The Air Force may shorten the training time for cyber airmen to move them into their jobs faster \u2014 and airmen with existing cyber certifications would get a head start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demand for training more airmen particularly at the nine-week intermediate network warfare training course at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is beyond the school’s capacity, leaving airmen backlogged, said Air Force spokesman Maj. Eric Badger. The more hands-on training course is required for airmen expected to be part of the U.S. Cyber Command Cyber Mission Force teams, and also for airmen working in advanced operational-level squadrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are taking new actions to recruit cyber-savvy airmen, people with cyber skills already, and also to shorten the training timeline and to get them into effective roles sooner,” said Brig. Gen. Sarah Zabel, the Director, Cyberspace Strategy and Policy, Office of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, during a media roundtable at the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Airmen “with existing certifications in network defense or computer defense,” Zabel said, will get a head start in training, but other initiatives are also on the table: incorporating more curriculum into initial skills training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Air Force is currently working on a resource estimate to incorporate the common components of this training into the cyberspace officer, and potentially, the enlisted defensive cyberspace operator initial skills training,” Badger said in an email to Air Force Times in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would allow for training units at Hurlburt \u2014 and possibly across the Air Force \u2014 to better focus on work-related training earlier, and get more hands-on experience with defending the missions airmen could see every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Once Airmen are assigned to their operational units, it reduces the training time required for them to become fully mission qualified in their specific work roles and allows more of their tour to be focused on accomplishing the mission,” Badger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standing up more cyber airmen has been a challenge in the recent months because “the timing is just against us,” Zabel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zabel said getting airmen clearances and certifications prior to their training makes an already long process even longer, an unideal situation for a time when protecting cyber networks is crucial to both the Air Force and Defense Department mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Cyber is the new wild, wild west,” said Gen. John E. Hyten, Air Force Space Command commander in a release. “It took us about 30 years to figure out how to make space a real warfighting domain and operate in it accordingly. We do not have that time in cyber, because cyber is under threat every day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A decision on how the Air Force will reprioritize training for operational units is expected to be made before the end of the year, Badger said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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