It’s about time. The Pentagon is building a more unified command structure to protect the nation’s power grids, water systems and transportation networks from cyberattacks, as U.S. officials warn that foreign adversaries are increasingly targeting critical American infrastructure.
The Defense Cyber Defense Command, known as DCDC, is tasked with strengthening the military’s ability to respond to digital attacks that could disrupt essential services or threaten national security.
Col. Adolph Rodriguez, director of Defense Critical Infrastructure at DCDC, said the Pentagon is working to establish a clearer framework for coordinating responsibilities across federal agencies and military commands, according to The Daily Caller.
“I’m currently assigned there to build out a … framework and command and control footprint, because the most important thing, besides understanding the technology, the people, the processes, is who’s in control, who’s executing, what’s the common rail amongst all the authorizations that we have between CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), FBI, Coast Guard, Department of War writ large,” Rodriguez told Breaking Defense during the TechNet Cyber conference.
The command was previously known as the Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network. It was elevated to a sub-unified command under U.S. Cyber Command in May 2025.
An IED was recently discovered at the base of a dam in Alabama. Authorities in Mobile safely removed and destroyed a grenade-style improvised explosive device discovered underwater near a critical Alabama reservoir dam, officials said Wednesday.
Divers found the device while conducting a routine inspection of the Converse Reservoir dam ahead of planned maintenance and repairs, according to the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System. The utility notified the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, which coordinated a response involving local, state and federal agencies.
The reorganization comes amid concerns about state-sponsored hacking groups, particularly those linked to China. A February 2024 report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned that “People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actors are seeking to pre-position themselves on IT networks for disruptive or destructive cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States.”
Rodriguez said officials must prepare for attacks that could disrupt vital systems while ensuring military operations continue. The central question, he said, is how forces can “continue to operate before, during, and after the attack,” according to Breaking Defense.
He also called for a long-term cyber campaign plan that would combine the authorities of U.S. Northern Command and Cyber Command.
“Why don’t we build a cyber campaign plan that’s enduring that we can utilize those NORTHCOM authorities with Cyber Command’s authorities, build out the sectors very similar to FEMA so this way we don’t have to change any of the infrastructure and now execute that muscle memory of training, assessments, and then identify where the key infrastructure is?” Rodriguez was reported as saying.
Piero Tozzi, senior director of China policy at the America First Policy Institute, said military commands should take the lead.
“Infrastructure, cyberspace, and civilian systems are treated by the PLA as an asymmetric battlespace that can escalate up to and including kinetic warfare. As these are war plans, NorthCom and Cybercommand should be the lead—not CISA,” Tozzi told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Steven Bucci, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former Pentagon official, said the United States must remain vigilant.
“Our adversaries (China clearly prominent among them) are constantly working to overcome our defenses, so we need to work to stay ahead. Most of the time we are, occasionally an adversary will get a step on us, and we must work to regain the lead.”
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