Federal Manager's Daily Report

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An IG report has said that the Defense Department “routinely struggles to recruit, retain, and develop the number of cyber professionals needed to conduct offensive and defensive cyberspace operations” and that a special personnel authority created in response has had little impact.

“Although the DoD is adapting to recruiting and training its own cyber warriors (known as Cyber Mission Force), the military services anticipate difficulties recruiting and retaining sufficient talent. These difficulties are only compounded by additional challenges diversifying the cyber workforce so it is more inclusive of women and underrepresented communities,” said a report on major management challenges facing the department.

The report cited a commission’s report from earlier this year stating that the government has a shortage of 33,000 cyber personnel, adding that a GAO report last year found that the department has not identified its staffing needs because it has not accurately categorized such positions. It also cited reports from GAO and others that the department is falling short in training and developing cyber employees, “adversely impacting the DoD’s ability to retain a skilled force” in the face of competition from the private sector.

It noted that DoD operates a “cyber excepted service” that provides flexibility for the recruitment, development, and retention of civilian cyber professionals “but the program is voluntary and personnel in a competitive service position may decline the conversion . . . The voluntary nature of the authority has led to slow program adoption and the limited number of conversions”—only about 7,400 since the program began in 2017, it said.

Said the report, “The DoD cyber workforce must be appropriately resourced and enabled with right capabilities to support current and future cyberspace missions, identify critical network vulnerabilities, and limit malicious actors from compromising DoD operations.”

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