The U.S. Cyber Command held the largest joint Cyber Guard exercise earlier this month, officials said.
The annual command exercise coordinated with the Joint Staff to perform the first phase of its 11th annual command exercise; part of a larger joint force exercise series designed to simulate real-world scenarios. The exercise allows participants to practice processes across every warfighting function.
“I like to think that every exercise is a rehearsal,” U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, operations director of U.S. Cyber Command said. “Cyber Guard exposes our strengths and weaknesses in a way in which we can create opportunities for the staff to accelerate our capabilities at the combatant command level and then down through the components.”
Heritage said the exercise helps leaders plan, integrate and execute offensive and defensive cyber operations.
Once the exercise is complete, commanders will evaluate lessons learned to assess gaps in command and control, as well as assess challenges commanders may face for future force management.
“This was a great opportunity to further identify our strengths and weaknesses,” Heritage said.
The exercise was designed to stimulate combatant commands as well as to set the conditions to ensure success. Staff was presented with multiple dilemmas, and directed to make decisions on courses of action, force flow and burden sharing with agency and allied partners.
U.S. Cyber Command is responsible for safeguarding the country’s national security by defending the U.S. Department of Defense’s networks and infrastructure against cyber threats.