DISA - Defense Information Systems Agency
04/07/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/07/2025 10:59
‘A warrior ethos, technical mastery — necessities for cyber workforce,' DISA director tells cyber community
'A warrior ethos, technical mastery - necessities for cyber workforce,' DISA director tells cyber community
By Marco A. Villasana Jr., DISA Office of Strategic Communication and Public Affairs
April 7, 2025
Army Lt. Gen. Paul T. Stanton, DISA director and JFHQ-DODIN commander, speaks during the inaugural DOD Cyber Workforce Summit at the National Defense University, March 20, 2025. (DISA photo by Marco A. Villasana Jr.)
Army Lt. Gen. Paul T. Stanton, Defense Information Systems Agency director and Joint Force Headquarters - Department of Defense Information Network commander, addressed the cyber community at the inaugural DOD Cyber Workforce Summit at the National Defense University, March 20, where he underscored a proactive approach to recruiting and retaining talent.
"Our talent is our asymmetric advantage," Stanton said, emphasizing the United States' edge in cyber warfare. Unlike adversaries that rely on sheer numbers, the U.S. relies on intellect, innovation and technical expertise to fight and win.
The summit has been a long time in the making and Stanton made it clear that its arrival was more than just an opportunity for discussion - it was a call to action.
He argued that "the days of ignoring cyber as a warfighting domain are gone. Everything, everything is a data producer or data consumer. If you don't understand how that data flows on the battlefield, you're not an effective commander."
Stanton compared the cyber domain to indirect fire support in traditional warfare. Just as an infantry commander must understand the employment of artillery, fire and maneuver, today's military leaders must grasp how data flows and is leveraged in combat. "Getting the right data to the right place at the right time to make a better and faster decision than our enemies is warfighting 101," he emphasized.
The foundation of lethality
To dominate in cyberspace, technical mastery is non-negotiable. He laid out clear expectations for cyber warriors: Foundational knowledge in algorithms, coding and networking. "If you don't understand sequence selection and iteration, if you don't know how to write a loop, go learn," he challenged. "You can't attack an operating system if you don't understand how it works, and you sure as heck can't defend it if you don't know how it works. Competency matters. You have to know your job."
Competency is not just about individual skill - it earns trust. "When your formation trusts that you know what you're talking about, that you understand the science, and that the direction that you give is going to be valid, and when your leadership trusts you, that you're going to be deliberate, purposeful, yet lethal with your action, that sets the condition for a term we use in the military: Mission command," he said. "I'm going to give you guidance and then I'm going to let you execute."
But competency alone isn't enough. "Your competency has a time bound associated with it given the rate of change of technology and the rate of change of our adversaries," said Stanton. "You have to stay current." He stated traditional training pipelines alone won't suffice and urged cyber professionals to take personal responsibility for their education. "If you are waiting to be told, you're too late."
Taking the fight to the enemy
In addition to a voracious appetite for continuous learning, Stanton said he needs his cyber workforce to have a warrior ethos. "How many attacks do we have against the DODIN on any given day? Too many to count. We're at war with our adversaries in this space on a daily basis. I take that personally. It's part of the warrior's ethos. I'm not going to sit back and let the enemy punch me in the face."
He called on cyber professionals to go on the offensive. "How are we making it hard on the enemy? How are we imposing cost on the enemy? It's an onset, it's a culture," he said. "If you're a cybersecurity expert and you're waiting for your tool to blink an alert, you're too slow, you're too late, because that alert is blinking on yesterday's attack vector, not tomorrow's. You have to have a mindset that says, 'I'm willing to engage with and defeat my enemies.' That's a warrior's ethos."
This warrior ethos, he explained, must be backed by rigorous training. Just as infantry soldiers qualify on their weapons systems before entering combat, cyber professionals must demonstrate their skills in realistic environments. "Saying that you're an expert in cybersecurity is like saying that you're a doctor. It's too broad. You cannot be an expert at everything," he said. "Who wants their podiatrist performing neurosurgery? Yet, they both are doctors."
Building the future cyber workforce
To ensure readiness, Stanton emphasized the need for training that mirrors the complexity of real-world cyber operations. "You have to pull that expertise together in a meaningful way, into collective tasks, with units that know how to fight alongside each other to effectively defeat our enemies."
Stanton acknowledged that the traditional workforce model no longer aligns with today's talent landscape. The DOD must adapt, he said, by embracing new recruitment strategies and recognizing that many cyber professionals may not remain in government service for decades.
The model of recruiting someone as a GS-7 and expecting them to stay until they're an SES has an upside, but it doesn't work for everyone, he said. "I have to accept the fact that a large portion of the population might leave after a few years, and I need to build the model to facilitate that."
He advocated for a system that welcomes high-caliber talent - even if only for a few years - and keeps them engaged with mission-focused work. "You know what fires people up? Doing the mission. That warrior ethos. Let's go defeat the enemy."
Stanton's final call to action focused on starting early. "We can't attempt to go recruit somebody as a technical expert in cybersecurity when they're 18 or when they're 22, that's too late," he said. His vision includes "putting logic, robotics, autonomy, sequence selection and iteration into the curriculum from kindergarten all the way to a senior in high school, such that every graduate is a cyber citizen, understanding how the supercomputer in their pocket actually works at sufficient depth to be a useful contributor as opposed to the enemy's backdoor into our environments."
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