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![1105 Media [purity]](/images/ds1_pntmlogo.gif "1105 Media [purity]") |
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home > March/April 2007 issue > article
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| Rick Steele |
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| Maj. Gen. William T. Lord |
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A new Air Force for a new era
By Major General William T. Lord
Special to Defense Systems
THE UNITED STATES has seen many significant changes
in the last 60 years, and the Air Force has changed with
it. This year, a significant milestone in the evolution of
the Air Force will occur with the development of plans
to create an operational cyberspace command. As with
air and space and the development of organizations focused on
their defense, cyberspace is now recognized as an environment
whose protection is critical to national interests.
Last year, the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force initiated this evolutionary step when they added cyberspace to the
Air Force’s mission statement. While many people have speculated
what this will mean for the Air Force, the secretary and
chief of staff have clearly outlined the Air Force priorities for today and the immediate future. First, win the global war on terrorism. Second, recapitalize the Air Force. Third, take care of
our people.
Accomplishing those priorities will take a concerted effort, especially in an era in which the size of the Air Force is decreasing
while its missions are expanding. Projections for future force structure include a 70 percent increase in command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms, an 88 percent increase in special operations forces and combat search and rescue assets, and a 25 percent decrease in the fighter force. This is a radical departure from the Air Force of past generations.
The Air Force’s unique process improvement program, Air
Force Smart Operations 21, will be critical to the service’s transormation efforts. Based on Lean and Six Sigma business process
improvement tools, Air Force Smart Operations 21 is designed
to re-engineer processes by eliminating steps that add
no value or by combining steps to save time.
Today’s joint force warfighter is increasingly dependent on
the information provided by the Air Force Enterprise Network.
In the past, conflicting data from different sources left leaders
wondering which system to trust and what decision to make.
The Air Force’s vision for a network-centric environment includes
a single sign-on with data entered once and used throughout
the service many times. That capability will require standardization
of formats, hardware, software, and terminology, in
addition to an integrated infrastructure to define a unified, single
construct for the network.
A major feature of the conflicts the United States will face
is a movement toward asymmetric warfare. With
other countries developing cyverwarfare units and
terrorist organizations recruiting cyber-savvy extremists,
the United States faces future conflicts
in which our cyber infrastructures may be targeted
from great distances and at the speed of light.
The Air Force is exploring ways to incorporate
military and private-sector best practices to implement
an Integrated Network Operations and
Security Center structure to prepare for a response
to attacks on critical military network infrastructures
and assets.
In addition to defending our own networks, the
Air Force’s new cyber command will also have offensive
capabilities to ensure that, just as in air and
space, we can fight and win conflicts in cyberspace,
which has become a fully developed warfighting
domain.
We must develop the road map necessary to
ensure that our members have the knowledge and
tools to ensure mission success — and transform
that force for cyberspace operations. Working together
with our industry partners, we will meet the
challenges facing this new Air Force as we continue
to achieve dominance in all realms: air, space
and cyberspace.
Lord is the Air Force’s director of information, services and integration; secretary of the Air Force Office of Warfighting Integration; and chief information officer.
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