The Pentagon's initiative to strengthen its U.S. Cyber Command will take a couple of years longer than initially planned, Eric Rosenbach, assistant secretary for Homeland Defense and Global Security, revealed at a Tuesday Senate hearing.
Although former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced in March 2014 that the Fort Meade, Md.-based military command expected to triple its security staff by 2016, the undertaking will now be completed in 2018.
“Once fully manned, trained, and equipped in Fiscal Year 2018, these 133 teams will execute USCYBERCOM's three primary missions with nearly 6,200 military and civilian personnel,” Rosenbach said.
Those three primary missions include defending Department of Defense information networks, defending the U.S. against significant attacks, and providing cyber options to support contingency plans and military operations, Rosenbach said.
A Tuesday Bloomberg report indicates that the delay is due to sequestration.
