Air Force print news (Aug. 2, 2006); Wynne: we are logisticians of information.WASHINGTON -- As does its enemies, the Air Force considers cyberspace Coined by William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," it is a futuristic computer network that people use by plugging their minds into it! The term now refers to the Internet or to the online or digital world in general. See Internet and virtual reality. Contrast with meatspace. a warfighting domain. The Air Force has always been in the business of flying and fighting in the air, and in past decades, has included space in that mission. This year the Air Force expanded its mission to include cyberspace--the domain of information--said Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, during the Senior Leadership Orientation Course Noun 1. orientation course - a course introducing a new situation or environment orientation course, course of instruction, course of study, class - education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings; "he took a course in basket weaving"; "flirting is not here July 31. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Both the secretary and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley Teed Michael Moseley, KBE[1], is the current Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He assumed the position during a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base on September 2, 2005. addressed SLOC SLOC Source Lines Of Code SLOC Software Lines of Code SLOC Sea Lines of Communication SLOC Salt Lake Olympic Committee SLOC sea line of communications (US DoD) SLOC Skilled Level of Care SLOC Strategic Lanes of Communication attendees. "You always wonder what it is to be 'net-centric,'" said Wynne. "I think it's a warfighting domain. I see our enemies think it's a warfighting domain. So let's make it an Air Force domain." Air Force officials cemented cyberspace into its mission statement after realizing the Service was already heavily involved in the transport, packaging, and protection of valuable warfighting information. "It turns out, we are the logisticians of information," Wynne said. "We pick it up everywhere, we send it through space, we get it up there--like a pachinko pa·chin·ko n. A Japanese gambling game played on a vertical pinball machine. [Japanese.] Noun 1. machine--through our satellite network, and back down to the ground station. [We put it] into the hands of the commander, just in time, and we figured we have to defend it." The protection and maintenance of information systems involves defending the nodes of cyberspace to include the satellite dishes satellite dish n. A dish antenna used to receive and transmit signals relayed by satellite. satellite dish A parabolic antenna used to receive signals relayed by satellite. , satellites, routers, and the development and deployment of new satellite systems. The Air Force designs, deploys, and defends information systems for the joint warfighter and for itself, Wynne said. "We are net-centric, and we actually deliver and we depend upon cyberspace to get this done," he said. "We put a lot of trust in the messages we receive and the targeting we get ... because we drop stuff from way up there, and we shoot from huge distances [away]. We need to trust the messaging traffic and imagery and geolocators when they come over our network." Taking on the domain of cyberspace will not pull resources from other missions, Wynne said, because the Air Force already has as many resources committed to cyberspace as it needs and will simply focus on the ones it has. "I found out we have over 20,000 people working in cyberspace," he said. "We are now ... trying to figure out how to organize, train, and equip [them]. We always did. But it was more of just a pickup game. Now it is becoming more organized. "With the chief of staff's support, we are moving in that direction," he said. "We are doing a lot of scouting, feeling around, and forward looking. This is a domain the Air Force could now be dominating." The secretary also addressed potential concerns about cutting manpower, or force shaping, during wartime. He said force-shaping efforts will result in better-managed resources that can be redirected at other areas of concern for the Air Force, including recapitalization Recapitalization Restructuring a company's debt and equity mixture often with the aim of making a company's capital structure more stable. Notes: Companies often want to diversify their debt-to-equity ratio to improve liquidity. of the aircraft fleet. "We have got to figure out how to make sure the people who are here in 2015 to 2020 have the best equipment for the next fight," Wynne said. "We need to offer this nation the maximum number of options so [it] can deter, defeat, and dissuade TO DISSUADE, crim. law. To induce a person not to do an act. 2. To dissuade a witness from giving evidence against a person indicted, is an indictable offence at common law. Hawk. B. 1, c. 2 1, s. 1 5. any enemy over the next period of time." Moseley discussed the Air Force's efforts to posture itself for success in both the war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act and in future wars, while trying to avoid mistakes it has made in the past. The general told course attendees that the air forces of the past have failed because they did not understand their enemies, they were not interdependent with a joint team, they didn't increase training and infrastructure to support their fights, and because they didn't begin their fights with the right amount of aircraft, munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. , or support. The priorities and initiatives of today's Air Force, Moseley said, are designed to ensure the Service doesn't repeat the past. The three priorities today are prosecuting the war on terrorism, developing and caring for airmen and their families, and recapitalizing and modernizing the air and space inventory. The Air Force has 67 specific "executable initiatives" to help it achieve its priorities, Moseley said. Those initiatives include ensuring 100 percent of uniform-wearing airmen are in an aerospace expeditionary force An armed force organized to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign country. expeditionary force n → cuerpo expedicionario expeditionary force n → corps m bucket, enhancing combat skills training during basic military training, finalizing total force integration efforts, and expediting the acquisition process on programs like the KC-X, F-22, and the joint cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft is an airplane designed and used for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. This role demands a number of features that makes a cargo aircraft instantly identifiable; a "fat" looking fuselage, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a . |
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