WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in introducing a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would support the Delaware National Guard’s 166th Network Warfare Squadron and Department of Defense (DoD) Reserve Components by ensuring their ability to carry out cyber missions in support of DoD.

As part of the DoD strategy requirement in Section 945 of the Senate version of the NDAA, passage of this amendment would halt, and likely prevent, cuts to the 166th Network Warfare Squadron based out of New Castle, Delaware, as well as cyber units across the Air National Guard. The 166th Network Warfare Squadron plays a key role in our nation’s offensive and defensive cyber capability, protecting America’s critical infrastructure systems against the threat of cyber attacks.

“From banks to traffic lights, and air traffic control to power grids, our nation’s economy, health, and safety depend on our cyber infrastructure,” Senator Coons said. “Securing this infrastructure against the very real threat of attacks by organized crime, terrorists, and even nation-states is one of the biggest national security challenges we face. The 166th Network Warfare Squadron and other cyber units of the Air National Guard work on the front lines of this critical mission. This amendment would ensure that our nation’s top defense planners recognize and utilize their unique capabilities to help us win the fight against cyber crime at home and overseas.”

The amendment would enhance Section 945 of by requiring DoD to develop a strategy on the use of the Reserve Components in cyber missions. The amendment provisions include:

  1. Providing for an inventory of the existing cyber skills of reserve component personnel, including the skills of units and elements in the reserve components that are transitioning to cyber missions;
  2. Providing for an inventory of the existing infrastructure of the reserve components that contribute to the cyber missions of the United States Cyber Command, including the infrastructure available to units and elements in the reserve components that are transitioning to such missions;
  3. Developing an estimate of the personnel, infrastructure and training required, and the costs that would be incurred, in connection with implementing the strategy for integrating the reserve components into the total force for support of the cyber missions of the Department and United States Cyber Command. The estimate will examine whether there are any misalignments between unit mission and facility readiness to support such missions; and
  4. Protecting against unintended duplicate spending, preventing reduction in personnel of a cyber unit of the Air National Guard of the United States from being implemented or carried out in fiscal year 2014 before the submittal of the strategy.

Click here to read the full text of the amendment #2365.