Stavridis' "New Triad"

Recently retired ADM Jim Stavridis has an interesting post up at Foreign Policy entitled The New Triad, in which he suggests the emergence of SOF, Unmanned, and Cyber as a critical new triad in America's security apparatus.  Ever thought provoking, I focus primarily Stavridis' view on Cyber, which I assess as a lot like the old Sesame Street song...."one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong..." 

It is indisputable that Cyber has emerged as a critical area of national emphasis.  Stavridis rightly emphasizes it in his piece, and he also quite rightly postulates that should a "Cyber" service emerge, it would likely not attract the same brand of recruit as the other services, nor would it necessarily require the same kinds of physical skills, uniforms, etc.

Left unsaid here is the distinct possibility that while such a capability may be required, it should not be placed within the Department of Defense.  And that's where I come down on this.

A "Cyber Service" could and should be cited within the CIA or perhaps even co-equal to it under the purview of the Director of National Intelligence; it should not be another Armed Service for a couple of reasons.  First, the "Whole of Government" (WOG) requirements such an organization would take-on suggests an organization outside the purview of any one cabinet secretary.  Second, placing it within DoD guarantees a continuing resource battle within the Pentagon and would (again) likely underestimate the considerable equities of other cabinet departments and agencies.  Thirdly, a cyberforce would -- as Stavridis suggests -- likely be so differently composed of so differently able people as to render their placement and comparison within the current armed services somewhat odd.  Let's face it--put aside the haircuts and uniforms--these folks could be significantly outside of weight standards or physical fitness standards; they could even be profoundly physically handicapped.  And all that would not matter one iota to their ability to do their jobs. 

So while I agree with ADM Stavridis as to the importance of cyber, and I find the "triad" idea somewhat interesting, I would only hope that should a CyberService emerge, it is not a creature of the Department of Defense.  After all--if YOU were going to be made the first Chief of the CyberService, wouldn't you like the opportunity to start from scratch, rather than fall in on the tired bureaucracy of DoD?

Bryan McGrath