Much has changed at United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) since it became a unified combatant command in 2018. Created in 2010 and elevated to full unified status eight years later, the command underwent substantial evolution from the outset in the ways it designed, developed, and employed its forces. Those changes came at the dictation of operational experience, with leaders learning what worked---and did not---from mission outcomes, while learning how to sustain success and mitigate negative results. Although USCYBERCOM is not fully built out, the command is more capable, more ready, and more often sought as a partner by domestic and allied operational entities. Today it does everything it could do in 2018, and many things it could not do then. These changes occurred as a result of several factors, including leadership continuity, tactical innovation, and operational flexibility. That flexibility, however, bespeaks larger constraints—or competitions for resources and focus—that may one day limit the command’s potential capacity. As the nation considers the organization of cyber forces, USCYBERCOM’s successful functions would have to be employed---or re-created---in whatever organizational construct performs military functions in cyberspace for the United States.
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