Image courtesy of Call of Duty Wiki. Image courtesy of Call of Duty Wiki.

Editor’s Note: This essay is part of a short essay series on Future Warfare which asked what the dominant trend in warfare will be over the next 20 years.

By Sergeant First Class William Rothrock

     The dimensions of warfare have increased exponentially from the prehistoric era to present day.  When men learned to build boats, battles at sea ensued.  Eventually we learned to fly and quickly mounted guns to the first planes capable of carrying the hardware and ammo.  Somewhere along the line we realized the significance of human terrain and slowly built mechanisms to engage and win those battles.  Here we are now; feet and knees together. We have exited the door with the static line still attached to 2014.   Our future and way of life are now invested on this cyber parachute attached to our back.  We are counting on it to fully deploy and deliver us safely into harm’s way.  Without it, we cannot close in with the enemies of our nation and destroy them.

      When our ground forces engage the enemy, they call “troops in contact” into the operation’s center.  In operation centers, a red flashing light is illuminated.  Non-mission essential personnel leave the floor, lock the doors and the airways are cleared to focus efforts and resources to the decisive point.  Our operation center controlling cyber space’s front lines are currently and have been since their birth, been directing troops in contact.  They are engaging the enemy on multiple fronts and reacting to relentless innovative attacks.  Casualties are calculated in time lost, money spent or wasted, secrets leaked and like all warfare, lives lost.  A new form of soldier is emerging.   These cyber warriors will protect our comfortable lifestyles.  They are sheep dogs trained to see the invisible wolf that preys on the cyber parachute instead of the troop it carries.

     Many entrepreneurs can provide for their families and survive by improving on existing ideas.  The entrepreneurs that thrive are those that are able to innovate or create new ideas, technologies and products.   We are professional soldiers improving/ reacting to this new threat.  As a global leader we need to act more than react.  It is time we embrace our calling and become warriors. It is time to innovate a new dimension of warfare and thrive.