Commission on U.S. Cyber Force Generation

The CSIS Commission on U.S. Cyber Force Generation will convene leading experts to examine how the United States can best build a dedicated cyber service to enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities, ensure the recruitment and retention of top cyber talent, and elevate cyberspace to a core military domain on par with air, land, maritime, and space. The commission will discuss how such a force could be structured, resourced, and trained to respond to the evolving cyber threat environment, while providing a roadmap for policymakers to implement meaningful reforms.

This project is made possible through general support to CSIS.

Commissioner

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LTG (Retired) Maria B. Barrett, Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Cyber Command

Lieutenant General Maria Barrett’s service to our nation and the United States Army spans over 37 years and is where she developed her extensive experience leading and directing the delivery global IT services, cybersecurity and enterprise network operations in support of the warfighter. 

For the past decade, General Barrett’s focused on leading global organizations and advising senior executives in the strategic and operational applications of Cyber Warfare, Defense and Security; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data Analytics; Cyber Threat Intelligence; Information Operations; force generation and readiness; and Electronic Warfare to support national security objectives in an increasingly dangerous, complex, ever-evolving threat landscape. 

General Barrett’s earned a reputation for authentic leadership, building teams and leading through transformation. Her executive leadership experience includes managing a globally dispersed workforce of 16,000 servicemembers and civilians, overseeing a $1.2B portfolio, and developing initiatives and systems to deliver sustained readiness across Army Cyber Forces.

Commission Members

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Ms. Perri Adams

Perri Adams is a fellow at Dartmouth’s Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS) and former Special Assistant to the Director at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where she advised stakeholders at the agency and across the U.S. government on the next generation of AI and cybersecurity technology. Prior to this role, Ms. Adams was a DARPA Program Manager within the Information Innovation Office (I2O), where, among other programs, she created the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC). Before joining the agency, she was a cybersecurity expert supporting the Department of Defense and broader U.S. government from the private sector.

A frequent speaker on both technical and cyber policy issues, her written work has been published by Lawfare and the Council on Foreign Relations. She has advised and collaborated with think tanks such as Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. She is also an adjunct professor at the Alperovitch Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and served for two years on the organizing committee of the DEF CON CTF, the world’s premier hacking competition. Ms. Adams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a proud alumna of the computer security club, RPISEC.

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Mr. Rye Barcott 

Rye Barcott is co-founder and CEO of With Honor, a nonprofit and political action committee that fights polarization in Congress by recruiting, electing, and supporting principled veterans who pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage across party lines. Together, the 50 Members of Congress With Honor Action supports have passed more than 250 bipartisan laws focused on national security, national service, and veterans affairs—including more than a dozen laws focused on strengthening NATO and combating illegal Russian aggression. Barcott served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Fallujah, Iraq. He is author of It Happened on the Way to War, and cofounder of the investment firm Double Time Capital. He is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Kennedy School. Dartmouth awarded him an honorary doctorate in humane letters. 

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Mr. George Barnes, NSA

Mr. George C. Barnes is the President of Red Cell Partners’ Cyber Practice and a Partner at the firm. In this role, he oversees the pursuit of start-up company incubations focused on cybersecurity opportunities spanning commercial and government sectors. As a Red Cell Partner, Mr. Barnes applies his national security and cybersecurity domain expertise to Red Cell’s National Security and Healthcare Practice incubation activities and oversees the company’s overall cyber-related investment strategy.

Mr. Barnes served as the Deputy Director and senior civilian leader of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) from April 2017 through September 2023. In this role, Mr. Barnes served as NSA’s chief operating officer, overseeing strategy, policy, and operations. As an agency deputy in the U.S. national security system, Mr. Barnes supported the U.S. defense and intelligence enterprise in national security strategy execution and the formulation of supporting policies. He positioned NSA as an integrated mission partner enabling U.S. decision advantage and security against foreign threats.

Over his 36-year career at the NSA, Mr. Barnes held numerous technical and organizational leadership roles spanning intelligence collection operations, intelligence target analysis, foreign liaison, industrial partnership cultivation, workforce support activities, and global enterprise governance. Mr. Barnes holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland (1986). In 2020, he was honored as a Distinguished Alumni by the University of Maryland’s College of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

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LTG Ed Cardon, USA (Ret.)

Lieutenant General (Retired) Ed Cardon’s service to our Nation spans over 36 years with extensive experience establishing, leading, and transforming 14 very different organizations with diverse mission sets such as operations, education, cyber, and innovation. He commanded 2d Infantry Division in the Republic of Korea. He both transformed and scaled Army Cyber Command into a world-class cyber force, while simultaneously standing up new cyber organizations to meet the demands of this contested domain including CYBERCOM’s Task Force ARES, the offensive cyber task force against ISIS. He spearheaded the creation of the Cyber Branch for the United States Army, the first new branch of the 21^st Century. His last assignment was as the Director of Business Transformation for the Army, and he led the task force that helped create Army Futures Command responsible for modernizing the Army. Today, General Cardon is a founding partner and Co-CEO of Touchstone Futures, a Senior Counselor with The Cohen Group, Visiting Scholar, Vanderbilt Institute of National Security, and the senior Advisor for the Army Cyber Institute. He continues to focus on helping individuals and teams solve hard problems. 

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Craig Clapperton

Vice Admiral (Retired) Craig Clapperton is a national security, leading edge technology, and leader development consultant and educator. He served in the United States Navy for 36 years and held executive leadership positions in aviation, surface warfare, cyber, space, electronic warfare, and nuclear power. He leads his own consulting corporation providing subject matter expertise, analysis, and red teaming across a spectrum of government and industry organizations. 

While in the Navy, Clapperton had command at every level from Commander to Vice Admiral, including serving as Commanding Officer, USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71); Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group Commander; Co-Director of the National Security Agency / U.S. Cyber Command China Outcomes Group; and Commander, Fleet Cyber Command / Navy Space. His scope of experience and breadth of technical expertise and leadership positions are diverse and unique.

He has an extensive of list of personal awards and commendations to include the prestigious James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. 

Clapperton is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in national security studies from the U.S. Naval War College where he was a member of the elite Stockdale Group

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ADM Michael Gilday, USN (Ret.)

Admiral Mike Gilday is the CEO of Crossover Solutions National Security USA, a 25-year manufacturing consultancy focused on improving the performance of manufacturers in the defense industrial base supply chain. He also serves on the advisory boards of private equity and hi-tech firms and is a Fellow at Vanderbilt’s Institute of National Security.

Retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2023 as the 32nd Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike’s 38-year career included command at every level – from warships to an aircraft carrier strike group, to the Navy’s cyber fleet. He also served in leadership positions on the Joint Staff, NATO, U.S. Cyber Command, and the White House. He has worked and lived internationally, building relationships with senior defense officials and diplomatic professionals around the globe. Mike played a key leadership role in forging the historic AUKUS partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom and has improved the U.S. Navy’s interoperability with allies and partners. He developed deep working relations with industry, from shipbuilding and aviation production to hi-tech start-ups specializing in AI-powered unmanned platforms, additive manufacturing, and quantum computing.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he also holds Masters degrees from Harvard’s Kennedy School and the National War College in Washington, D.C. He has received numerous awards recognizing his contributions to national security and has been decorated by the governments of Japan, Singapore, France, Italy, Peru, and Columbia.

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Lt. Gen. Jerry Glavy, USMC (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Matthew “Jerry” Glavy, USMC (Ret.), is a distinguished leader in national defense, cyberspace operations, and digital transformation. A Buffalo, New York native, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1986 with a degree in Systems Engineering and became a Marine aviator, flying the CH-46 Sea Knight. Throughout his career, he deployed in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Iraqi Freedom, as well as global humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and evacuation missions. Among his assignments, he commanded Marine Helicopter Squadron One, serving as the President’s Helicopter Pilot aboard Marine One, as well as 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, responsible for the readiness and global deployment of 14,000 Marines and Sailors and 500 aircraft.

LtGen Glavy played a pivotal role in modernizing cyber warfare and information operations. As Deputy Director of Operations for U.S. Cyber Command, he led efforts to defend the Department of Defense Information Network and conduct offensive cyberspace operations. He later commanded U.S. Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, implementing hybrid cloud architecture and cybersecurity and leading Joint Task Force ARES to counter terrorist cyber threats. His career culminated as Deputy Commandant for Information, serving as the Director of Marine Corps Intelligence, Chief Information Officer, and driving digital transformation.

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Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, USMC (Ret.)

Major General Heritage (ret.) graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1990 and was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program. He began his career as an infantry officer serving in multiple assignments within both II and III Marine Expeditionary Force. As a General Officer he served as the Director of Future Operations at U.S. Cyber Command, the Commanding General Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego and Western Recruiting Region, Commanding General Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, Marine Corps Forces Space Command, and the Marine Corps Information Command. He retired after serving a successful tour as the Director of Operations, U.S. Cyber Command.

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CAPT Mike Herlands, USN (Ret.)

Captain (Retired) Michael J. Herlands is a former Information Warfare Officer with over two decades of experience driving cyber, space, electronic warfare (EW), and cryptologic operations across the Navy and joint force. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, specializing in communications.

Captain Herlands led and shaped critical missions at every level. Most recently, he served as the Commanding Officer of Navy Cyber Warfare Development Group, where he directed advanced Information Warfare and Cyber capability development. He previously commanded Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Colorado and served as the Director of Cyber Assessments and Analysis at NIOC Norfolk. At U.S. Cyber Command, he was Chief of Rapid Development and Innovation and later the Deputy Director of the J9 Acquisition and Technology Directorate, helping accelerate delivery of operational capabilities to the warfighter.

He is Joint qualified, a certified Program Manager in the Defense Acquisition Corps, and holds warfare qualifications in Information Warfare, Surface Warfare, and Deep Submergence. Throughout his career, Captain Herlands focused on integrating advanced technologies and delivering strategic advantage in the information domain. He currently serves as the Managing Member of AUDVAN LLC, where he continues to help the Nation solve its hardest problems.

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Mr. Rob Lee

Robert is a recognized authority in the industrial cybersecurity community. He is CEO and co-founder of Dragos, a global technology leader in cybersecurity for operational technology (OT)/industrial control systems (ICS) environments.

Robert also serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army National Guard where he designs and leads OT cybersecurity and response efforts. He is a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) subcommittees on Cyber Resilience for the Oil & Gas and Electricity communities, and serves on the boards of the International Society of Automation and the National Cryptologic Foundation.

Robert is routinely sought after for advice and input on cybersecurity for industrial and critical infrastructure and is regularly asked to brief national leaders. Robert began his pioneering work in ICS/OT cybersecurity as a U.S. Air Force Cyber Warfare Operations Officer tasked to the National Security Agency, where he built a first-of-its-kind mission identifying and analyzing national threats to industrial infrastructure. He went on to build the industrial community's first dedicated monitoring and incident response class at the SANS Institute (ICS515) and the industry recognized cyber threat intelligence course (FOR578). Today he is a SANS Fellow.

SC Media named Robert the Security Executive of the Year for 2022. A business leader but also technical practitioner, he helped lead the investigation into the 2015 attack on Ukraine's power grid, the first time an electric system was taken down due to a cyberattack. With his team at Dragos he has been involved in the most significant cyberattacks on industrial infrastructure, including the investigation and analysis of the 2016 attack on Ukraine’s electric system, the 2017 TRISIS attack on a Saudi Arabian petrochemical facility in the first attempt to try to kill people through malicious software, and the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. In 2022, his team at Dragos uncovered PIPEDREAM, a highly flexible framework to attack industrial infrastructure globally. Robert’s work has been featured in the book Sandworm and on 60 Minutes.

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Mr. Rob T. Lee

Rob T. Lee is Chief AI Officer and Chief of Research at the SANS Institute, where he leads AI governance, security, and organizational transformation. He authored the SANS Secure AI Blueprint and led development of the SANS Critical AI Security Guidelines, which, through a partnership with OWASP, are informing implementation of the EU AI Act.

A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, Lee helped found the Air Force’s first operational cyber warfare unit and later served in AFOSI, CIA, and NSA roles supporting offensive cyber operations. He was a Director at Mandiant, co-authoring early M-Trends reports on advanced persistent threats. Known as the “Godfather of DFIR,” Lee helped formalize digital forensics, incident response, and cyber threat intelligence as disciplines and has trained tens of thousands of practitioners through SANS. He also serves as a Technical Advisor to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

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Mr. Joseph Lin

Joseph E. Lin is co-founder and CEO of Twenty, a venture-backed cyber warfare start-up. Prior to this, he was Vice President of Product, Government at Palo Alto Networks, where he led teams that built and deployed capabilities to secure the internet attack surface of the entire US military and Government. He began this work at Expanse (acquired by Palo Alto Networks for over $1B), where he founded and led Expanse Federal. Earlier in his career, Joe worked at multiple R&D organizations, including the RAND Corporation, and served as an officer in the US Navy Reserve.

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Dr. Erica Lonergan

Dr. Erica Lonergan (née Borghard) is an Assistant Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Previously, Erica held several positions at the United States Military Academy at West Point. These include serving as an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Social Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; a fellow at the Army Cyber Institute; and the Executive Director of the Rupert H. Johnson Grand Strategy Program. She has also held positions as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Atlantic Council.

Beyond her academic and research appointments, Erica has an extensive background in strategy and policy. Erica served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Army War College. Previously, she was a writer of the 2023 U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Strategy. Prior to that, Erica served as a Senior Director on the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a bipartisan Congressional commission established to develop a new strategy and policies to defend the United States in cyberspace. Erica continues to serve as a Senior Advisor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0. She also held an appointment as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow, with placement at JPMorgan Chase and U.S. Cyber Command at the Cyber National Mission Force.

Erica has published widely on cybersecurity, grand strategy, military affairs, and international security. Her book, Escalation Dynamics in Cyberspace, was recently published at Oxford University Press. Additionally, Erica has published articles in top-tier academic journals, including American Political Science Review, Security Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, and Strategic Studies Quarterly. She has also written policy articles for a number of think tanks, as well as articles in venues such as Foreign Affairs, War on the Rocks, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Lawfare. Erica received her PhD in Political Science from Columbia University.

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LCDR Tyson Meadors, USN (Ret.)

Tyson B. Meadors is the Director of Cyber at Anduril Industries where he leads the development of its arsenal of cyber capabilities.

Heralded as “America’s Top Cybersecurity Strategist” by former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, he served as Director for Cyber Policy on the National Security Council Staff from 2017-2018, advising the President, Vice President, and multiple National Security Advisors and was the lead author of the 2018 U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy and key contributor to a range of Executive Branch strategies and policies. The first naval officer to ever defeat a guided missile destroyer in a real-world engagement, he retired as a Cyber Warfare Engineer serving at DARPA in 2024 after two decades of service afloat and ashore.

He is certified and experienced practitioner in a range of cybersecurity disciplines, to include incident response, forensics, penetration testing, vulnerability analysis, cyber-physical security engineering, assessment, and auditing. An award-winning essayist and innovator, he has written on cybersecurity, intelligence, military ethics, and education, and has degrees and certifications from a range of institutions, to include the U.S. Naval Academy, the North China Institute of Science and Technology (华北科技学院), the U.S. Naval War College, Old Dominion University, and the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies (SANS).

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RADM Mark Montgomery, USN (Ret.)

Mark is the Senior Director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation and a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He serves as the Executive Director of Cybersolarium.org, a non-profit organization which works to implement the recommendations of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, where he was Executive Director from 2019 to 2021. Previously, Mark was Policy Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee for Senator John S. McCain.

Mark completed 32 years as a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a Rear Admiral. His flag officer assignments included Director of Operations at U.S. Pacific Command; Commander of Carrier Strike Group 5; and Deputy Director, Plans, Policy and Strategy at U.S. European Command.

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COL Chris Reid, USA (Ret.)

Chris Reid is the Chief of Staff for Elastic's US Public Sector where he coordinates and synchronizes their functional support and go-to-market efforts to help accelerate business outcomes for their US Government customers. Chris is also a strategic advisor for OSec, a cybersecurity firm in New York City that specializes in protecting the people, processes, data, and technology that drive organizations.

Chris served for 36 years in the US Army, reaching the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in 2024. Throughout his career, he held assignments in the infantry, special operations, and cyber units, during combat and peacetime, in the US and overseas. He earned an MBA from Averett University and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. 

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Mr. Ted Schlein,  Chairman and Founding General Partner, Ballistic Ventures

Ted Schlein is Chairman and Founding General Partner of Ballistic Ventures and a Partner at Kleiner Perkins. For more than 40 years, he has helped build and scale transformative technology companies. A Midas-ranked investor and former Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), Ted has backed founders to successful exits including ArcSight, Chegg, Fortify Software, Jive, LifeLock, Mandiant and Segment. He currently serves on the boards of Alethea, Apiiro, Chegg (CHGG), FullStory, GetReal Security, Hello Soju, Interos, Incorta, Mimic, Reputation, Synack, Trusona, and UJet. Ted brings deep experience across both the private and public sectors, with particular expertise in cybersecurity and technology infrastructure. As the founding CEO of Fortify Software, later acquired by HP, he helped develop critical application security solutions. Earlier at Symantec, he led the company’s antivirus initiatives, launching a commercial product that set a new industry standard. Known for his strategic vision at the intersection of technology, security, and policy, Ted remains a leader in cybersecurity innovation. Ted serves on the IQT Board of Trustees and the Board of Trustees at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics.

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LtGen Bob Skinner, USAF (Ret.)

Bob Skinner retired as a Lieutenant General, USAF, after nearly four decades of leading complex and diverse organizations at every level from tactical to strategic, including overseas deployments. This culminated as the Commander of the Joint Force Headquarters Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) and Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) where he led a joint force of ~20,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel directing, delivering, managing, operating, securing and protecting a multi-billion dollar information technology (IT), communications and cyber environment enabling the nation’s most critical missions. Additional experiences include strategic planning, business continuity/succession planning and internal controls/audits. Bob is currently on multiple Board of Advisors while consulting with numerous Companies across many sectors. 

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Mr. Joshua Stiefel

Mr. Joshua Stiefel is Vice President for Government Relations at Second Front, a public benefit, venture-backed technology company specializing in national security and accelerating government access to commercially-proven software. Previously, he spent nearly seven years as a Professional Staff Member for the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) where he was responsible for the oversight, legislation, and policy for DOD's cyber warfare, cybersecurity, and information technology activities, a portfolio of more than $25 billion annually. He conceived, authored, and negotiated nearly 400 provisions of law enacted across seven annual National Defense Authorization Acts. Prior to Capitol Hill, Josh spent ten years in the executive branch with the Departments of Defense and Treasury. He is a former Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations and served for eight years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He holds a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelors of Arts with Honors from Lehigh University.

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Dr. Michael Sulmeyer

Dr. Michael Sulmeyer is Professor of the Practice at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Previously, he served as the first Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy and Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of Defense. He has also served at the National Security Council, the Department of the Army, and U.S. Cyber Command. Dr. Sulmeyer has a law degree from Stanford Law School and a DPhil (PhD) from Oxford University where he was a Marshall Scholar. 

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LtGen Chris Weggeman, USAF (Ret.)

Chris is a highly experienced and decorated multi-domain warfighting Commander and strategist. His eminence spans leading and Commanding across the Defense, Air Power & Cyber Operations enterprises. He logged his first 25 years as a combat-proven F-16 fighter pilot and USAF Weapons School Instructor Pilot with 4 combat tours, and then served 9 years as a General Officer leading and commanding cyber forces and missions as the Joint Staff Deputy Director for Communications/Cyber, DJ6, US Cyber Command Deputy Director for Future Operations DJ3, and Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy J5. Chris served as the Air Force’s senior operational cyber leader culminating in his tours as the Commander 24^th Air Force/Air Forces Cyber and Joint Forces Headquarters-Cyber Air Force, and finally as the Deputy Commander, Air Combat Command where he led the design and build of 16^th Air Force, DoD’s first Information Warfare Numbered Air Force. He is skilled in U.S. Department of Defense, Joint Staff, Air Force, Space Force, Enterprise Training, Strategy, Policy and Leadership. Chris has master’s degrees in Military Strategic Studies from USAF Air War College and Military Arts and Sciences from Army Command and General Staff College.