Congress eyes new support for Cyber Command after recent suicide deaths

Congress is looking for ways to address a recent string of suicide deaths at the military’s premier digital warfighting organization, hoping to provide more mental and emotional support to personnel at a time when the tempo and duration of cyber operations have reached new heights.

Congressional sources say they view the deaths of U.S. Cyber Command personnel as an inflection point, especially as the Pentagon’s appetite for cyber capabilities grows following successful contributions to high-profile missions against Iran and Venezuela. The cluster of deaths was first reported by Bloomberg. 

“It certainly shows stress on the system and that this is the time for us to react,” one congressional source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, told Recorded Future News.

The most likely legislative vehicle to get more resources in place soon would be the annual defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets Pentagon policies and spending levels for national security programs. It’s typically voted on near the end of the calendar year and congressional aides will be working on the latest version while lawmakers are on the campaign trail.

Past and current military cyber operators were quick to note that it is unknown if work was a factor in the decision by these service members and civilian personnel to take their own lives. 

Still, some drew similarities to beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, when drone pilots died by suicide, noting that on top of the months-long conflict with Iran and ongoing offensive and defensive cyber operations against foreign adversaries like Russia and China, digital missions now include Southern border control and counter-narcotics.

“This is something that, unfortunately, I think a lot of people … I wouldn't say saw coming but knew was going to be a possibility based on the work that goes on at Fort Meade,” according to Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD), referring to the command’s headquarters, which is also home to the National Security Agency.

“Every mission across the [Defense Department] is demanding and complex. But this is a kind of a unique mission, obviously, with what happens at CYBERCOM and within the NSA,” said Elfreth, a member of the House Armed Services Committee whose district abuts the Meade fenceline.

Cyber Command and the NSA declined to comment.

The legislative angle

While the House passed its version of the NDAA earlier this year, the Senate is not expected to take up its draft before leaving town in two weeks for the campaign trail. The competing bills must be reconciled.

Staffers for the so-called “Big Four” — the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees — and others are expected to hold informal negotiations over the long upcoming break, with a final bill ready before Thanksgiving and a vote likely in December. 

Staff on both panels have been briefed on the cluster of deaths, with more sessions expected in the future. Sources told Recorded Future News that the briefings could bring enough member attention to get fresh provisions included. 

Elfreth, who has not been briefed on the latest incidents in detail, said she intends to push for language to expand access to mental health providers, who, due to the command’s military mission, must have security clearances themselves.

“We have a dearth of providers and access,” she said.

Elfreth also vowed to try to redefine how the Pentagon defines a suicide cluster, where the incidents take place in a short timeframe, to include civilian employees, though she admitted it would be “a bit of a Hail Mary” to accomplish that this year.

The fiscal 2024 NDAA included a provision asking DOD to study the "occupational resiliency” of the command’s Cyber Mission Force, its main operational arm.

That study, a copy of which was obtained by Recorded Future News, found “resources and programs currently available to CMF personnel are inadequate and may jeopardize long-term personnel readiness, posing unnecessary risk to the mission effectiveness of the CMF.”

The report laid out the military is taking to address the issue — including tapping senior command officials to “establish a framework to develop, manage, and assess all necessary prevention and treatment programs and procedures” — but no implementation plan has been delivered to Congress.

Demanding such a plan could draw more attention to the topic ahead of the next NDAA, according to the congressional source.

“Policy-wise I do think there are some ‘hooks’ to do stuff,” they said, using Capitol Hill slang for tacking additional oversight onto existing legislative language. “The problem is, I don't think there’s a hook to do anything funding-wise.”

Another possible route would be the next government funding bill. The House and Senate previously passed a short-term continuing resolution that keeps the government open until December 11. With just a handful of legislative days left after the midterm election, lawmakers will likely take up another stopgap measure.

One provision on the table: The House Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2027 defense spending bill that featured $11 million for “High Performance Team Training” at Cyber Command. It was listed second on the command’s “Unfunded Priority List” transmitted to Congress earlier this year. 

The training provides “cognitive, psychological, physiological, and spiritual sustainment for high-tempo cyber operations. Without funding, burnout and force degradation will continue,” the document states.

Meanwhile, the command itself has not been idle.

Army Gen. Joshua Rudd, who helms the command and the NSA, has asked chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force cyber branches to check in with him weekly for updates on their efforts around suicide.

There was also a mandatory counseling period, at least for the people in the units that were recently affected.

Burnout in highly demanding work roles has been a “major issue at the command for years. It's a consequence of the extreme operational tempo expected of the cyber mission force teams, which are essentially ‘deployed-in-place’ continually without defined rest and reset cycles,” according to Andrew Schoka, a former Army officer who served in multiple roles at Cyber Command.

“There's always new priorities and new crises to deal with, and never enough qualified personnel to support every requirement,” he added. “But beyond that, this is a leadership issue. Burning out operators is a direct result of leadership and staff that lack technical expertise in the cyber domain to properly plan, employ, and prioritize use of low-density work roles. Adding more mental health and support resources is an important step, but it doesn't address the root cause of the problem.”

Beyond Cyber Command

The recent upsurge has reverberated through the NSA, where there have also been recent suicides deaths.

Deputy Director Tim Kosiba was called to the White House last month to discuss the matter. But the conversation focused on the deaths at Cyber Command, not NSA, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting. While NSA collects electronic and signals intelligence, military and civilian personnel at both entities often overlap.

Another source said the White House is “sensitive” to the issue after President Donald Trump was criticized by military families and lawmakers last month when he dismissed reports of dire conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and said the aircraft carrier’s record-setting deployment was "not nearly long enough." 

“They don’t want anyone drawing parallels with the pace they’re working people” at Fort Meade, this person said.

The reports also drew congressional scrutiny. The top Democrats on the Intelligence panels, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, both made queries to the electronic spy agency about the resources it offers to its personnel. Neither has received a response.

“These losses are a tragedy; my heart is with their families, friends, and colleagues. I have reached out to NSA and Cyber Command for more information,” Warner said in a statement. 

“The health and safety of the [intelligence community] work force is my highest priority, and I look forward to working with the Fort to ensure they have the support and resources they need to address this challenge.”