LOLITA C. BALDOR, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - This June 6, 2013, file photo, shows the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md., where the U.S. Cyber Command is located. The American military services are looking for new ways to ... more
WASHINGTON - A decade ago, he was a young Army soldier training Iraqi troops when he noticed their primitive filing system: handwritten notes threaded with different colors of yarn, stacked in piles. For organization's sake, he built them a simple computer database.
Now an Army reservist, the major is taking a break from his civilian high-tech job to help America's technological fight against Islamic State group. He's part of a growing force of experts the Pentagon has assembled to defeat the extremists.
"The ability to participate in some way in a real mission, that is actually something that's rare, that you can't find in private sector," said the 38-year-old Nebraska native who is working at U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md. "You're part of a larger team putting your skills to use, not just optimizing clicks for a digital ad, but optimizing the ability to counter ISIS or contribute to the security of our nation."
'Analytic focus'
Last year, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter expressed frustration that the United States was losing the cyberwar against the militants. He pushed the Cyber Command to be more aggressive. In response, the Pentagon undertook an effort to incorporate cyber technology into its daily military fight, including new ways to disrupt the enemy's communications, recruiting, fundraising and propaganda.
To speak with someone at the front lines of this campaign, The Associated Press agreed to withhold the major's name. The military says he could be threatened or targeted by the militants if he is identified publicly. The major and other officials wouldn't provide precise details on the highly classified work he is doing.
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But Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command, said the major is bringing new expertise for identifying enemy networks, pinpointing system administrators or developers and potentially monitoring how ISIS' online traffic moves.
He "has the ability to bring an analytic focus of what the threat is doing, coupled with a really deep understanding of how networks run," Nakasone said, describing such contributions as "really helpful for us." He outlined a key question for the military: "How do you impact an adversary that's using cyberspace against us?"
'Tangible Results'
The military is looking for new ways to bring in more civilians with high-tech skills who can help against ISIS and prepare for the new range of technological threats the nation will face. Nakasone said that means getting Guard and Reserve members with technical expertise in digital forensics, math crypto-analysis and writing computer code. The challenge is how to find them.
"I would like to say it's this great database that we have, that we've been able to plug in and say, 'Show me the best tool developers and analysts that you have out there,'" Nakasone said. "We don't have that yet. We are going to have one, though, by June."
The Army Reserve is starting a pilot program cataloging soldiers' talents. Among 190,000 Army reservists, Nakasone said there might be up to 15,000 with some type of cyber-related skills. But there are legal and privacy hurdles, and any database hinges on reservists voluntarily and accurately providing information on their capabilities.
The Army major said others in the civilian high-tech industry are interested in helping.
The major said he has signed up for a second one-year tour in his cyber job. He is looking at options for staying longer.
"I find what I'm doing very satisfying, because I have an opportunity to implement things, to get things done and see them work and see tangible results," he said. "I'm not making as much as I was on the civilian side. But the satisfaction is that strong, and is that valuable, that it's worth it."
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