July 12,
2008: The U.S. Army has activated its
first Network Warfare Battalion. The unit will not operate together, but mostly
as many detachments, supporting combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan,
counter-terror operations throughout the world, as well as in joint Cyber War
operations with other services and foreign countries. The battalion belongs to
the 704th Military Intelligence Brigade, which is in turn subordinate to INSCOM
(the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command).
All the
services are making a major effort to develop defensive and offensive Cyber War
weapons. The U.S. Air Force has established a major command (involving over
20,000 specialists) for this, and is attempting to become the lead for all Department
of Defense Cyber War activities. The other services oppose this attempt to take
over, although they appreciate air force efforts to develop new tools and
capabilities. The army and navy both have thousands of troops, in many
different units, working on Cyber War activities. Creating major units
(battalions and larger) dedicated to Cyber War, is a new development.