The US military's success in cyberwarfare hinges in part on the capabilities of the cyber personnel that the military brings to the fight. Given that cyberwarfare is considered a core element of the US Air Force (USAF) mission and a core capability that USAF provides to combatant commanders, USAF needs to ensure that its personnel are trained and developed in a way that best suits the cyber mission. With this in mind, USAF has been looking for ways to revamp and improve the training and development of its offensive and defensive cyberwarfare workforce to develop the best fighting force possibl
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The US military's success in cyberwarfare hinges in part on the capabilities of the cyber personnel that the military brings to the fight. Given that cyberwarfare is considered a core element of the US Air Force (USAF) mission and a core capability that USAF provides to combatant commanders, USAF needs to ensure that its personnel are trained and developed in a way that best suits the cyber mission. With this in mind, USAF has been looking for ways to revamp and improve the training and development of its offensive and defensive cyberwarfare workforce to develop the best fighting force possible. USAF is also cognizant of the importance of recruiting and retention in realizing the full potential of any training and development efforts and has sought to better understand some of the drivers of attraction to and retention in the cyber field.
This report, the first of two volumes, summarizes RAND Project AIR FORCE's work exploring the views of the enlisted and civilian workforce on these topics. Our study builds upon similar recent RAND Corporation work focused on understanding the views of the officer cyber workforce. The results from this study will inform policymaker decisions about changes to USAF offensive and defensive cyber training and development efforts, as well as USAF efforts to recruit and retain the best personnel for the job. We conducted 30 focus groups and interviews to collect viewpoints of enlisted and civilian cyber personnel in offensive and defensive cyber operations - specifically, the cyber warfare operations (1B4) specialty, digital network analyst (1N4A) specialty, and civilians operating as part of the cyber mission force. We also talked to leadership at the bases we visited and subject-matter experts in cyber workforce training and development.
The report concluded that: (1) Members of the cyber workforce and subject-matter experts acknowledged that there is room for improvement in training, and, according to some, major improvements are needed; and (2) Far more flexibility is needed in how cyber training is structured and delivered to ensure currency and to tailor training to the needs of the workforce.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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