Cyber 1.1 kicks off National Space Symposium

  • Published
  • By Capt. Kinder Blacke
  • Air Force Space Command Public Affairs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) --  Air Force Space Command Airmen kicked off the weeklong National Space Symposium April 11 here with a day devoted entirely to cyber discussion, the second annual Cyber 1.1 event.

Gen. William Shelton, the AFSPC commander, recognized the event as a chance to think about where the Air Force is going in the space and cyberspace domains and contemplate the associated challenges.

"It is a great opportunity to highlight the two domains that (Space Command) is responsible for -- space and cyberspace," he said. "The Air Force only talks about three domains-- air, space and cyberspace, and we've got two of them. We've got challenges in all of those areas, but certainly in the cyber and space domains."

The day's focus was specifically on cyberspace, and General Shelton recognized its significance.

"I would assert ... that the value of the manmade cyberspace domain is rising to the level of importance of the physical domains in modern warfare," he said.

There are countless examples of how military forces are connected through the cyberspace domain, from remotely piloted aircraft, troops on the ground or precision-guided missiles, he said.

"In this era of information-enabled warfare, our cyberspace capabilities are absolutely essential," General Shelton said.

Since this is such a critical mission area, "we need the same rigor and operational discipline in cyberspace that has served us so well in air and space," he said, and explained the need to apply the lessons learned from air and space operations to the cyberspace mission.

Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, the AFSPC vice commander discussed AFSPC's evolving cyber role and the principles of building a cyberspace foundation.

He mirrored General Shelton's sentiments, emphasizing that "the Joint fight is our top priority and cyberspace is essential across the spectrum of operations." That includes missions in Japan, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere U.S. forces are forward-deployed.

For example, General Basla mentioned the 689th Combat Communications Wing, which is already fully immersed in warfighting support. The wing deployed 700 hundred Airmen to 54 global locations last year to deliver critical communications support to wartime and humanitarian missions, including establishing initial-communications capability to four bare bases in hostile areas.

General Basla also discussed how 24th Air Force, in support of the joint fight, established a cyber operations liaison element in the combatant commanders' operations and planning cells.

"The COLE ensures cyber effects are embedded into deliberate and contingency planning efforts from initial planning through execution of joint operations," he said. COLEs increase understanding of the AOR and help combatant commanders to effectively utilize the reach-back capabilities for integrated, full-spectrum operations.

Furthermore, cyber professionals are playing a key role in remotely piloted aircraft mission assurance efforts, referred to as "cyber escort missions," he said.

"Essentially, our cyberspace professionals monitor the links between air, land and space, and take action when the link is, or could be, interrupted," General Basla said.

"(This role in cyber escort missions) signifies the first major sustained employment of cyberspace capabilities into day-to-day air operations, he said. It also highlights the grueling role of cyber defense of our networks and nodes to protect our knowledge and achieve situational awareness."

According to General Basla, situational awareness is important in all domains, but it is especially critical in cyberspace where, by nature, the challenges are even greater.

Unlike the physical domains of land, sea, air and space, "cyberspace is human engineered," so it does not adhere to a set of natural laws or scientific principles, he said.

"Humans and the technology of the time determine the information flow of ones and zeros," said General Basla. Therefore, there are no fixed laws of cyberspace, rather an inherent unpredictability and instability.

"The change in behavior of ones and zeros in the cyberspace domain make situational awareness and defense an ever-evolving challenge," General Basla said.

"The complexity of defending information and information flow is one of a compounding challenge," he said. The solution in this constantly changing domain is to create stability, "which is an essential focus of laying the foundation of defense."

This much-needed stability comes through deliberate processes, a highly trained cyber force and collaboration with industry partners, he said.

To meet these goals, AFSPC has several initiatives underway to "reduce complexity and improve processes," General Basla said. "A single Air Force network is our number one cyber focus today."

"When we have multiple information domains, they significantly complicate our processes in defending the network," he said. For this reason, AFSPC officials are working to consolidate the multiple Air Force networks into a single, unified "AFNet."

Last year, 17 bases migrated onto the AFNet, he said.

Secondly, to promote stability and successful cyber defense, another critical component is to develop a cyber-trained and cyber-thinking Air Force, he said. Most Airmen only know cyberspace from the user's perspective, through e-mail, word processing and internet browsers.

"We need to institute cyber doctrine so that we can all effectively communicate like we do in the air domain," he said.

Every stage of professional military education needs to include more material for space and cyber, equivalent to what is taught for air, General Basla said. "We need to develop our force with Airmen who understand every aspect of the cyber domain."

Furthermore, due to the dynamic cyber domain, cyber skills need to be continually honed, General Basla said. "Cyber professionals need to continually train ... to be ahead in this game is to be at the cutting edge with everyone else, from the teenager to the terrorist.

"Technical knowledge and cyber skill sets are foundational to our success," he said. AFSPC is working to create a diverse and highly-educated cyber force using a broad array of resources to shape the cyber career field.

Notably, the total force demographic, incorporating the Guard and Reserve, is critical due to their relationships with industry, he said.

While the Air Force network serves 800,000 users, with 1.9 million network devices, industrial partners often deliver services to hundreds of millions of internet users, and are clearly leading the way on innovation and technology in the cyber domain, he said. They are an invaluable resource and another component to creating stability in the cyber domain.

"We need to incentivize outside-the-box thinking on how commercial, off-the-shelf technology can be applied in new ways to our challenges," General Basla said.

Capitalizing on the innovation of industry partners, along with establishing deliberate processes and developing a highly trained cyber force, will create the stability necessary to defend information and enable worldwide operations, he said.

"This is a momentous time for the Air Force," General Basla said. "New innovation is occurring at every moment in our work centers, and I'm excited to be a part of an outstanding Air Force team."