US Strategic and Cyber Commands:Facing the Range of Threats

General Robert Kehler,US Air Force,Commander,US Strategic Command,made a joint appearance with General Keith Alexander,US Army,Commander,US Cyber Command and Director,National Security Agency,before the Senate Armed Forces Committee on Tuesday.Uncertainty and complexity continue to dominate the national security landscape,General Kehler said,citing Iran's nuclear ambitions;North Korea's ballistic missile launch;civil war in Syria;with the fiscal uncertainty adding additional steep challenges.Our enemies and potential enemies are watching.
Our STRATCOM men and women wield an array of complimentary capabilities.While our heritage is nuclear,today's STRATCOM is far more diverse than ever before.I'm most concerned with the impact fiscal concerns are having on our people.Civilians are 60% of our staff.I believe they will cope with it in the near term;but they may eventually retire early.
Overall,the fiscal concern is like an avalanche.In the longer term,it will affect our sustainment needs.Our responsibilities have not changed,but the pathway we're on is posing growing risk.
For his part,General Alexander said we need cyber legislation.We can both protect civil liberties and privacy and protect our nation in cyber space.Cyber effects are growing.There have been over 140 attacks on Wall Street in the past six months.There was a destructive attack on Saudi Aramco last summer.
We are ahead of developing the teams that we need,our cyber cadre.It is an offensive team DOD would use to defend the nation if attacked in cyber space.We face two issues:1.Command and Control-how will the joint cyber centers work with Cyber Command;2.situational awareness-an attack on Wall Street will be seen by the private sector first.We have to see it in real time,building the operational picture we would share with the Combatant Commands,the FBI and others.This is a new area for many of our folks.
From my perspective,no one actor is to blame for our current lack of preparedness.The US government has made significant strides in the cyber realm.
On nuclear Command and Control,General Kehler added we are very concerned with a cyber-related attack on Command and Control and our nuclear weapons themselves.I am confident today that the Command and Control system and nuclear platforms themselves do not have such a vulnerability.We have looked at that.We need to do better at exercising and detecting such threats.We have a way to go there until we can put an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.
I'm confident in the deployed weapons and the stockpile.Every year,I and my predecessors have been responsible for assessing the stockpile.
With regard to our ballistic missile defense,I am satisfied that our 30 interceptors can defend against a limited North Korean attack on the West Coast.We are not in an optimal position against Iran.I am cautiously confident we can defend the East Coast from an Iranian attack.It doesn't provide a complete defence against Iran.It would depend on the azimuth of the Iranian missile.
An additional interceptor site is being considered for East Coast defence.
When does the DOD step in to defend the nation from cyber attack,General Alexander asked.The distributed denial of service attacks on Wall Street are best addressed by the Internet service providers,or ISPs.What we're seeing with the banks today I am concerned we're going to see grow throughout the year.

Applied Physics Lab Jobs and Culture

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab has 141 openings in the Baltimore/Washington Metro Region.Engineers and scientists comprise 68% of the Lab's workforce of 4700.They solve complex research,engineering and analytical problems in the areas of national security and space exploration that pose a critical challenge to the United States.
Current openings at APL include Systems Test and Evaluation Engineer;Sr. Maintenance Worker;Conference Facility Administrator;and RF and Mixed-Signal Engineer.
Some of the Lab's Business Areas are Air and Missile Defense;Civilian Space;Homeland Protection;Undersea Warfare;and Research and Exploratory Development for agencies such as NASA,the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency.
You may apply online at www.jhuapl.edu/employment
APL:Enhancing National Security through Science and Technology

NSA Holds Career Invitational

The National Security Agency is holding a career invitational.Based at Fort Meade,Maryland,the NSA gathers and analyzes foreign signals intelligence and secures government information systems.It needs Computer Scientists;Computer/Electrical Engineers;Language Analysts(linguists);and Intelligence Analysts.U.S. citizenship is required.
The largest of the intelligence agencies,the NSA is headed by a high-ranking military officer.
You may apply online to www.NSA.gov/Careers by October 17.Qualified applicants will be invited to the December 1 event.

Employers Seek Military Background

A military-friendly job fair will be held next Friday,April 9,from 10am-2pm at
Martin's Crosswinds
7400 Greenway Center Drive
Greenbelt,MD
The employers include Lockheed Martin,Unisys,Allstate Insurance,the National Security Agency,Transportation Security Administration and many others.The event is free and open to veterans from all ranks and services.It is sponsored by MOAA and Competitive Edge Services,Inc.For more information,visit www.CorporateGray.com

Intelligence Community Career Fair

The U.S. Intelligence Community,an integrated network of agencies working for national security,is holding a virtual career fair on Tuesday,March 16 from 10a.m.-8p.m. ET.They seek a culturally diverse,technically savvy workforce of U.S. citizens in a number of fields.At the fair,you may explore careers,chat with recruiters and apply for openings in fields including Cybersecurity/Information Assurance,Foreign Languages,Law Enforcement and many others.Among agencies on hand will be the Central Intelligence Agency,FBI and National Security Agency.Those interested may register at www.ICVirtualFair.com

Special Access:The National Intelligence Director

President Barack Obama has planned to retire Cold War era military assets in order to save money.In consequence,National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair says we face some tough decisions about electro-optical systems from that era.Today's enemy is hard to find,easy to kill;the Cold War enemy was easy to find,hard to kill.Today's enemy requires a different kind of intelligence system.As well,we have to get the National Security Agency involved in protecting the larger body-in cyber defense,Mr.Blair remarked to the House Intelligence Committee.As DNI,Mr.Blair oversees all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.The post was created after the 9-11 attacks.John Negroponte,the first DNI,was his predecessor.Mr.Blair has expressed concern that economic developments pose a threat to national security that even exceeds that of terrorism at the present time.