Virtual Impact: Leveraging Citizen Airmen's Complementary Skills For Increased Cyber Mission Effectiveness
Abstract
Citizen soldiers, from the warriors in the early colonial militia to today's Guard and Reserve Airmen, have a distinguished tradition of service to the nation. In addition to traditional combat arms and combat support roles, today's part-time Airmen have unique skills and experience to leverage during their uniformed service. The fundamental research question in this study is " How should the AF best leverage the part-time Citizen Airmen's civilian expertise to contribute to the USAF cyber mission? There are opportunities to increase cyber mission effectiveness by selectively leveraging the expertise some Airmen gain and use during their civilian employment. This thesis addresses the question through use of the historical analogy approach with two examples the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). They were two distinct solutions the USG created to address gaps in its active component (AC) forces. During its short, nearly four-year existence from 1941 until 1945, the Coordinator of Information (COI) and OSS were the USG s first formal civilian organization and military unit, respectively, authorized to accomplish sabotage and centralized intelligence. The CRAF program is a contract that enables the USAF to meet some of its wartime and peacetime airlift requirements through US commercial carrier capabilities. When the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) worked with the President to make the OSS a direct reporting agency, they gained capabilities complementing those of conventional Army units. For over sixty years the CRAF program continues to provide a capability that satisfies the DOD s surge airlift requirements and simultaneously provides acceptable profit to compensate for the assumed risk. The ARC s contribution to the cyber enterprise is analyzed through the lenses of culture, cost, and risk. As each of the three key variables is discussed, the relevant examples from the two historical analogies are highlighted and applied.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA616976
Entities
People
- Chad Maniford
Organizations
- Air University