Christopher J. Dorobek’s “Incoming” column focused on good leadership. I once was as misguided as Dorobek, but no more. I hope it is not too late to affect his thinking—and yours as well.

Modern communications and sensor systems have greatly increased the speed and effectiveness of maneuver warfare and have empowered units at the edge by providing them with greater situational awareness. But these benefits have a price—lack of interoperability caused by disparate equipment and vulnerability to external threats ranging from jamming to cyberattacks.

This is a time when everyone needs to be part of the cyber debate. Our dependency on the cyber environment is greater than ever. Cyber is being recognized as a priority domain for warfare. U.S. capabilities and those of the nation’s allies are growing, but the threat is growing and becoming more sophisticated at an alarming rate. Both state and non-state players are active in this domain. The new U.S. administration has put a very high priority on the cyber environment and on cyberwarfare and has commissioned a number of studies to determine the way ahead. But the path remains unclear for the United States and, certainly, as the country works with its coalition partners around the globe.

The explosion of online social media is profoundly changing how people produce, consume and share information. Social media rapidly turns monologues into dialogues and broadcasts into conversations. The result is a rich environment in which ideas are shared, questions are answered and collaborative relationships flourish.

Command and control is a subject that encompasses all military functions. No matter how brave soldiers are or how many billions of dollars are spent, command and control is essential in enabling the warfighter to execute commander’s intent.

The burgeoning number of devices, wireless capabilities and social media sites is challenging one of the leading U.S. intelligence organization’s goals to provide the decisive advantage to outmaneuver adversaries in cyberspace. A large hurdle to overcome is the growing use of commercial technologies that often bring with them varying degrees of information security requirements.

The U.S. intelligence community is seeking to bring citizens into the homeland security quest through new efforts at tapping potential intelligence information from new sources. This thrust aims to provide mechanisms for collecting information that resides outside the realm of conventional sources.

An innovative flying laboratory collected and distributed data across a simulated battlefield network as part of a major U.S. Army communications and networking exercise held in August.

The worst global economic recession since the Great Depression is causing repercussions far beyond home foreclosures, skyrocketing fuel prices and lost jobs. In the intelligence realm, analysts find themselves considering its ramifications on politics, governments and security. Even cyberspace, an environment that is tenuously secure at best, may be feeling the effects of a stagnant economy as organizations—both public and private—put off investments in both security upgrades and research.

As the civilian sector moves toward available collaborative networking applications and technologies, U.S. Forces Korea finds itself on the crest of this wave and is transforming how it conducts business across the command. The results of this effort will enable the command to provide authoritative, far-reaching data while dramatically improving its decision-making capabilities both in peace and wartime.