Combined Arms Cyber-Kinetic Operator Training

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Combined Arms Cyber-Kinetic Operator Training

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Rotem Guttman in Cyber Missions

As cyber-physical systems continue to proliferate, the ability of cyber operators to support armed engagements (kinetic missions) will be critical for the Department of Defense (DoD) to maintain a technological advantage over adversaries. However, current training for cyber operators focuses entirely on the cyber aspect of operations and ignores the realities and constraints of supporting a larger mission. Similarly, kinetic operators largely think of cyber capabilities as a strategic, rather than a tactical resource, and are untrained in how to leverage the capabilities cyber operators can provide. In this blog post, I present Cyber Kinetic Effects Integration, also known as CKEI, which is a program developed at the SEI's CERT Division that allows the training of combined arms and cyber engagements in a virtual battlefield.

The Current State of Operations

The DoD has made it a priority to revamp its training approach to prepare warfighters for the new military theater: a combined arms and cyber engagement. "Fifth generation warfare is not just about fifth generation aircraft, such as F-22s and F-35s," said Capt. Neil Fournie, 414th Combat Training Squadron chief of Advanced Warfighting Division, in an article about the effort to combine air, space, and cyber Air Force training. "It's about building fifth-generation Airmen who understand how to combine air, space and cyber together to enable holistic battlespace dominance."

There is currently a divide, however, between warfighters who work solely in cyber-mission or cyber-protection teams and warfighters assigned to kinetic forces: units that operate machines and weaponry. Initiatives such as Cyber Support to Corps and Below have demonstrated a move toward blended missions, but the training and tools necessary for this new, combined mission space have not kept up.

The military has a long history of live, virtual, constructive training (known in the Mod/Sim community as LVC) for kinetic warfare. This kind of simulated warfare training exists for warfighters operating in the cyber environment, but it often focuses on the cyber environment exclusively. This single focus is at odds with the realities of cyber support in a real-world mission.

Training for Cross-Domain Requirements

The impact of cross-domain training cannot be overstated.

Consider a scenario in which a cyber operator accesses an enemy's command-and-control system to monitor enemy troop movements. If his connection passes through a fiber optic cable running across a bridge, the cyber operator must ensure that friendly forces do not damage the cable during normal operations, even if they must deny use of that bridge to the enemy.

Conversely, troops in theater must be able to properly communicate requirements to cyber operators. For example, they may need the power cut in a village to secure freedom of maneuver under the cover of darkness. Instead of using kinetic operations to take out powerlines, substations, or even a power plant, (that they may later have to rebuild), they can deploy a cyber action to neutralize that infrastructure temporarily, while minimizing the effect upon civilian populations.

Full article: HERE