U.S. Cyber Command Annual Report to Congress

March 13, 2014

Here is a copy of the prepared posture statement for U.S. Cyber Commandsubmitted yesterday by General Keith Alexander, the outgoing chief of the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command, to Congress.

What’s interesting about the statement is that for the first time that I can remember, Alexander’s statement provides a clear and cogent picture of the size and composition of U.S. Cyber Command, and what the command’s mission is. According to Alexander,

"USCYBERCOM is a subunified command of U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska though based at Fort Meade, Maryland. It has approximately 1,100 people (military, civilians, and contractors) assigned with a Congressionally-appropriated budget for Fiscal Year 2014 of approximately $562 million in Operations and Maintenance (O&M), Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E), and military construction (MILCON). USCYBERCOM also has key Service cyber components: Army Cyber Command/Second Army, Marine Forces Cyberspace Command, Fleet Cyber Command/Tenth Fleet, and Air Forces Cyber/24th Air Force. Together they are responsible for directing the defense ensuring the operation of the Department of Defense’s information networks, and helping to ensure freedom of action for the United States military and its allies—and, when directed, for defending the nation against attacks in cyberspace. On a daily basis, they are keeping U.S. military networks secure, supporting the protection of our nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks, assisting our combatant commanders, and working with other U.S. Government agencies tasked with defending our nation’s interests in cyberspace."

Now if only somebody could tell me why US Cyber Command is a “subunified command.”