The Human Side of Cyber Conflict: Developing Air Force Cyber Warriors
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The Human Side of Cyber Conflict Organizing, Training, and Equipping the Air Force Cyber Workforce Panayotis A. Yannakogeorgos, PhD John P. Geis II, PhD, Colonel, USAF, Retired Contributors Stephen Hagel, Colonel, USAF, Retired Chad Dacus, PhD John L. Conway III, Colonel, USAF, Retired Adam B. Lowther, PhD Steven Drinnon, Lt Colonel, USAF Air University Press Air Force Research Institute Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama Project Editor Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jeanne K. Shamburger Names: Yannakogeorgos, Panayotis A., author. | Copy Editor Geis, John P., II, author. Carolyn Burns Title: The human side of cyber conflict : organizing, Cover Art and Book Design training, and equipping the Air Force cyber workforce Daniel Armstrong and L. Susan Fair / Panayotis A. Yannakogeorgos, John P. Geis II ... [and five others]. Composition and Prepress Production Other titles: Organizing, training, and equipping the Michele D. Harrell Air Force cyber workforce Print Preparation and Distribution Description: Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama : Air Diane Clark University Press, Air Force Research Institute, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2015045544 | ISBN 9781585662593 Subjects: LCSH: United States. Strategic Command (2002- ). Cyber Command. | United States. Air Force— Recruiting, enlistment, etc. | United States. Air Force— Officers—Training of. | United States. Air Force— Personnel management. | Cyberspace operations (Military science)—United States. AIR FORCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE Classification: LCC U163 .Y358 2016 | DDC 358.4—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045544 AIR UNIVERSITY PRESS Director and Publisher Allen G. Peck Published by Air University Press in June 2016 Editor in Chief ISBN: 978-1-58566-259-3 Oreste M. Johnson Managing Editor Demorah Hayes Design and Production Manager Cheryl King Disclaimer Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed Air University Press or implied within are solely those of the authors and do 155 N. Twining St., Bldg. 693 not necessarily represent the official policy or position of Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6026 the organizations with which they are associated or the [email protected] views of the Air Force Research Institute, Air University, http://aupress.au.af.mil/ United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or any http://afri.au.af.mil/ other US government agency. This publication is cleared for public release and unlimited distribution. Comments or questions concerning this study or other research can be sent to Air Force Research Institute 155 N. Twining St., Bldg. 693 AFRI Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6026 Air Force Research Institute Dedicated to those bold, silent Airmen, military and civilian, who employ cyber capabilities to project power and ensure freedom of action to achieve national security objectives in or through cyberspace sans honor, decoration, or recognition. iii Education is not what it is said to be by some, who profess to be able to put knowledge into a soul where it is not present, as though putting sight into blind eyes. —Plato The Republic iv Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Executive Summary xi 1 Introduction: Project Context and Methodology 1 Tasking 1 Definitions 1 Tasks and Timelines 2 Phases 1 and 2: Defining the Problem, Exploratory Research, and Analysis 3 Phase 3: Analysis and Vetting Findings with OCRs and against Data 9 Phase 4: Roll Out Project Findings to CSAF, Key USAF Stakeholders, and Project Participants 11 2 Connecting Technology and Policy 13 Comparing Information Technology and Operational Technology 15 Core and Peripheral Technologies 23 Peripheral Technologies That Will Benefit from Core Technology Trends 33 Air Force Acquisition and the Cyber Workforce 36 National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education 39 Summary 45 3 Recruit, Retain, Regain 51 Recruit 52 Retain 65 Regain 67 The irA Force Warrant Officer and Cyber Technology: A Good Fit? 70 Summary 73 4 Understanding the Impact of Millennials on the Cyber Workforce 77 Who Are the Millennials? 78 Maturational Theory versus Generational Theory 79 v CONTENTS Traditionalists, Boomers, and Xers 80 Adapting to Millennials 82 Summary 86 5 Force Development 89 14N Intelligence Officer 91 17 Series—Cyberspace Warfare and Network Operations Officers 96 1B4 Enlisted Cyberspace Defensive Operations 106 Enlisted Cyberspace Intelligence Analyst 114 13NXXX Cryptologic Language Analysts and Foreign Language Requirements for the Cyber Mission Force 117 3DXXX Career Fields 122 Summary 126 6 The Air ationalN Guard, the Air Force Reserve, and Cyber 137 Cost as the Overarching Factor 138 Civilian Cyber Skills in the Reserve Components 139 Summary 143 7 Educating and Training Cyber Forces 147 Education versus Training 148 Levels of Education within the USAF Cyber Workforce 153 Cyber Advanced Courses in Engineering: In-Sourcing Educational Force Multipliers 162 Air University and Education at the Operational Level 168 Air University: Education at the Operational and Strategic Levels of Cyber Conflict 171 Toward an Air Force Cyber Operational History 175 Training Cyber Forces 177 Training Issues 178 Summary 184 8 Concluding Thoughts 189 Appendix: Overall Recommendations and Status 195 Abbreviations 207 Bibliography 215 About the Contributors 235 vi Illustrations Figure 1 Cyber operations definitions 1 2 Tasks and timelines of research phases 2 3 Organizations visited and consulted 9 4 Technologies and policies affecting cyberspace operations 14 5 Spectrum of operations in cyberspace 17 6 PG&E gas transmission pipeline explosion 21 7 NICE framework 41 8 Age groups of cybercrime perpetrators 58 9 Percentage of SMART funds awarded by discipline 63 10 Notional 14N (cyber) career development pyramid 97 11 Breakdown of the 17D community 98 12 Inventory and sustainment of 17D career field 99 13 Developmental timeline for some cyberspace specialties 104 14 17D career pyramid 106 15 1B4 enlisted cyberspace defense operations career development 112 16 Proposed 1N4X1A fusion analyst / digital network analyst career pyramid 115 17 Air Force NMT/CST language requirements 118 18 Career development path of 1B4 and 3DX enlisted AFSCs 124 19 Generic career pyramid for 3DXXX career fields 125 20 FEMA regional headquarters 141 21 Cyber tasks at levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy 149 22 Cyber in foreign military doctrine and strategy 150 23 2014 ACM programming competition 152 24 Informatics Olympiad medal totals, 1988–2014 152 vii ILLUSTRATIONS 25 17D overall degrees 154 26 Top-ranked cyber programs worldwide 155 27 USAFA cyber major preference for 17D 156 28 USAFA nonrated preferred AFSC and GPA 156 29 USAFA cyber majors’ first-choice nonrated AFSCs 157 30 Timeline of AFRL ACE and AFIT ACE development 165 31 ABET-accredited program graduates from top-producing colleges 167 Table 1 Key recommendations xviii 2 IT system and ICS comparison 18 3 UCT Phase 1 101 4 UCT Phase 2 102 5 Enlisted cyber support AFSCs 108 6 1B4X1 course of instruction for cyberspace defense operations 109 7 Intermediate Network Warfare Training 111 8 3DXXX career fields 122 9 17D bachelor’s degrees 153 10 17D master’s degrees 153 11 Cyber-educated accessions from top universities 155 12 Average GPAs of USAFA cyber major vs. all USAFA cadets 156 13 USAF cyber accessions from the top 10 schools 161 14 ROTC cyber degree production by school and ABET accreditation status 162 15 Average yearly unemployment rate and percentage of 17D/33S cyber degree holders accessed from OTS 166 16 Percentage of Airmen by career field and educational level 168 viii Acknowledgments This book was a collaborative effort. John Geis and Stephen Hagel have worked with me throughout this project and were instrumental not only in recruiting participants and reading, reviewing, and revis- ing chapters but also in their contributions of significant chapters. In bringing this volume to print, we would like to thank several people who were invaluable in the genesis, production, and completion of the project. We sincerely appreciate the belief of Gen Mark A. Welsh III, US Air Force chief of staff, in the importance of the research topic and his appreciation of the complexity of the subject matter. Lt Gen Allen G. Peck, USAF, retired, director of the Air Force Research Insti- tute, contributed many improvements to the research, and we thank him for his constant and generous support in recruiting Department of Defense and national senior leadership participation in the study. We would like to express our gratitude to Adm Michael Rogers, USN; Gen Hugh Shelton, USA, retired; Gen John E. Hyten, USAF; Lt Gen Edward Cardon, USA; Lt Gen Michael J. Basla, USAF, retired; Lt Gen Burton M. Field, USAF; Lt Gen Robert J. Elder, USAF, retired; Lt Gen Jon Davis, USMC; Lt Gen Harry Raduege, USAF, retired; Maj Gen Suzanne Vautrinot, USAF, retired; Lt Gen Jeff Lofgren, USAF; Maj Gen Earl D. Matthews, USAF, retired; Maj Gen Burke E. Wilson, USAF; Mr. Robert Joyce; Mr. Russell Fraz; and Mr. Frank DeGiovanni. We are grateful to all for taking the time to provide senior leader per- spectives on their organizations and for encouraging their overbur- dened staffs to spend some time with the research team as we tried to untie the Gordian knot of cyber workforce development. Dr. Kamal Jabbour, Col William Young, USAF; Col Jodine K. Tooke, USAF; Col Kimberlee Joos, USAF; Lt Col Stephen Bailey, USAF; CMSgt Robert B. Jackson, USAF; CMSgt John Sander, USAF; Capt Jonathan Williams, USAF; Dr. Roger Hurwitz, Dr. Vint Cerf, Dr. Martin Libicki, Dr.