HomeNewsCommentariesDisplay

CYBERCOMMAND: What is it and why does the Air Force need it?

By Maj. Bill Belei , 341st Communications Squadron commander / Published November 01, 2007

PRINT | E-MAIL
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, MOnt. -- When Billy Mitchell aggressively advocated for airpower, not only was the military establishment of the time not comfortable with what he was saying, his military career ultimately ended in court martial when he attempted to force the establishment to change. And, when Air Force Space Command stood up in 1982, you can bet that many of the generals, who saw funding reduced in their areas of responsibility, questioned the need for a new Air Force major command. These examples show that often times, the initial introduction of profoundly beneficial changes that challenge conventional military thinking are not only met with indifference, but sometimes they are outright fought against. 

It appears we may be in the midst of another such watershed event in our Air Force history. 

This event took place almost two years ago in December of 2005, yet many Air Force members probably never heard about it or don't remember it. It was during that time the Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen T. Michael Moseley profoundly altered the Air Force's mission statement. The new statement pushed the Air Force to expand beyond flying and fighting in simply air and space and added an entirely new domain - a battle space that can't be touched or even seen by the human eye - cyberspace. 

The new AF mission statement now reads: "The mission of the United States Air Force is to deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests -- to fly and fight in Air, Space and Cyberspace." 

A few years have passed since that mission statement change and we are beginning to see some tangible results. Just about a month ago at the Pentagon Sept. 18 during the Air Force 60th anniversary celebration, Secretary Wynne announced the stand up of a provisional Cyberspace Command (AFCYBER (P)). Many of the specifics of this command are yet to be determined such as the size, location and even its first commander. Maj. Gen. Charles Ickes II, the Air National Guard special assistant to the deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements said, "While a number of basing locations for a permanent command staff are being considered and evaluated, no final decisions have been made." He further explained the charge of the first AFCYBER commander will be to "prepare the way for the eventual standup of a full major command that will be responsible for organizing, training and equipping forces to conduct sustained global operations in and through cyberspace, fully integrated with air and space operations." 

In addition to the initial announcements, you must also appreciate the very high level of concern and commitment by our senior leaders to this endeavor. Consider all the challenges our senior leaders have on their plate today with the global war on terror, recapitalizing the fleet, budget restrictions and the various transformation efforts under way. You can bet they would not be taking the Air Force down the path of standing up a new major command now if they did not feel it was absolutely essential. Their sense of urgency comes from the fact that the cyber domain is unique; it is the only war fighting domain the U.S. military does not only dominate. Think for a moment of all the key war fighting domains the U.S. military operates within - land, sea, air, space and recently, cyberspace. Now go down that list and ask yourself if the U.S. is the dominate power in the world. If you are like me, your answers will be: 
- land - yes 
- sea - sure 
- air - absolutely 
- space - we do 
- cyberspace - ... I don't know ... I hope so. 

Our senior leaders probably came up with similar answers and decided the Air Force needed to do more than hope we were prevailing in cyberspace. 

Now having established this as a key time in our history and the fact our leaders are committed to this undertaking, you may want to take a step backwards and ask why cyberspace is so crucial. To understand this, all you have to do is look around at the way you do business today and compare it with the way we did business just a few years before. Everything we can automate or computerize has already been done or is headed in that direction. 

It wasn't that long ago (1994) when I was a lieutenant and the base I was at provided base computer users with their first connection to the Internet. Typewriters and hardcopy memos were the way to communicate and conversely e-mail was something that was new and hardly used. Now you would be hard-pressed to actually find a typewriter in your unit and even more hard pressed to get your job done without using e-mail. Remember, Malmstrom Air Force Base users alone generate or receive approximately 60,000 e-mails every day! And computers and networks are used in more critical applications whether in command and control, in the missile field, in the air, or space.

The Air Combat Command commander, Gen. Ronald E. Keys, echoed this at an Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium in March. "Almost everything I do is either on the Internet, an Intranet, or some type of network -terrestrial, airborne or spaceborne," he said. "Yet, everyone out there knows that hackers can (potentially) get into my network and slow down or corrupt (it) or cause me to lose faith in the networks or shut them down completely." 

Among all the transformation efforts currently underway in our military, the development of CyberCommand is one you need to take note of as it will, no doubt, be crucial to the overall efficacy of our military. We must realize the Air Force has worked and fought hard over our 60 years to dominate in air and space and yet we are now embarking on a mission to rule an entirely new and vital domain. We should be heartened our leadership has the proper perspective and commitment to do this. "For 53 years, not one American soldier has died as a result of enemy aircraft fire. I aim to extend this hard-earned dominance for another 53 years and more, and use cyber and space power to do it," said Secretary Wynne.
USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.