Cyberspace Warfare: A New DoD Core Mission Area

Abstract : Cyberspace warfare is clearly a candidate for a new Department of Defense (DoD) core mission area. This thesis will explore each of the primary missions of the U.S. Armed Forces and the U.S. DoD core mission areas. The analysis will support a requirement for a new DoD core mission area for cyberspace warfare. The threats are real. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when a nation state or nonnation state develops a new type of warfare to exploit an Achilles heel of the United States to achieve its own strategic objectives. The nature of war does not change but warfare does, and those who adapt survive, and those who fail suffer the consequences. As new strategic approaches are developed to meet national security objectives, cyberspace warfare as a new U.S. DoD core mission area could achieve these objectives for the United States. Defining cyberspace warfare as a U.S. DoD core mission area would ensure that the United States meets the challenges of any adversary that uses cyberspace as a means to threaten U.S. national security.