The Department of Defense dates back to the beginning of the American Revolution when the Second Continental Congress established the Arm, Navy, and Marine Corps. We love to poke fun at this department and with every budget drill, the DoD can easily find its way to some part of the chopping block. Political winds change the climate for military, civilian, and contractors alike. But the DoD does whatever job is needed through its military forces to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.
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The Department, The Building, The LEgend
With such a monumental task of defending the U.S., the DoD’s Pentagon is one of the largest office buildings with 17.5 miles of hallways. Big missions call for big buildings. The DoD is also America’s largest employer with 2.15 million service members and 732,079 civilians. Of course, that doesn’t even account for the millions of contractors who support the department. With approximately 4,800 Defense sites, the DoD supports the U.S. all around the world.
Improvements and Growth with CMMC
The DoD is constantly assessing its partnerships around the world, as well as, ways to improve its defense support. Cyber threats against the DoD and the U.S. are ever present. With the release of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) earlier this year, the DoD plans to mitigate the cyber threats that impact both the department and contractors.
“It’s no secret that the U.S. is at cyber war every day,” Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said, as part of a keynote address during the Professional Services Council’s 2020 Defense Services Conference. “Cybersecurity risks threaten the industrial base, national security, as well as partners and allies.”
DoD Responds to COVID-19
Cybersecurity hasn’t been the only threat that has ramped up recently. The COVID-19 crisis has had a crippling effect across the nation. Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper has fought to continue operations throughout the pandemic, but he has also had an eye towards protecting employees. This perspective has trickled down throughout the department, allowing anybody who could work outside of their normal work environment would be set up to make that a reality. Personnel safety has been a focus, but mission support to protect the U.S. was still the top priority. Time will tell if lessons learned from the work from home experiment will translate to normal day-to-day life moving forward in the DoD.
