You are most likely never to see a hospital or law firm headed by someone other than a former lawyer or doctor, but cyber, for some reason, lets anyone lead their units.
You might say that great leaders can surround themselves with competent professionals, and their leadership skills will prevail. But history has told a different story, with countless Government breaches and billions of dollars spent on ineffective or duplicative software.
How does this affect things? Well, most cyber PM shops are transitory, where civilians and officers come to finish off a career or just sit long enough to get some awards and retire. There is nothing wrong with that, but the chance that someone can come in and recognize dysfunction, ineffectiveness, or, in some cases, even corruption is very small.
And then there is the mission; with no relevant cyber or engineering skills or background, how does a leader measure the effectiveness of their OA? Better yet, how do they improve things for the warfighter?
Cyber is too important to treat as just an "IT" function. It is the culmination of almost every engineering skill and the ability to break or defend.
Our warfighters deserve better.
"In the U.S. military, an officer who had never fired a rifle would never command an infantry unit. Yet officers with no experience behind a keyboard are commanding cyber warfare units. This mismatch stems from the U.S. military’s failure to recruit, train, promote, and retain talented [cyber warriors] hackers."
https://lnkd.in/eaAvwsa5
United States Cyber Force
https://www.fdd.org