{"id":17617,"date":"2018-09-12T19:50:58","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T19:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/12\/what-changes-could-be-ahead-for-cyberwarriors\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:59:22","slug":"what-changes-could-be-ahead-for-cyberwarriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/cyber\/2018\/09\/12\/what-changes-could-be-ahead-for-cyberwarriors\/","title":{"rendered":"What changes could be ahead for cyberwarriors?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After several years of employment, officials believe now is the time to make adjustments to the Department of Defense cyberwarriors\u2019 training and teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at a point in our maturity with the cyber mission force that it is time to go back in and review a couple of different things,\u201d Maj. Gen. John Morrison, the commander of the Army Cyber Center of Excellence, told Fifth Domain during an interview in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is broad consensus across the force that training needs to be re-evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commander of Army Cyber Command, also told Fifth Domain in an August interview that U.S. Cyber Command\u2019s commander has directed a review of the way forces are trained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe training model [that] got us to where we built the force, is that the model that is optimal for the future operating force now?\u201d he said. \u201cAs we\u2019re reviewing training, we\u2019ve got to review the operational construct because we think operations drives everything else: are the teams sized right, are the work roles right, is the training right to deliver the operational requirement that we\u2019ve been tasked to provide?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fogarty said the force has received feedback from the combatant commands cyber forces support. Other current and former officials have acknowledged that it\u2019s normal for DoD, as a learning organization, to take lessons learned and make adjustments to forces and employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the training front, Morrison said there is an examination to see if training cyber warriors can be improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that Fort Gordon \u2014 the home of the Army Cyber School, which serves as the Army\u2019s second phase or intermediary training after forces graduate the first phase at a joint training facility in Pensacola, Florida \u2014 only trained officers last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Gordon now trains enlisted, warrant officer and officer, which has become the joint standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morrison also said the Army is working with the Defense Digital Service to evaluate how it can improve training for phase one in Pensacola, known as the Joint Cyber Analytics Course, or JCAC. JCAC is essentially the basic cyber training for joint forces that have no prior experience in cyber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morrison said they ran a pilot that took the 27-week JCAC course and put it into a new methodology so they could conduct it at Fort Gordon in roughly 12 weeks. Morrison added that this might have to extend to 14 weeks, but there will be another pilot in the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyber students at Fort Gordon told Fifth Domain that there was some redundancy and overlap in courseware from phase one to phase two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recommendations from the pilot will be sent to Cyber Command as something that could be come a joint standard, Morrison said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employment and team structure<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his retirement, former Cyber Command commander Adm. Michael Rogers told lawmakers he\u2019d like to \u201cretool\u201d the structure of the cyber mission force as it was built on a construct that is almost eight years old and can take advantage of lessons learned in that period, something current commander Gen. Paul Nakasone has indicated he\u2019d like to do as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\t