Press ReleaseNeutral2026-03-18

Implementing a U.S. Cyber Force: A Conversation with Rep. Pat Fallon

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This press release from Representative Pat Fallon (R-TX) was published on 2026-03-18 and titled "Implementing a U.S. Cyber Force: A Conversation with Rep. Pat Fallon". It focuses on the environment and touches on defense, labor policy.

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Implementing a U.S. Cyber Force: A Conversation with Rep. Pat Fallon

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) joined CSIS for a discussion on the future of a dedicated U.S. Cyber Force. The program included a fireside conversation with Commission member Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, USMC (Ret.). See Rep. Fallon's written remarks below: Good morning everyone, and thank you for allowing me to talk to you all about the United States Cyber Force, an institution that I and others are working so hard to establish as the seventh branch of the armed forces. I want to be clear from the start – The U.S. military has fallen behind our adversaries in our cyber capabilities, and the remedy is clear…we, as a country, cannot adequately defend our national interests without a Cyber Force. Not only is it a necessity, but a dedicated service for the cyber domain is inevitable. I’ll say it again, Cyber Force is inevitable. Whether we are successful this year, next year, or the following, there will be a Cyber Force. Back in 2017, nearly a decade ago, my good friend and the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers stood on this exact stage and explained clearly to the audience that a dedicated Space Corps (as he coined it) is coming. He laid out the factors that shaped his thinking: The services, and particularly the Air Force, were not prioritizing space; There was a lack of qualified Space professionals serving as leaders, with true experts routinely passed over for promotion in favor of pilots with no experience in the Space domain; There was no senior official accountable for Space, ensuring confusion over responsibilities and redundancy of effort; And, the Department’s Space budget had been so fragmented that there wasn’t the necessary attention or oversight for it. Fast forward to today…not only was he successful in establishing the Space Force, but more so, his judgement that a Space Force was necessary for the good of the nation has been overwhelmingly endorsed in Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon. Just a few weeks ago at the State of the Union, you heard President Trump commend the Space Force and the foresight required to know how valuable it has become. The President and Mike Rogers were right, and their detractors who made exaggerated and false claims about how a military service for Space were categorically proven wrong. As a former Air Force officer myself, all of the arguments for a Space Force resonated with me. Why? Because each and every reason parallels the reasons why we have an Air Force today. Through the 1920s and 30s, the Army consistently failed in its management of military aviation. The Army downplayed, diminished, and discounted the revolutionary potential of air warfare. If these factors led to an Air Force, you’d think that the Air Force’s leaders would be wiser than to recycle those mistakes in their management of the Space Domain. However, I learned a long time ago: never underestimate the military’s capacity to repeat its errors. For more than 20 years, the War Department has formally recognized five warfighting domains: Land, Air, Sea, Space, and Cyberspace. Today, we have military services aligned to four out of these five. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would say that having the Army to focus on land warfare and the Air Force to focus on air combat is sensible, but having a Cyber Force is a bridge too far. Not only is a Cyber Force sensible, but it makes even more sense when you consider the dramatic failure of the Department's fragmented approach for the last 15 years in distributing responsibility for generating forces and capability across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. By the Department’s own acknowledgement, the military cyber ecosystem is not meeting the mark on training forces, developing mastery in the domain, or in growing the force to match the threat. What is so striking is that these are the exact same issues we were facing in 2022, as we were in 2017, as we were in 2012. While we have failed to address these systemic issues after more than a decade and a half, our adversaries are seizing the moment–not only expanding their capabilities, but dramatically growing their forces. Before my life in politics, I built and grew businesses. Let’s say I had a friend come to me seeking an investment in his company. He tells me, “we’ve been around for 15 years. While our product doesn’t scale and we haven’t turned a profit, things are going great.” Fair to assume that I’m not pulling out my checkbook for him. I noted earlier how cyberspace has been officially recognized by the War Department as a warfighting domain since 2004. You’d naturally believe that over the last 20+ years, we’d have developed an entire generation of uniformed cyber leaders who could serve as 2-, 3-, and 4-star officers. If I’m raising the issue today, you’re right in assuming that isn’t the case. Of the 13x general and flag officers assigned Cyber Command, there is only a single 1-star general with a cyber background. When the

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Implementing a U.S. Cyber Force: A Conversation with Rep. Pat Fallon WASHINGTON D.C. -- Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) joined CSIS for a discussion on the future of a dedicated U.S. Cyber Force. The program included a fireside conversation with Commission member Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, USMC (Ret.). See Rep. Fallon's written remarks below: Good morning everyone, and thank you for allowing me to talk to you all about the United States Cyber Force, an institution that I and others are working so hard to establish as the seventh branch of the armed forces. I want to be clear from the start – The U.S. military has fallen behind our adversaries in our cyber capabilities, and the remedy is clear…we, as a country, cannot adequately defend our national interests without a Cyber Force. Not only is it a necessity, but a dedicated service for the cyber domain is inevitable. I’ll say it again, Cyber Force is inevitable. Whether we are successful this year, next year, or the following, there will be a Cyber Force. Back in 2017, nearly a decade ago, my good friend and the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers stood on this exact stage and explained clearly to the audience that a dedicated Space Corps (as he coined it) is coming. He laid out the factors that shaped his thinking: The services, and particularly the Air Force, were not prioritizing space; There was a lack of qualified Space professionals serving as leaders, with true experts routinely passed over for promotion in favor of pilots with no experience in the Space domain; There was no senior official accountable for Space, ensuring confusion over responsibilities and redundancy of effort; And, the Department’s Space budget had been so fragmented that there wasn’t the necessary attention or oversight for it. Fast forward to today…not only was he successful in establishing the Space Force, but more so, his judgement that a Space Force was necessary for the good of the nation has been overwhelmingly endorsed in Congress, the White House, and the Pentagon. Just a few weeks ago at the State of the Union, you heard President Trump commend the Space Force and the foresight required to know how valuable it has become. The President and Mike Rogers were right, and their detractors who made exaggerated and false claims about how a military service for Space were categorically proven wrong. As a former Air Force officer myself, all of the arguments for a Space Force resonated with me. Why? Because each and every reason parallels the reasons why we have an Air Force today. Through the 1920s and 30s, the Army consistently failed in its management of military aviation. The Army downplayed, diminished, and discounted the revolutionary potential of air warfare. If these factors led to an Air Force, you’d think that the Air Force’s leaders would be wiser than to recycle those mistakes in their management of the Space Domain. However, I learned a long time ago: never underestimate the military’s capacity to repeat its errors. For more than 20 years, the War Department has formally recognized five warfighting domains: Land, Air, Sea, Space, and Cyberspace. Today, we have military services aligned to four out of these five. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would say that having the Army to focus on land warfare and the Air Force to focus on air combat is sensible, but having a Cyber Force is a bridge too far. Not only is a Cyber Force sensible, but it makes even more sense when you consider the dramatic failure of the Department's fragmented approach for the last 15 years in distributing responsibility for generating forces and capability across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. By the Department’s own acknowledgement, the military cyber ecosystem is not meeting the mark on training forces, developing mastery in the domain, or in growing the force to match the threat. What is so striking is that these are the exact same issues we were facing in 2022, as we were in 2017, as we were in 2012. While we have failed to address these systemic issues after more than a decade and a half, our adversaries are seizing the moment–not only expanding their capabilities, but dramatically growing their forces. Before my life in politics, I built and grew businesses. Let’s say I had a friend come to me seeking an investment in his company. He tells me, “we’ve been around for 15 years. While our product doesn’t scale and we haven’t turned a profit, things are going great.” Fair to assume that I’m not pulling out my checkbook for him. I noted earlier how cyberspace has been officially recognized by the War Department as a warfighting domain since 2004. You’d naturally believe that over the last 20+ years, we’d have developed an entire generation of uniformed cyber leaders who could serve as 2-, 3-, and 4-star officers. If I’m raising the issue today, you’re right in assuming that isn’t the case. Of the 13x general and flag officers assigned Cyber Command, there is only a single 1-star general with a cyber background. When the