U.S.: The Air Force Cyber Command

InteliBriefs
Posted : 2007-09-19 13:24:48

Source: Stratfor

September 19, 2007 14 45 GMT


http://www.cyberinnovationcenter.org/
Summary

The U.S. Air Force began the shift to a major command devoted to cyberwarfare operations Sept. 18 with the creation of a provisional Cyber Command. Though organizational in nature -- the Air Force already deals extensively with cyberwarfare -- the shift nevertheless marks a significant move toward making the military exploitation of cyberspace operational.

Analysis

The U.S. Air Force announced the establishment of a provisional Cyber Command on Sept. 18 at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where existing cyber operations already were centered. The provisional command is expected to evolve in less than a year into a major command devoted specifically to cyberwarfare operations and their integration into all Air Force operations. The move to take the lead in making the military exploitation of cyberspace operational marks a significant organizational step for the Air Force.

The Air Force cyberwarfare focus will continue to fall under U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which in addition to overseeing the U.S. nuclear deterrent has become an umbrella command for a number of disparate operations -- covering everything from space operations to network warfare. (This particular sub-commander in STRATCOM also is the director of the National Security Agency.) Then-STRATCOM head Marine Gen. James Cartwright insisted March 21 that U.S. cyberwarfare efforts include more offensive measures given the daily probes and attacks against U.S. networks.

Though cyberwarfare operations are nothing new for the U.S. military -- offensive electronic attacks were conducted as part of the NATO air campaign in Kosovo in 1999, and the Air Force has considered cyberspace operations of fundamental importance for years -- the unique nature of the Internet means attacks are being conducted against U.S. military and government networks right now. China especially probes for vulnerabilities in U.S. systems on a daily basis. So even as the Air Force works to integrate the new command's operations further into those of STRATCOM and the National Security Agency, it will be engaged in an ongoing online competition with other state and nonstate actors.

But while the Air Force inevitably will deal with these day-to-day issues, the shift to a Cyber Command inside the Air Force will help consolidate the branch's leading role in network warfare and create the organizational structure to facilitate the full and coherent exploitation of cyberspace in future joint operations. Though this might sound bureaucratic, it means cyberwarfare will increasingly be integrated with overall operations in joint commands -- beginning with the expansion of cyberwarfare from the strategic realm into the operational and tactical realms.

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Cyber efforts eyed as major job starter
$100 million Cyber Innovation Center to complement Cyber Command
By John Andrew Prime
jprime@gannett.com

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/

Landing a command center at Barksdale Air Force Base base could mean, at most, 350 to 500 new faces in Air Force blue uniforms, the secretary of the Air Force's office told The Times last week.

That may not sound like much, but state and local officials who have set in motion creation of a $100 million Cyber Innovation Center to complement Air Force Cyber Command still think the payoff will be 10 to 20 times that number of civilian jobs.


"Our task now as local government along with the state of Louisiana is to ensure that we do everything possible to make this mission a success, cementing this command to this location," said Bossier Parish Administrator Bill Altimus. "A part of this success we believe will be the creation of the Cyber Innovation Center."

Altimus and other planners are using the growth and success of technology centers in Huntsville, Ala., around Vandenberg Air Force, Calif., and Colorado Springs, Colo., to support hopes that as many as 10,000 well-paying jobs could result.

At Vandenberg, a 2006 study by the University of California at Santa Barbara says, space-oriented military activity resulted in 8,300 jobs, with a direct impact of $555.4 million.

"The strong income impact is due largely to the high salaries associated with the aerospace industry and the demand for technical consulting services made by the base and its contractors," the study reported.

Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Ala., which witnessed the creation of thousands of well-paying space program jobs when it was created in the 1960s. The 3,843-acre park now employs 25,000 workers in nearly 300 tenant companies.

Similar growth occurred in Colorado Springs after Air Space Command opened there in the early 1980s.

Studies Altimus and others consulted show these jobs with annual salaries at $70,000 and upward.

"We think the same parallel would occur here," he said.

A national analyst agrees.

"It's a major coup for Barksdale," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, who agreed siting the new headquarters at Barksdale would make the Shreveport-Bossier City area a high-tech center and grow its academic community.

"It would attract some interesting people to the area," Thompson said. "The most intelligent people in America."

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Gannett News Service reporter Ana Radelat contributed to this story.