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The phrase most often refers to the U.S. National Military Strategy for Cyberspace Operations, a historical strategy document released in December 2006. In general terms, a national military strategy for cyberspace operations is the military’s framework for integrating cyberspace capabilities, forces, partnerships, and planning into national defense objectives. That is a plain-language synthesis, not a single official definition.
What is the National Military Strategy for Cyberspace Operations?
The 2006 National Military Strategy for Cyberspace Operations is a topic-specific historical document. It is distinct from the broader National Military Strategy (NMS), which is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s framework for how the armed forces execute national policy goals. The DoD Historical Office explains the NMS’s role: it connects military activity to the goals in the most recent National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, and the Chairman develops it after consulting combatant commanders and members of the Joint Chiefs.
The broad idea behind a military strategy for cyberspace is therefore not simply a plan for computer networks. It concerns how the armed forces organize and use cyberspace capabilities as part of their overall approach to defense objectives.
What did the 2006 strategy mean by cyberspace?
A defense-published academic work attributes this definition to the 2006 strategy: “a domain characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructure.” The wording describes cyberspace, not the strategy as a whole. The same source reports that the Department of Defense changed its cyberspace definition in 2008, so the 2006 language should be treated as historical rather than assumed to be current doctrine. See the DoD-published discussion of the historical definition.
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What themes did the 2006 strategy cover?
The DoD Chief Information Officer’s Cybersecurity Resource and Reference Guide summarizes the strategy’s themes. It points to investment in science and technology, development of the cyber workforce, partnerships with industry and other nations, integration of cyberspace capabilities across military operations, capacity building, and cyber-risk management. These are the guide’s summary of a historical document, not a claim that the list exhausts the original strategy.
How does cyberspace fit into joint military operations?
Joint doctrine treats cyberspace operations as part of integrated operations, not as an isolated activity. Joint Publication 3-03, Joint Interdiction, explains that many aspects of joint operations depend on cyberspace and that cyberspace operations can complement and enable other forms of interdiction. It points readers to Joint Publication 3-12 for further discussion of cyberspace forces’ role.
In practical terms, the strategy-level question is how cyber capabilities support broader military objectives and work alongside other operations. The cited joint publication establishes that relationship, but it is not itself the 2006 strategy.
Is the 2006 cyberspace strategy still current?
The available sources establish the 2006 document’s historical identity and themes, but they do not establish whether it has been formally rescinded or superseded. Its definition of cyberspace is explicitly historical, and the reported 2008 DoD definition change is a reason not to treat the 2006 terminology as current without checking later doctrine.
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Also distinguish a full strategy from a public description of one. In 2019, DoD said the 2018 NMS was classified and that an unclassified description was available in its announcement, “National Military Strategy Addresses Changing Character of War.” That statement describes the 2018 NMS and does not establish the release status of later strategies or the present status of the 2006 cyberspace document.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to distinguish the documents
When a reference mentions a “national military strategy for cyberspace,” check which document and level of strategy it means:
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- Title and date: Is it the December 2006 cyberspace-specific strategy or a broader NMS?
- Issuing authority and purpose: Does it describe the Chairman’s framework for executing higher-level policy, or a strategy focused specifically on cyberspace operations?
- Public availability: Is the source the full document or an unclassified description? The 2019 DoD statement about the 2018 NMS shows why this distinction matters.
- Terminology: Is a definition quoted from the 2006 document, or from later doctrine?
- Operational context: Does the source explain how cyberspace capabilities integrate with joint operations?
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