CYBERCOM wants money for its anti-ISIS efforts

U.S. Cyber Command has asked for $35.1 million for supporting ongoing operations overseas in fiscal 2020.

Digging in the Department of Defense’s special budget section reveals a request to draw from the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) budget, which is free from congressional budget caps and has been described by some critics as a slush fund.

The request appears in the Air Force’s OCO budget documents, made available March 18. The Air Force supports Cyber Command as its executive agent.

According to the document, the estimated amount requested is primarily to support Operation Inherent Resolve, the global anti-ISIS effort, with $10,000 to support Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the current U.S. counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan.

“Operations financed include Joint Task Force Ares efforts to counter Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) activities,” the Air Force OCO document states.

RELATED

What Cyber Command learned from ISIS operations

One of the lessons learned from the cyber efforts to combat ISIS is that targeting the cyber domain is similar to targeting in the physical domains.

By Mark Pomerleau

The $10,000 in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel is down from actual amounts in FY18 of $100,000.

In congressional testimony, Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of Cyber Command, has referenced these operations abroad.

“Cyberspace operations in places like Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan today integrate and synchronize cyberspace and information operations with kinetic missions, with each enabling the other for offensive, force protection and intelligence purposes,” he wrote in testimony to the Senate Armed Services in February.

Nakasone has also referenced operations in the Philippines in an interview published in Joint Forces Quarterly in January, providing “we’ve been the beneficiary of ongoing operations, in northern Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Yemen to perfect a lot of our tradecraft with these supported commands.”

Currently, Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command has been charged with the anti-ISIS cyber efforts under Joint Task Force Ares, in cooperation with Special Operations Command.

More In

Army may swap AI bill of materials for simpler ‘baseball cards’

"We know innovation's happening in the open-source environment," said the Army's Bharat Patel. "We also know who's contributing to the open source."

China dissolves Strategic Support Force, focused on cyber and space

China has now established an Information Support Force, with President Xi Jinping present at its investiture ceremony in Beijing.

Biden urged to send ATACMS along with air defense systems to Ukraine

Ukraine is awaiting U.S. Senate approval after the House this weekend approved the $95 billion package that also includes aid for other allies.

Opinion

Countering Chinese cyber threats of tomorrow demands we prepare today

For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has focused on espionage, stealing IP from our companies, and collecting private data.

Lockheed Martin eyes Patriot interceptor production in Spain

Spain's Grupo Oesia is to make parts of the PAC-3 MSE interceptor missile for Lockheed, expanding the two companies' partnership first announced last year.