As threats against the homeland evolve further into the cyber realm, so have the duties of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The chairman, as part of the National Defense Strategy, has been designated as the “global integrator,” meaning that he has been tasked with overseeing the operation of the U.S. military’s cyber activities around the world.
“The Joint Staff is taking on the global integration role to synchronize collaborative efforts to ensure impacts of one theater of operations does not affect the other and are intentional and supportive rather than collateral,” Lt. Gen. Bradford Shwedo, director of command, control, communications and computers/cyber and chief information officer of the Joint Staff, told Congress during a Nov. 14 hearing, according to Fifth Domain.
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The designation also means that the Joint Chiefs chairman and his staff will direct more resources to U.S. Cyber Command.
“It is now undeniable that the homeland is no longer a sanctuary,” the 2018 National Defense Strategy notes. “America is a target, whether from terrorists seeking to attack our citizens; malicious cyber activity against personal, commercial, or government infrastructure; or political and information subversion. New threats to commercial and military uses of space are emerging, while increasing digital connectivity of all aspects of life, business, government, and military creates significant vulnerabilities. During conflict, attacks against our critical defense, government, and economic infrastructure must be anticipated.”
Read: A New Approach to Tackling Cybersecurity
