United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM)
United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is a suborganization of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) and was established in 2009 to oversee military operations in cyberspace. Located at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland alongside the National Security Agency (NSA), USCYBERCOM's mission focuses on protecting the Department of Defense's information networks and conducting cyber operations against adversaries. Officially operational by 2010, USCYBERCOM has grown to encompass various units servicing the cyber capabilities of each military branch, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
As cyberspace is considered a vital military domain, USCYBERCOM aims to ensure U.S. operational capability within this realm while defending against foreign cyber threats. There have been discussions about separating USCYBERCOM from the NSA to allow for independent leadership and operations, reflecting the distinct missions of both entities. The command also collaborates with international allies to enhance global cybersecurity efforts. USCYBERCOM’s emblem symbolizes its commitment to safeguarding cyberspace and reflects the organization's dedication to both national defense and international partnerships.
United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM)
United States Cyber Command, also known as USCYBERCOM, is a suborganization of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), which itself is one of nine globally placed military commands within the US Department of Defense. USCYBERCOM oversees the Defense Department's information networks, protects US actions in cyberspace, and executes military cyberattacks against US enemies.
The US Department of Defense established USCYBERCOM in 2009, and the organization was fully operational by 2010. USCYBERCOM shares its headquarters with the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland and is overseen by the director of the NSA. In December 2016, President Barack Obama signed a national defense bill that proposed to split the leadership of USCYBERCOM and the NSA so the organizations could focus on their own areas of operation. The split would take effect once the US secretary of defense and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the team of senior military advisors to the president, agreed that separating the two organizations would not reduce USCYBERCOM's abilities to act.
Background
USCYBERCOM was established in 2009 as a sub-unified command of USSTRATCOM, a US military command founded in 1992 as an organ of the US Department of Defense. USSTRATCOM was a fusion of Strategic Air Command (SAC), which oversaw US nuclear deterrence and global weapons strike efforts, and the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (JSTPS), which was intended to manage the country's nuclear arms in wartime.
These two organizations had been formed in the context of the Cold War, when, for the United States, nuclear war with the Soviet Union was an ever-present possibility. The end of the Cold War in the early 1990s signaled that the United States needed to update its approach to its nuclear capabilities. In 1992, the SAC and JSTPS were combined to form USSTRATCOM, which would oversee all US nuclear operations under one authority.
In 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld merged the powers of United States Space Command, or USSPACECOM, with the existing USSTRATCOM to create a revised version of USSTRATCOM. The new USSTRATCOM was tasked with supervising US nuclear powers and continuing to develop the necessary technology to use outer space for military defense and offense.
In June 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, acting under the authority of President Barack Obama, ordered the creation of the United States Cyber Command, commonly abbreviated as USCYBERCOM. This would be a sub-unified command of USSTRATCOM, which fell under the purview of the US Department of Defense. USCYBERCOM headquarters were to be located at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland, in the same building as the headquarters of the NSA, one of the US government's chief intelligence-gathering organizations. The director of the NSA assumed control of USCYBERCOM, even though the organization would work with and be staffed by the US armed forces.
USCYBERCOM became operational in October 2010. Over the next few years, as the organization proved its value in defending the US government's information systems and conducting cyber operations against American enemies, officials in the Defense Department came to feel that USCYBERCOM should be separated from the NSA. The missions of the two organizations, the officials argued, were distinct from each other, with the NSA gathering intelligence and conducting cyber-espionage and USCYBERCOM defending the US government's computer networks and defending the country against cyberattacks by foreign groups.
The Defense Department eventually recommended that Obama separate the entities, and he nearly did this in 2013. However, various other government officials, including the director of the NSA at the time, urged Obama to leave USCYBERCOM intertwined with the NSA so the two agencies could continue sharing resources. Obama, therefore, did not yet separate the groups.
By 2016, both the Defense Department and the NSA had acquired new leadership, and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter recommended that Obama separate USCYBERCOM from the NSA. Carter also hoped to upgrade USCYBERCOM to an autonomous offensive force, with the necessary capabilities to launch cyberattacks autonomously.
In December 2016, Obama signed the 2017 defense authorization bill, which included a prescription that USCYBERCOM acquire its own leader so the organization could focus on achieving its own mission. However, Congress prevented the split from occurring until the secretary of defense and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed that USCYBERCOM would not be weakened after breaking with the NSA. Various government officials, such as US senators and the director of the NSA, opposed the idea of assigning USCYBERCOM its own leader, believing the agency needed the NSA's resources to perform its duties effectively.
In 2024, USCYBERCOM announced plans to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its operations. Those overseeing US Cyber Command believed this integration would improve analytic capabilities, scale operations, and enhance adversary disruption. AI would be incorporated into more than one hundred activities, including security and national defense. AI would enable continuous operations and quick adversary disruption.
Overview
The US government views cyberspace as simply another military domain—like land, air, and sea—that needs to be overseen and protected by the US military. USCYBERCOM's official objectives are to defend the Defense Department's information systems from foreign spying and attack, ensure the United States could fully operate in its own cyberspace domain, and carry out cyberattacks against the country's enemies. In addition to collaborating with other agencies within the Defense Department and the larger US government, USCYBERCOM also works to strengthen the cyber abilities of US international allies.
Although USCYBERCOM is a subunit of USSTRATCOM, the organization is divided into units that service cyber capabilities to each branch of the US armed forces. The different branches of USCYBERCOM include Army Cyber Command; Fleet Cyber Command, for the US Navy; Air Force Cyber Command; and Marine Forces Cyber Command. The Coast Guard Cyber Command is not a branch of USCYBERCOM, as it is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Defense; the branch works closely with USCYBERCOM.
USCYBERCOM's official seal is intended to reflect both the past and future of the United States. The blue seal features a bald eagle perched atop a shield in front of threads representing cyberspace. These images convey that the United States will always protect and defend cyberspace freedom for itself and its partners, and prevent external threats by carrying out cyber defense efforts against hostile actors.
Bibliography
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