In this video, I describe how to meet the challenge of the changing nature of warfare in the information age. The United States needs to organize for intellectual rigor using existing frameworks and by utilizing a coordinating authority to integrate these frameworks.
See my presentation in the YouTube video embedded below, or access it directly by visiting the video directly on YouTube.com.
Cyber Operations are changing the nature of warfare and present a new concern for national security. As the nation tries to wrestle with the implications of this new reality, we should realize that this is not the first time our Nation has been challenged by a change in warfare and we can learn from our history. In the past, lots of good people were doing good things and (I would propose) we eventually stumble into the answer.
To speed up this approach and in the name of national security, I suggest we organize for intellectual rigor.
One of the challenges every organization is facing is an attempt to solve and accommodate for everything cyber-related. Instead, if we focus organizations on existing frameworks and areas of expertise, then the only additional requirement necessary to organize for intellectual rigor is an organization to serve as the coordinating authority for information sharing. This approach to cyber education is essential.
Beyond the existing frameworks and organization, the one addition that is required is to establish a coordinating authority at the national/ strategic level. This organization doesn’t have directive authority but its charter and mission need to be established. Perhaps it resides in US Cyber Command, given its location, authorities, existing relationships,and history, perhaps in the J7. But if we want to recognize and establish that cyber is more than DoD, we need to find another place to establish this organization. Perhaps that is the Director of Cybersecurity on the National Security Council, perhaps it is the federal CISO, the federal CISO Council, or will involve a relationship with the private EC Council. While it will lack comprehensive directive authority, it needs to be established, resourced and mandated to help facilitate and coordinate all actors if we want to organize for intellectual rigor at the national level – not just within the US Department of Defense.
John F. Griffin is an original member and featured writer for CyberDominance.com. He is a retired Marine Corps infantry officer who is fascinated with information and cyberspace as warfighting domains. A design thinker who believes leadership is the lens that informs human behavior yet admires complex adaptive systems. Academically, a liberal arts background aspiring to be a polymath but might simply be suffering from ADD and monkeybrain.
[…] Recently I participated in a conference that tried to determine how to integrate cyberspace planning and operations throughout the military educational system. To use a horse racing analogy, we couldn’t get out of the starting bloc because we didn’t have any framework or model to have a valuable discussion. Through the use of frameworks, I proposed a method in which we could have these discussions in a more deliberate and disciplined manner (shared here as an example: https://www.cyberdominance.com/cyber/video-the-changing-nature-of-warfare-and-cyber-education/ […]