The Human Side of Cyber Conflict

260 Pages·2016·3.47 MB·English

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,
training, and equipping the Air Force cyber workforce
Cover Art and Book Design
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
ISBN: 978-1-58566-259-3
Editor in Chief
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
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[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
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Air Force Research Institute
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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.
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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 Air 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 National 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
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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
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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. Hal Arrata, Dr. Bob Mills, Dr. Tom Mabry,
Mr. Hal Flynn, Dr. Eneken Tikk-Ringas, Mr. Chris Spirito, and Mr.
Xeno Kovah provided valuable information and perspectives on cur-
rent education, training, and workforce development practices. Their
input gave our research team a solid foundation for addressing how
the Air Force and nation can resolve the challenges of developing the
cyber workforce.
Without the guidance and expertise of all of the above and countless
others, this project could not have come to a successful conclusion.
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