Posted on 08/24/2019 2:03:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
All the U.S. military services suffer a shortage of competent and experienced cyber talent. But with a tiny pool of eligible candidates willing to do work for the Department of Defense, hiring programs need to rely on more than just patriotism to be successful. The most recent attempt to shore up cyber capabilities comes from the Marine Corps’ announcement that it will create a Cyber Auxiliary. Here too, this program runs aground by asking for too much and offering too little. The Cyber Auxiliary seeks volunteers willing to provide the “training, education, advising, and mentorship” needed within the Marine Corps, and to provide hands-on instruction in simulated environments.
The Marine Corps is feeling the pressure for real-world skills and training to defend its systems and to conduct offensive operations under conditions of competition as well as combat — especially as it continues to put flesh on its future warfare concepts, specifically its expeditionary access basing operations concepts in the joint fight. Whether those capabilities are provided by Cyber Command, or are organic to the force itself, the capability to integrate with cyber warriors and defend systems — particularly for expeditionary basing — matters. In theory, this is what the Cyber Auxiliary will do: guide and train the Marine Corps in supporting, conducting, and facilitating those operations. The details, though, as with many things in cyber, are scant.
In an innovative move for the Marine Corps, Cyber Auxiliary participants refreshingly need not meet the Marine Corps’ physical fitness requirements or its grooming standards to join — hair color and pull-ups are no longer limiting factors in an institution that places value on conformity, personal bearing, and physical fitness.....
(Excerpt) Read more at warontherocks.com ...
If anyone can join the Marines they won’t be the Marines anymore.
Aren’t Marines putting women in combat units now...
Like the “Boy” Scouts.
More Idiocracy in Action.
1) The military branches start thinking very differently when it comes to standards and recruiting for cyber forces as indicated in this article.
2) We stand up a separate U.S. Cyber Force that enables those relaxed recruiting/physical standards to get the needed talent in place, but that also requires all other branches to cough up their ownership of all IT systems and standards.
This is a real problem, and "we've always done it this way" is no excuse.
The Marines don't have their own chaplains or medical personnel. For heavy construction, they rely on the Seabees or the Army Corps of Engineers. Why in the f**k do they need their own hackers? (I frankly think that the Marines should also not have their own JAG officers--let the Navy do it.) Hell, until the GWOT, the idea of MARSOC was an anathema to many jarheads of my acquaintance.
As a space weenie now, I fully get that physical prowess is not essential to serving with honor. Yet I am a firm believer that every Marine should be a rifleman--it's part of their whole schtick. As someone else noted on this thread, if anyone can become a Marine, then it's no longer special. Why bother at that point?--just fold them into the Army in that case.
As for the social attitudes of the hacker community--I say that we can do without them. Their politics are suspect too. I cite Google--where employees object to making stuff for Uncle Sam but embrace making spyware for the Chicoms.
Because "cyber" is where the money is. That's why all the branches are digging into it as best they can, but they're wholly unable to keep up with the recruiting/retention problems inherent in that talent pool.
The extremely expensive stop-gap measure is to hire contractors, but how long will the Services be able to afford it? Not to mention that all that contractor money is maintaining a negative feedback loop by encouraging young service members to get the cyber training, do a tour in uniform, then immediately get out and do the same job for 2-3x their old pay.
That paradigm is not sustainable.
Couldn’t agree with you more - and I was a lifer Marine. Either the leadership of the Corps mans up and rejects the non-Marine slippage of standards (girls in the infantry, openly serving gays, feel-good noncombat missions, etc.) or we fold the tent and go home.
The Marine Corps is about killing the enemy or dying in the attempt.
Yes, we are part of the Department of the Navy - but the Men’s Department.
Marines need a cyber command....BS. Fits in with the homos and trannyz and female infantry I guess.
You said this very well!
A Marine that can’t shoot or use a bayonet effectively and is not totally squared away is NO Marine and does NOT deserve that title!
Semper Fi, Brother!
Every Marine is a rifleman--it's the emphasis of their training and not a their "schtick" but coming from an Army "whatever" is the main reason we didn't go in the Army. Different mission, different ideology.
I as a US Marine, and a FMF Corpsman, and the father of a Solider (and prior US Marine) When he went Army we had a conversation about that. it is my humble opinion that in every branch the troops are always "good to go" its the leadership that is the determinant, and the Army's concept of leadership, sucks as a whole. Just my opinion. And BTW, the Marine Corps does have it's own engineers (if you would have researched you might have known that).
MARSOC / Raider Bn, is just the latest iteration of ANGLICO, RECON, Force RECON.
By your thinking please explain the concept of Delta, Green Beret, Ranger and any other SF group that is Army?
Not very cost effective?
May God bless the both of you, and many thanks to you and all your family.
USMC engineers are a shadow of the capability of army corps of engineers. USMC engineers are basically combat engineers, not at all as capable as Seabees.
And marsoc is an abomination. Raider battalion were disbanded long before WWII ended. Every Marine grunt the elite.
Recon was simply a battlefield job that selected for its needs. Marsoc was created for political reasons and to feel “special”. It was not created FOR a mission, It was created then went looking for one.
Anglico was to coordinate fires from other branches, and to assist Army with naval gunfire experts. Recon was eyes and ears for tactical leaders within friendly artillery range. Force recon was for overall commanders strategic needs and beyond the umbrella.
Raiders were meant for raids on jap islands and were disbanded when that practice wasn’t needed.
What is marsoc mission? Except of course to “be special” and get to play? What can they do that a regular Marine rifle company can’t. The answer, nothing.
ANGLICO Advanced Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Forward Observers and to direct Naval Gun Fire.
as to the rest you are correct.....
Cheers Brother!
Secondly, my criticism of MARSOC was echoing the opinion of Marines of my acquaintance. In their view, all Marines are supposed to be special. Like Cyber, the Marines pretty much wanted to get into a business where money was flowing.
I will just ignore your jealousy of the Special Feces and Delta. And, unlike the Navy SEALS, no one really talks what Delta is doing.
One of the more sad things that I read in recent years was some boneheaded idea to take SEAL washouts and use them to form two naval rifle battalions to do certain duties. I was like, "yeah, aren't those jobs Marines are supposed to be doing? Has the Navy lost control of the Marines here or have the Marines some of their focus?"
Anyhow, I believe that the way that the Marine Corps stays viable as a separate service is to offer something that no one else does. Thus my point was partly this: "if they start looking too much like the Army, then people are going to ask why they don't get folded into the Army." Just pray that some idiots don't try to propose starting a USMC armored division.
No jealousy of other branches here... just a question of perspective (so you can try another course proving your worth)
And Delta, yea the last time we heard of Delta, a bunch of kids, women and some men were burned alive in a compound that was there for 60 years was destroyed in Waco Tx.
ya pompous snarky ass.
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