Creativity is seminal in planning, preparing for, and carrying out combat and thus winning wars, yet military regimentation stifles the creative impulse. The military must accordingly borrow from both the art and science playbooks to liberate thought even as it simultaneously maintains the conformity and utter predictability so much of its mission requires. New technologies must be properly integrated and followed by imaginative alterations in force organization. The true nature of war must be thoroughly inculcated. Creativity must be present throughout the process of educating and training leaders and in forming sound organizations, concepts of operation, and doctrine. Unrestricted professional exchange needs to predominate—the German mission command model should be emulated—otherwise stagnation and ultimate mission failure could result.

The present U.S. networking model cannot be adequately defended. The .mil domain is vulnerable to terrorists, criminals, and hackers like the .com and .gov domains. DOD should be charged to lead the United States in cyber defense. "Cloud computing" and other innovations should be tapped into, and an amendment to the U.S. Code, Title 10, could allow the Department to conduct cyber investigations using the vast expertise, funding, and resources not found elsewhere. State and nonstate actors currently compromise U.S. cyberspace with impunity. DOD, with existing and added authorities along with outside assistance from throughout the government and private enterprise, could step into the existing vacuum to protect both the public and private sectors.

Cyber domain challenges include attribution of cyber activity to state or nonstate parties and the tyranny of speed. Both factors defy decisionmaking and the effectiveness of extant countermeasures. Yet the current framework, within the scope of international law governing a state's use of force as codified in jus ad bellum and jus in bello, must be praised as fundamentally adequate in regard to the operational issues that confront the military. Operationally speaking, the cyber domain coexists with the land, sea, air, and space domains, and since commanders must master those as well, they discover that current laws governing the use of force and military operations can be applied to cyber, whose contribution includes controlling effects to reduce collateral damage.