A study conducted by the Government Accountability Office found that the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are not getting their return on investment in financing advanced cyber training for military personnel.
In a report published Wednesday, GAO suggested that the two branches may have cyber staffing gaps because they do not have clear guidance on active duty service obligations for personnel who receive Interactive On-Net Operator training.
The U.S. Cyber Command has deemed ION operators as critical roles in the Department of Defense. Because of the length and cost of ION training, the U.S. Navy and Air Force have set an active duty service requirement of three years for officers and enlisted men who receive such education.
The obligation is not the same in the Army and Marine Corps. Army officials admitted that their service requirements are not based on any standard guidance or calculation. The government watchdog also found that apart from the Navy, the three branches do not keep inventory of staffing data by work role, and therefore cannot decide cyber mission assignments based on job designations.
GAO recommended that the branches directly act on these gaps to keep cyber-trained military personnel on staff. The agency called on the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force to lead the establishment of clear service obligation guidelines for ION education and tailor an inventory of IT personnel according to CYBERCOM work roles.