The Cyber Key

The key to a capable cyber force is “good people,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. The Pentagon requested a department-wide $7 billion increase in cyber capabilities in Fiscal 2017 and $35 billion over the next five years. “We’re spending more money on [cyber]. We’re making big investments,” he told lawmakers. “But that’s not the key. The key is are we able to get the good people to flesh out our 133 cyber mission force teams.” In response to a question from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Carter said US personnel are training Ukrainian forces for what he described as the “here-to-stay brand of hybrid warfare that we’ve seen in eastern Ukraine.” Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said five conventional Ukrainian battalions and one Ukrainian special operations unit are scheduled to complete training in September. “Much of that training is informed by Russian behavior over the last few years and lessons learned—in terms of integrating unconventional warfare, information operations, cyber capabilities, [and] conventional capability,” he said.