⏱ 7 minute read
PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – We are under cyberattack every day. ‘Heartbreaking’ lack of a confirmed leader is impacting CYBERCOM and NSA. It’s been seven months since the Trump administration fired the Cyber Command leader who was also the director of the National Security Agency.
With no nominee yet, lots of highly qualified patriots are raising the alarm.
“It’s indefensible and it shows just a total disregard by the administration and the secretary of defense for this mission…,” said GOP Rep. Don Bacon.
“[It’s] just sort of heartbreaking to see what’s going on with cyber and NSA under this administration right now. I say that as a Republican.”
For Bacon and others, the key issue is that the U.S. is “under cyberattack every day” and there is no one in charge of the top military and intelligence agency responsible for defending against such attacks and going on the offensive.
CYBERCOM’s deputy commander, Lt. Gen. William Hartman, has been the acting commander of the organization and the acting director of NSA, though the two are distinctly separate organizations.
One former top military cyber official said they couldn’t imagine the top roles at Central Command, European Command, and Indo-Pacific Command being left open this long, noting they face threats on and off, and the U.S. is getting hit by cyberattacks daily.
An adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies warns, “Cyberspace and cybersecurity are so important that this is a position that should be filled with a Senate-confirmed appointee as soon as possible.”
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
Dual-use tech. Companies planning to compete for Golden Dome contracts say they’re already investing in capabilities that could have a range of defense and commercial applications—regardless of whether they’re selected for the Pentagon’s program for an advanced homeland missile defense shield.
U.S. and China are locked in a contest to not only lead in AI, but to shape the global landscape for its development and use. Trump administration has released an AI Action Plan to implement the U.S. vision for AI dominance. But that document largely sidestepped a critical arena: forging the norms for how it is used by militaries, from devising battle plans to guiding attack drones.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Courts in Tennessee and West Virginia heard arguments challenging the deployment of their states’ National Guard troops to patrol the streets of Memphis and Washington, D.C., as part of President Trump’s push to send the military into Democratic-run cities.
Supreme Court weighs if contractor can be sued for wartime negligence in a case against a military contractor whose employee killed five people and injured 17 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in 2016.
A federal court halted part of a presidential executive order that imposed new requirements on military service members, their families and other overseas citizens trying to vote in U.S. elections.
US POWER OVERSEAS
Trump’s warning to go ‘guns-a-blazing’ against jihadists over Christian killings in Africa’s most populous nation has left Nigeria’s president scrambling to contain fallout at home and abroad.
Amphibious warship returning to Caribbean. As the U.S. continues to build up forces in the Caribbean for enhanced counternarcotics operations that could include inland strikes in Venezuela, there are reported plans underway for attacks on cartels inside Mexico too.
These are the approximate positions of the Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Nov. 3, 2025.
Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) returned to its Seattle home port, following a 129-day patrol that concluded its annual Arctic deployment.
CHINA THREAT
China’s Foreign Ministry responded to Trump’s assertion that Beijing has conducted clandestine nuclear weapons testing with a flat denial.
“The Coming Wave.” As China modernizes its military for seizing Taiwan, U.S. planners continue to seek insight into how the PLA will implement its operational concept. Now, a commercial tabletop wargame allows planners to experience multi-domain precision warfare from a Chinese perspective.
China launched a new GEO Yaogan reconnaissance satellite, following India’s launch of its highest mass communications satellite to date.
UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary oiler conducted a freedom of navigation passage through the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands.
White House has shared images of Xi Jinping smiling that most Chinese don’t see at home.
RUSSIA THREAT
Russia says its forces advance in ruins of Pokrovsk, Ukraine says defenders hold on.
Russia has a new strategy for winter war in Ukraine. The goal is to cause an energy crisis and trigger a new refugee wave to destabilize Ukraine’s European allies.
Russia launched its first new Project 08951 class of nuclear-powered submarines, “Khabarovsk,” to be armed with the Poseidon nuclear-powered, nuclear-tipped, ultra-long-endurance torpedo.
Men convicted of plotting to attack U.S. forces in Bavaria and surveilling bases for Russia. A German man, the ringleader of a spying trio that plotted the attacks, got a six-year prison sentence.
MIDDLE EAST THREATS
UN security council resolution mandating an international stabilization force for Gaza to be ready within two weeks but may be delayed due to disputes over the force’s mandate, including role of U.S. military leadership, its relationship with the Palestinian civil police and a timetable for Israel’s military withdrawal.
Israel strikes southern Lebanon, a day after Israel threatened to escalate its assault on alleged Hezbollah targets.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
Defense Secretary Hegseth praised South Korea’s plans to raise its military spending, saying that the Asian ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean aggressions.
South Korea’s president called for tripling the government spending on projects for expanding AI infrastructure and technology.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Two regions of war-torn Sudan are enduring a famine that could spread to other areas of the northeastern African country, where rebels have been battling the military for more than two years.
Ready to drop support. UAE’s diplomatic machine is for the first time admitting to mistakes in its Sudan policy after suffering reputational damage over its support for the Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese paramilitary group that has carried out mass killings.
The first of “dozens” of Anduril Ghost Shark Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (XL-AUV) for Australia’s navy has rolled off the line.
US MILITARY
Give ’em E-HEL: In the Army’s effort to beef up its counter-unmanned aerial system capabilities, it has formally asked industry for ideas to field high-energy laser systems capable of blasting small- to medium-sized drones out of the sky.
Army directive orders commanders to act within hours — not days — when a soldier goes missing, giving them 3 hours to classify a service member as “absent-unknown” and 8 hours to notify the soldier’s family once the absence is discovered.
Attack helicopters must hunt the hunters. “Bingo” is the point of no return: the call that fuel is running dry and the mission is over. The same call now threatens the attack helicopter itself.
Air Force planning to retain some ‘Platinum’ F-15C/D Eagles, among its oldest fighters, to perform the homeland defense four at least 4 more years, says “Long-Term Fighter Force Structure” report.
Air Force is spelling out in minute detail how long airmen’s mustaches and sideburns are allowed to be.
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
