The Defense Department is weighing whether to establish U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) as a unified combatant command that would be separate from its current parent command, U.S. Strategic Command, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday.
“That is an arrangement that works now but is not necessarily optimal, which is why we’re looking at it,” he said during a House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing. “We do have a reluctance to add new headquarters staff because of one of the things that we’re doing in this budget is cutting headquarters staff. So we’ll need to be careful about that.”
The department has considered other ways of improving CYBERCOM’s management, especially as the organization grows in both number and importance, he said.
However, it’s important that CYBERCOM and the National Security Agency remain collocated at Fort Meade, Md., because of the difficulty finding and retaining trained cyber experts, Carter said. Separate the two organizations, and there might not be enough talent for both agencies.
“Finding good people is critical. Having NSA next to CYBERCOM means that they can interchange talent and draw on one another. That’s a huge strength,” he said. “The time may come a time where we have enough people, and we can do something different, but for now I would not recommend that separation.”
The question was posed by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), who represents the district in which Fort Meade is located. Ruppersberger said he would be supportive of transitioning CYBERCOM to a unified combatant command (COCOM).
Cyber is “one of the biggest threats that we face,” he said. “We know it affects our businesses, our communities, our combatant commands wherever we are, and we have a lot to do there.”
In a January memo, Undersecretary of Defense Robert Work directed the Deputy Chief Management Officer and Joint Staff/J7 to conduct a review of the department’s organizational structure, including changes to the combatant commands(Defense Daily, Jan. 15).
“The question of whether the Department should stand up a Cyber Command as a full combatant command should be a key part of this review,” the memo stated.
The Senate and House armed services committees are also considering similar legislative changes to the Pentagon’s structure and COCOMs.