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Promote or Stay Technical? A Cyber Force Shouldn’t Force the Choice

By MAJ Francis “Peter” McKee

Read Time: < 10 mins

A proposed U.S. Cyber Force model would let cyber professionals build deep technical expertise before choosing a management path, mirroring industry practice and helping retain top talent without forcing a tradeoff between promotion and hands-on technical work.

A developer wearing Sony headphones works at a dark desk with multiple monitors displaying code.

Read Time: < 12 mins

AI as the Cyber Defender’s Wingman

As cyber threats accelerate with AI-driven attacks, defenders face growing pressure to operate at machine speed. A proposed approach for Army cyber operations pairs AI with human expertise, using AI to reduce analyst workload, speed decisions, and enhance defense while keeping humans in control of critical actions.Provide your feedback on BizChat

By SGT Jermaine S. Sayers

AI-generated image showing black silhouettes of humans walking through blue stars and patterns representing digital cyberspace

Read Time: < 11 mins

The Next Evolution of Maneuver: Why the Cyber Branch Must Think Beyond Cyberspace

LTC Joseph Huitt argues the Army Cyber Branch must evolve beyond technology to embrace its identity as the maneuver branch for the information environment—redefining maneuver across cyber, electromagnetic, and cognitive domains through doctrine, educ...

By LTC Joseph L. Huitt

Stylized terminal screen graphic showing a mock command output finding a 'flag.txt' file, with the large text 'Try-H4rd3r' displayed in green retro font.

Read Time: < 7 mins

Learning How to Try Harder: How Capture the Flag Competitions Teach Essential Cyber Skills

Capture the Flag competitions are helping build the cyber workforce’s most valuable skill: learning how to solve unfamiliar problems. Advocates say CTFs foster resilience, independent thinking, and adaptability—traits critical for success in a rapidl...

By CPT Jared J. Fritz

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Read Time: < 11 mins

Forging Lethality Through Innovation: Electromagnetic Warfare and Multi-Domain Integration in the 116th IBCT’s Transition to a Mobile Brigade Combat Team

Electromagnetic warfare, intelligence fusion, and multi-domain integration enabled the 116th IBCT’s transition to a Mobile Brigade Combat Team, demonstrating how National Guard innovation, external partnerships, and precision targeting enhance battle...

By 1LT Miguel Bustillo and SGT Taylor Hodge

Powered by Policy: How the Current Policy Landscape Promotes Partnership with Industry for Agentic AI Implementation
Agentic AI and existing cybersecurity law can strengthen public-private collaboration against state-sponsored cyber threats. From ransomware and deepfakes to supply-chain attacks, AI-enabled defense offers a path to greater U.S. cyber resilience and ...

By CPT Desmond C. Varner Jr., JD, Esq.
Change-Triggered Hunts: Exploiting Network Turbulence to Pressure Adversary Persistence
This article proposes using major network and endpoint changes as deliberate opportunities for Cyber Protection Teams to conduct focused threat hunts, increasing the likelihood of detecting and disrupting adversary persistence during periods of opera...

By MAJ Geoffrey Crawford
Ransomware and Real-World Consequences: Lessons Learned from the Colonial Pipeline Attack
Discover the critical cybersecurity lessons learned from the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and its real-world impact on national security. This insightful analysis details how Army Cyber leaders can strengthen network architecture, enforce...

By CPT Euihyung Jung
Spectrum Maneuver: Integrating Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) into 21st Century Warfare
Explore how integrating Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) transforms the spectrum from a mere enabling environment into a decisive maneuver space for 21st-century warfare. This article examines the core fundamentals of spectrum maneuver and ...

By MG Mark D. Miles and COL John J. Hosey Jr.
Taking the Baton: Preparing for Leadership Transitions in the Army
The Army Cyber Center of Excellence is testing two new leadership transition approaches for signal and cyber officers. The initiatives replace brief, static courses with a year of tailored, general-officer-guided prep and a structured two-week comman...

By MG Ryan Janovic and MG Mark Miles
Can DHS Protect the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure Against Cyber Threats?
DHS can strengthen protection of critical infrastructure from cyber threats by modernizing systems, partnering with industry, leveraging skilled contractors, and integrating military support to build resilience and better defend against evolving, lar...

By COL Charles McGrue
Should Cyber Offense and Defense Be Separate?
Separating offensive and defensive cyber roles risks reducing effectiveness, creativity, and shared learning. Integrating both through collaboration and “purple teaming” strengthens skills, improves resilience, and enhances organizations’ ability to ...

By COL Charles R. McGrue
USCYBERCOM: Recruiting and Retaining High-end Cyber Operators
The DoW faces ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining cyber talent. Proposals include centralizing operators under a unified command, aligning missions with national strategy, and offering targeted incentives to build a highly skilled, sustain...

By COL Charles McGrue
The Crows and I: The Existing Crisis of Purpose and Electronic Warfare’s Inability to Provide Support to Maneuver Commanders
Army electronic warfare faces a crisis of purpose marked by fragmented efforts, unclear roles, and weak alignment with maneuver needs. Authors call for unified strategy, stronger training, and disciplined, mission-focused integration to achieve effec...

By MAJ Herbert “Trey” Norton III
Outthinking the Adversary: A New Training Blueprint for the Electromagnetic Warfare Specialist
The Army’s current EW training model is outdated for modern combat. A new approach focused on early IT skills, network integration, and resilience in degraded environments is needed to build adaptable specialists who can operate and innovate in conte...

By MSG David A. Fisk
Leveraging Existing Expertise: Why the Army Doesn’t Need a Specialized Counter-drone MOS
The Army can counter evolving drone threats without creating a new specialty. Existing EW personnel, systems, and brigade structures already provide effective capabilities; improving training, integration, and multi-domain coordination offers a more ...

By CPT Cynthia Noelle Forden
Alert Fatigue
Overlapping cybersecurity tools across U.S. military networks are overwhelming analysts, masking real threats, and enabling adversaries to hide in plain sight—driving a call to reduce alert noise, enforce accountability, and refocus Defense in Depth ...

By SGT Adrian Morris
5th Generation Warfare Already at Play
Fifth-generation warfare is reshaping conflict through information, cognitive influence, and gray‑zone tactics as authoritarian rivals exploit media, technology, and ideology to erode trust, shape perceptions, and challenge U.S. national security and...

By Jesse Robert
Where are the 10x AI-Assisted Engineers? The Reality of AI-Assisted Development in Early-2026
Claims of 10x AI-driven productivity gains in software development fall short in practice. Evidence shows modest 20–30% gains, concentrated in narrow tasks, while complexity, rework, and workflow bottlenecks limit impact—pointing to a need for AI-ass...

By CPT Kyle Dotterrer
The Agent on the Desk
Autonomous AI agents are rapidly spreading on soldiers’ and contractors’ personal devices, operating with broad access and little oversight. The article outlines real security risks, documented exploits, and urges Army Cyber leaders to close awarenes...

By 2LT Emanuel Walker