Late last month, electronics firm Garmin began touting its newest smartwatch for aviators, the D2 Mach 1. Aside from a host of aviation-specific features, the D1 has a "stealth mode" to halt GPS tracking and a "kill mode" to wipe its memory. Russia’s microtargeting of Ukrainian forces members via personal devices suggests Garmin’s on to something. But is it enough?

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From its opening moments, the conflict in Ukraine has involved a nuclear dimension. On Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ominously warned of “consequences you have never seen” if other countries tried to get involved in Ukraine — an implied nuclear threat. Several days later, Putin announced that Russia’s nuclear forces would be put on a "special combat readiness" status. More recently, Dmitry Medvedev, a senior Russian official, warned that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, "there can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic."

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During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March, Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, pressed General Paul Nakasone, the head of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, about the lack of significant cyber-operations in Russia’s war in Ukraine. After all, Russia has long been known for targeting Western countries, as well as Ukraine itself, with cyberattacks. Echoing the surprise of many Western observers, King said, “I expected to see the grid go down, communications too, and that hasn’t happened.” Indeed, although President Joe Biden and members of his administration have also warned of potential Russian cyberattacks against the United States, there were remarkably few signs of such activity during the first six weeks of the war.

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The danger is that America’s over-correction of its earlier stand on future threats may significantly undermine its capability to deal with the present global security scenario. Most 21st century conflicts are still being fought with conventional if advanced precision weapons by troops on the ground. Washington would do well to remember that.

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With the White House warning of Russian cyber attacks, senior U.S. cyber leaders could soon be forced to make critical and unprecedented decisions in this battlespace. Now more than ever, the Department of Defense needs specifically trained senior officers who have both the technical and strategic education to confront this challenge. The department is currently focused on developing technically skilled people in the junior uniformed and civilian ranks. This, however, is insufficient.

In order to prepare a new generation of senior cyber leaders, the service war colleges should begin by implementing a “Cyberspace Strategic Studies” track. Although their student bodies vary, these colleges share similar goals: improving the professional education of the highest levels of military leadership and applying the lessons learned during war. This makes the war colleges ideally suited to prepare our future cyber generals and senior civilian leaders.

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Recently, on Saturday Night Live, actor James Austin Johnson played President Joseph Biden in one of the show’s famous cold opens and pondered the problem of Russian disinformation in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The political satire is lighthearted—and even includes a TikTok dance—but comedic performance belies the gravity of Russian adversarial tactics in the information environment and the emerging threat of disinformation as an element of modern conflict.

Spreading disinformation is an asymmetric tactic that is easy to do, low cost, highly transmittable, and challenging to attribute—all while remaining squarely below the threshold of armed conflict, making any military escalation unlikely. Some tactics and procedures might appear novel. However, familiarity with marketing techniques provides a perspective on the possible effectiveness and why an adversary might be embracing new approaches in the information operations space.

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There are relatively few individuals within the United States government who understand how, for example, Napoleon used the strategy of the central position in the Hundred Days campaign. Nevertheless, there is almost no one who would not understand, “It’s fourth and ten—we have to punt.”

The games we play represent our first, and arguably our most important, strategic language. Sports games such as American football, soccer, or basketball, tabletop games such as chess or go, and even video games such as Starcraft or League of Legends provide a common, implicitly learned language of strategy. This language channels strategic thinking while facilitating communication. These games not only influence the strategic planning of countries but also of important world leaders. Just as it is possible, for example, to see elements of American football in US strategic thinking, it is also possible to see the fundamental premises of judo, Vladimir Putin’s sport, in Russia’s efforts to use its opponents’ strengths against them.

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The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has perplexed observers expecting to see the cyber dimension unfold differently. When Russia began to mass troops along Ukraine’s borders, analysts predicted that cyber operations would be critical to Putin’s military strategy.

One headline offered that the Russian invasion could “redefine cyberwarfare.” Former White House cyber expert Jason Healey hypothesized that “it will be the first time a state with real capabilities is willing to take risks and put it all on the line.”

Despite these predictions, the expected “shock and awe” Russian cyber campaign in preparation of the invasion of Ukraine never emerged. Moreover, while the conflict will undoubtedly evolve, cyber operations don’t appear to be playing a decisive role on the battlefield.

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As American citizens watched the inexorable buildup of Russian forces on the Ukrainian borders over months, culminating in an attack against that nation from land, sea, and air, they sleep at night believing their nation is safe from a similar fate. Despite having over seven thousand miles of land border and twelve thousand miles of coastline the American homeland is still considered a sanctuary from external aggression. Americans are accustomed to the safety and deterrent effect provided by its geography and can’t imagine the alternative that other nations face daily.

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In 2006 the United States Navy published a startling photograph. The picture clearly showed a Chinese submarine, periscope raised, with the USS Kitty Hawk in the background. That the photo was taken by an antisubmarine helicopter hovering over the submarine was lost in the initial wave of reactions but the point was clear: a new, modern force had arrived, and it posed a direct threat to our primary naval strike power. US naval power and strategy has a rich history that includes epic battles, catastrophic losses, and stalwart traditions. Around the globe, naval forces have long been the power of empires and used to extend a nation’s reach beyond its geographic homeland. At the dawn of the twentieth century, it was not uncommon to hear British and German naval officers toasting with De Tag! (To the Day!) and to clink their raised glasses in the acknowledgement that they would one day meet in a decisive battle at sea. For navalists, a battle between the world’s greatest navies was a certainty.

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