Butler Tapped for Cyber/Space Policy Slot

The Defense Department appointed Robert Butler, who previously ran Computer Science Corp's military intelligence biz in San Antonio, Texas, as the new deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber and space policy.

Butler, who will get to wear senior executive service pips in his new job, has extensive cyber experience from his active duty and civilian career with the Air Force, serving in his last Air Force stint as associate director of the Joint Information's Warfare Command at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Unlike some wonks who might have a hard time figuring out how to remove a battery from a laptop, Butler has real, hands-on programming experience. He served as a computer programmer analyst in the Air Force data center at the Pentagon from 1979-1984.

Butler then spent the rest of his career on the black side, with a wide range of Air Force and joint intelligence assignments for the next 24 years.

The cyber and space policy job is a new slot in the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy shop headed by Michèle Flournoy, which underwent a massive re-organization last month, according to Defense News.

Previously, Defense had separate policy lines for space and cyber, and the new administration combined the two in a new organization to be headed by Butler.

Why? Well, as the Air Force likes to remind us constantly, cyber really is their domain, and the service recently set up its cyber command at Butler's old Lackland hangout.