Generating and Retaining Premier Cyber Warriors

Cyber specialists have become as essential to modern warfare as pilots, submariners, and special operators. Yet the Pentagon continues to face a challenge that has plagued it for decades: generating and retaining enough highly skilled cyber personnel to meet growing operational demands.

Unlike some traditional military specialties, cyber expertise transfers directly into lucrative civilian careers, creating strong incentives for operators to end their service early. The new C-MIP program seeks to counter this trend by rewarding personnel who remain in demanding cyber roles and continue developing technical expertise. In effect, the Pentagon is beginning to treat cyber capabilities similarly to aviation, nuclear, and special operations specialties — fields where specialized skills are considered too strategically important to lose.

Previous approaches were largely service-specific, creating inconsistencies across the force. Federal watchdogs also raised concerns that pay rates did not adequately compensate highly skilled cyber troops. The new C-MIP initiative suggests senior defense leaders are pursuing a more standardized approach.

Compensation alone, however, cannot solve the military’s larger workforce challenge. The deeper issue is structural: the United States still lacks a dedicated service responsible for generating and sustaining the workforce needed to compete in cyberspace. Today, the military services are responsible for cyber force generation, but only within the context of their primary domains — land, sea, air, or space. As a result, cyber is often treated as an enabling function that supports those missions rather than as a warfighting domain that requires dedicated institutional focus, support, and cultural investment.

A dedicated U.S. Cyber Force would change that. Rather than viewing cyber capabilities through the lens of another service’s mission, a Cyber Force would focus exclusively on recruiting, training, certifying, and developing the personnel needed to conduct offensive and defensive cyber operations. Unlike incentive pay programs that primarily seek to retain existing personnel, a Cyber Force would address the workforce challenge at every stage of the talent pipeline. It could establish recruiting standards tailored to technically skilled candidates, develop specialized training and education programs, and create career paths designed specifically for cyber operators rather than relying on personnel systems built for other domains.

America’s adversaries are increasing their cooperation in the cyber domain as detailed in a new book by our colleagues. To better defend the United States in the cyber domain and enable more effective offensive operations, the United States needs to recruit, train, and retain worldclass cyber experts.  

The C-MIP program is a welcome step toward recognizing cyber expertise as the strategic military asset it is. If Washington hopes to compete effectively in cyberspace against increasingly capable adversaries, it must do more than create an incentive pay scheme. The United States needs a force generation model built specifically for cyberspace — one capable of attracting, developing, and retaining elite technical talent over the long term. A U.S. Cyber Force would provide that foundation.

Emmerson Overell is a project coordinator at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ (FDD) Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI), where she focuses on threats to U.S. national security in the Arctic, space, and cyberspace. Sophie McDowall is a senior research associate at CCTI, where she works on the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, federal cybersecurity policy, and emerging technologies.

image: U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips, right, Air Combat Command director of Cyberspace Operations and Warfighting Communications (ACC/A6), wears an A6 patch during the Raptor Town Tactical Communications Demonstration at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, May 7, 2026. The patch symbolizes their dedication to secure communication and cyber systems in support of operations in austere environments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Katie Mullikin)