USAF Growing Cyber Warfare Ops Center

LOS ANGELES — The newly-created 24th U.S. Air Force, the service’s latest numbered force, aims to establish the first elements of a cyberspace command operations center in San Antonio by the end of December.

The 24th was stood up in August to conduct cyberspace operations and defend Air Force and other U.S. assets from cyber attack. However, the force does not intend to announce its initial operational capability target until early next year when it clearly understands the task at hand. “Job No. 1 is to create an awareness of the battlespace,” says 24th Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Richard Webber.

As part of this mind-set adjustment, Webber says cyberspace “is a place, not a mission. It’s about where operations are conducted, like the land, air, sea and space. Our job is to integrate the mission, not the domain. It’s about assuring the mission, not the network.” Remarking on a recent cyber attack on Peterson AFB, Colo., Webber says, “What did we do? We disconnected. But we must learn to fight through an attack because we need mission assurance.”

To ensure this, Webber says change must occur. “Our defense has been very much like the Maginot Line. But building the wall higher and higher is not going to be effective. We need to defend in depth. So we will work with backbone providers and go to the medical- or personnel-information worlds and say, ‘What hardware is essential?’”

The process will be used to develop a list of protected targets and defended assets.