DoD Opposes Congressional Push for Separate Cyber Force Study

The U.S. Department of Defense has urged lawmakers to reject a proposal for an independent assessment of the establishment of a separate cyber force within the military. The request was submitted to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees as part of the initial package of “appeals” to provisions in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Furthermore, the Pentagon asked legislators to dismiss a proposal to elevate the Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Networks (JFHQ-DODIN) to the status of a “sub-unified command” under U.S. Cyber Command, akin to the elevation of the Cyber National Mission Forces in 2022. JFHQ-DODIN is responsible for safeguarding Pentagon networks globally.

House and Senate staff are scheduled to meet next week to begin negotiations on the final compromise version of the NDAA, which will be considered after Congress returns from its pre-election recess in November.

The House passed its version of the $895 billion defense policy bill in June. The Senate committee approved its version the same day, but it did not reach the floor for debate as the Democrat-controlled chamber prioritized confirming Biden administration nominees and judges.

Requests for changes to the bill are common during the annual NDAA conference process. However, the Pentagon’s call to exclude a study on the creation of a cyber force is likely to intensify tensions between lawmakers who believe an independent examination of a new military branch is justified, and senior Pentagon officials who have long resisted the prospect of a specialized cyber unit.

Representative Morgan Luttrell, the sponsor of the amendment for the study included in the House NDAA, expressed concern that the U.S. is not prepared to outpace its adversaries in cyberspace. He also noted that the Pentagon’s rejection of an assessment on the feasibility of a cyber force is perplexing, given the need to ensure effective cyber operations.

In its appeal, the Department of Defense argues that Congress already mandated a review of the current cyber enterprise and various models for training and equipping cyber personnel under the 2023 NDAA. This study, known as the Section 1533 study, was due to be submitted to Congress by June 1. The Department of Defense tasked the RAND Corporation with conducting the review. However, while the think tank has completed its work, the department will not make decisions based on the findings until next June.

The Pentagon also warned that if the National Academies do not engage a research organization with national security credentials to conduct the cyber force study, reliance would fall on publicly available, unclassified information, which would not provide a comprehensive view of the readiness issues that have plagued Cyber Command since its inception in 2010.

Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former executive director of the Congressional Cyberspace Commission, expressed concern over the Pentagon’s refusal to transparently consider the issue. He likened the Pentagon’s actions to those of TikTok, which resisted transparency under public scrutiny. Montgomery also speculated that the appeal might be driven by Cyber Command itself.

Earlier this year, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies published a study advocating the creation of a military cyber force. The report recommended placing the unit within the Army, with a personnel strength of 10,000 and a budget of $16.5 billion.

The seriousness with which lawmakers regard the Pentagon’s appeal typically depends on the specific issue and its legislative history. In the case of the cyber force study, a similar provision was included in last year’s Senate defense bill but was ultimately removed during negotiations with the House.

Since the independent assessment was included in both chambers’ bills and enjoyed bipartisan support, with Luttrell in the House and Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate, the appeal may be disregarded, potentially costing the department and Cyber Command significant political capital.