operating capability means all cyber teams have reached “a threshold level of initial operating capacity and can execute their fundamental mission,” according to a Defense Department statement. CYBERCOM is currently staffed at 5,000 troops with a final goal of 6,200 troops, according to the DOD statement. Even full operating capability is often defined as less than 100 percent staffing because of the basic churn of troops in and out of units.

About half of Cyber Mission Force teams have already reached full operating capability, DOD said.