It’s no secret that in 2024, some of the greatest threats to U.S. national security come from the cyber domain. Just this week, the Biden administration imposed new economic sanctions on a Chinese company that allegedly spearheaded a series of cyberattacks targeting critical American infrastructure.

A 9/11-style cyberattack, which Mr. Taylor and Mr. Wolfgang highlighted in their “Threat of the Week” segment on this week’s episode of the Threat Status Podcast, is a distinct possibility. And that’s why some influential lawmakers and national security experts believe it’s time to create a dedicated “Cyber Force” to stand alongside the Pentagon’s other military services. The Washington Times’ Ryan Lovelace dives into the proposal, outlined in a major new report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The influential think tank published its findings this week and called for the establishment of a Cyber Force to stand alongside the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force.

The idea of a new Cyber Force captured the attention of some decision-makers on Capitol Hill, including Rep. Mike Gallagher, the outgoing leader of the House Armed Services Committee’s cyber panel.

But creating a new, independent military service is hardly easy. Then-President Trump’s establishment of the U.S. Space Force was initially met with mockery and derision. That initial negative reaction was in some ways reminiscent of 1947, when the creation of a newfangled U.S. Air Force — the last new military branch prior to the launch of the Space Force — was met with heavy institutional resistance in the Pentagon.

A Cyber Force would in some ways follow the Space Force blueprint. Its proponents say it could be housed within the Army, similar to how the Marine Corps sits in the Navy and the Space Force exists under the Air Force. Just a few years after the Space Force’s creation, it is readily apparent just how vital space and space-based assets will be in this century’s conflicts. Ukraine, for example, may have already fallen to the Russians were it not for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system, which played a pivotal role in helping the Ukrainian forces find and target Russian forces.

Quick reminder: As recently as 2021, high-profile Democrats still wanted to kill the Space Force.

Washington Times correspondent Guillaume Ptak has a fascinating — and troubling — story from the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war. After two years of fighting, Ukraine’s biggest shortfall is people. There is a lack of doctors and other medical professionals able to treat the sick and wounded soldiers trying to fend off the larger Russian army, which now has momentum on its side.

The grinding trench warfare of the Russia-Ukraine fighting, Mr. Ptak reports, has sparked widespread comparisons to World War I, but some corners of the battlefield resemble nothing so much as a Korean War-style MASH unit, like the television show located scarily close to the front lines and run by an understaffed, overworked group of medical professionals.

On the Russian side of the border, the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will continue for at least another three months. Military Correspondent Mike Glenn reports that the American journalist will remain behind bars until June 30 while he awaits trial on espionage charges that the U.S. government and press rights groups have denounced as bogus.

U.S. troops are chronically sleep-deprived, according to a new government watchdog report that warns of potentially disastrous consequences for military readiness. Mr. Wolfgang reports on the Government Accountability Office study, which found that only one-third of troops say they get the recommended seven or eight hours of sleep per night. The majority reported they sleep six hours or fewer, and about a third of service members said their sleep quality is “fairly bad or very bad.”

One anonymous military motor vehicle operator put it bluntly: “I could kill someone … because I’m not getting the right sleep,” the GAO investigators were told.

It’s hardly a revelation that America’s fighting men and women need more shut-eye. Back in 2020, the Army encouraged its soldiers to take regular naps.

Of course, some of the military’s gruffest officers say they have no trouble getting to bed. In 2017, then-Defense Secretary James Mattis memorably quipped that “nothing” keeps him up at night.

“I keep other people awake at night,” the retired Marine Corps general said.

The growing rift between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fueling fears that Israel could essentially be forced to go it alone in its fight against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Washington Times regular columnist Clifford D. May points out that Hamas was surely pleased by the U.S. administration’s decision to abstain from a United Nations Security Council vote this week that called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to last through the end of Ramadan, but did not include an American demand that Hamas release the estimated 100 hostages it holds as one condition for the pause in fighting.

Mr. May says that those who expect any cease-fire to result in Hamas freeing the remaining hostages in its captivity may be disappointed.

“I expect that, after Ramadan, the hostages will still be in chains, and the Israel Defense Forces will proceed with what could be the last major battle of the war,” he writes.

If Israel does go ahead with that final battle, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, it may do it without explicit U.S. support. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday warned his Israeli counterpart that any heavy incursion to take out Hamas’ remaining battalions inside Rafah should be delayed until the safety of about 1.5 million Palestinian civilians there can be secured. Moving that many Palestinians out of the area — while Hamas simultaneously tries to use them as civilian shields — could be virtually impossible. That may leave Israel little choice but to move ahead with its operation, regardless of what the White House says.