Air Force to suspend all efforts toward cyber command

Reported today at NextGov.Com

The Air Force on Monday suspended all efforts related to development of a program to become the dominant service in cyberspace, according to knowledgeable sources. Top Air Force officials put a halt to all activities related to the establishment of the Cyber Command, a provisional unit that is currently part of the 8th Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, sources told Nextgov.

An internal Air Force e-mail obtained by Nextgov said, “Transfers of manpower and resources, including activation and reassignment of units, shall be halted.” Establishment of the Cyber Command will be delayed until new senior Air Force leaders, including Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz, sworn in today, have time to make a final decision on the scope and mission of the command.

I’m not sure what this will exactly mean, if it means that cyber is falling away as a tactical and strategic consideration, or whether it is just an operational pause in the implementation. As a researcher and scientist I am beginning to be glad I do not have a lot of money in a research project right now.

The article also states that:

The decision to ratchet back the Cyber Command may have come from Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who wants to see a greater role for the Navy in cyberspace, said an Air Force source. Coyle speculated that the Air Force may have been too public in pushing the Cyber Command and is now suffering from its own hubris.

Unfortunately the Navy and Army programs are really more about network centric warfare or better thought of as enabling technologies for the warfighter. The Air Force examples and concepts of operations were more about using the spectrum of information operations and injecting tactical capability into the network and command and control systems. I just have not seen the other services even talking about non-kinetic cyber warfare as a real strategic objective.

One of the issues in understanding these different capabilities and tools regarding technology centered warfare is what we mean by Information Warfare and Cyber Warfare. Joint Publication 3-13 portrays the physical, cognitive, and data domains in the information space. Computer network attack and exploitation is just one of the many elements found there. Network centric warfare is based on the systems of systems approach to designing weapons systems and platforms. Creating a cognitive and strategic information conduit to the commander and increasing the lethality and discrimination of kinetic weapons is part of that network centric warfare plan. 

Information warfare, network centric warfare, and now the retired term of information warfare are all tossed about in the search for a mission. I will be the first to say I thought the Air Force was slightly astray but was definitely making headway into the true realm of cyber warfare. My hope is that this is an operational pause that will allow them to find their direction and possibly bring more sponsorship and thought leaders to the table. 

With the relative events in Georgia v. Russia the last few days and the extensive reporting of cyber warfare and information operations that has been reported the need for tactical and strategic cyber warfare is incredibly important. The stuff of pulp science fiction a few years ago is being realized on the battle field today and will only rise as a method of mass disruption. The seizure control of the communication conduit, relatively risk free interruption of the command and control, and so much more can not go unanswered as core capabilities within the services.  The topic is so much more than the defensive posture of information assurance and security.