{"id":28060,"date":"2017-09-01T16:15:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T16:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/01\/air-force-cyber-boss-sets-early-deadline-for-full-operational-capability\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:37:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:37:03","slug":"air-force-cyber-boss-sets-early-deadline-for-full-operational-capability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/newsletters\/2017\/09\/01\/air-force-cyber-boss-sets-early-deadline-for-full-operational-capability\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force cyber boss sets early deadline for full operational capability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Defense Department and Cyber Command have expressed a deadline of Sept. 30, 2018, for all the services\u2019 cyber mission force teams to reach full operational capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The head of 24th Air Force\/Air Force Cyber, or AFCYBER, has told his team he wants the service\u2019s contribution of 39 CMF teams to declare FOC by June 30, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main thing I wanted to do is I wanted to make sure we had breathing room to the DoD-mandated goal line of the end of September,\u201d Maj. Gen. Christopher Weggeman told Fifth Domain in an interview. \u201cI don\u2019t want to miss it by a person or a team because we didn\u2019t have room to mitigate and have pads for additional training requirements, people who can\u2019t complete training so they wash back or wash out or we have trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on projections and information at his disposal, Weggeman said June 30 should not be a hard goal for the force to reach FOC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyber Command missed its initial operation capability deadline at the end of September 2016 with a few validations issues of cyber warriors on a cyber team finally hitting the mark in late October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cyber teams within the CMF are made up of offensive, defensive and analytics teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Air Force, specifically, they are taking a total force approach to their CMF build using Guard and Reserve units to count toward the 39 teams they owe Cyber Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Air Force leveraging Guard, Reserve to build cyber mission forces<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weggeman said the Air Force has two cyber protection teams and a national mission team that are being sourced from Guard and Reserve units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a total force approach is the \u201cright optic,\u201d he said, as it ensures total force is committed to the cyber mission force build and allows the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve to learn and observe at the same pace as the active duty. This way everyone is on the same step in terms of institutional knowledge and what it takes to conduct operations in cyber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army is also incorporating the Guard and Reserve into cyber units; however, their Guard and Reserve teams are not being counted to the 41 CMF teams they owe Cyber Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[What\u2019s up with the Army\u2019s Guard and Reserve cyber forces<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Army mobilizes largest-ever National Guard cyber task force<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sourcing, however, poses the greatest challenge to Weggeman\u2019s June 30 deadline as these Guardsmen and Reservists have to find time to get away from their full-time employers and family schedules to get into the training classes ahead of time. The good news, Weggeman said, is the personnel needed to fill these teams have been identified by name and billet with a calendar for all training projected out to March 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While currently offensive authorities rest at the highest levels of government and those are orchestrated and executed through Cyber Command, Weggeman said the force is looking at how they might employ organic offensive capability in the future \u2014 something the Army is also looking at within tactical maneuver units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Offensive cyber still in infancy, says Air Force official<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now the service is looking at frameworks, which will help provide offensive cyber effects delivery in direct support to the air component commander or the space component commander, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re understanding the frameworks through how to present offensive capability leveraging the Air Force\u2019s cryptologic component authorities and the people that do the support to NSA. Then, the next step is how to certify them so after an interagency deconfliction process, they have the ability be able to employ effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur platform and the multitude of our platform\u2018s speed, range, reach, stealth, as well as our ability to do war-fighting integration across all five of our core mission areas, I think uniquely posture us in the future just along with the Army\u2019s thinking to provide a wider spectrum of maneuver and effects capabilities for the tactical forces we have supporting our air component commanders,\u201d Weggeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the CMF and the Air Force\u2019s contribution to the joint fight, cyber teams will be provided to combatant commands to help get at the objectives of combatant commanders in their respective theater. As the commander of Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber, Weggeman is responsible for advising the commanders of U.S. European Command, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Transportation Command on the employment of cyber effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we deliver is cyber in war, not cyberwar for cyber\u2019s sake,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about all domain integrated effects that achieve both our air component commander and the joint force commanders\u2019 objectives in his or her battlespace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyber is a warfighting domain no different than the other four, Weggeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t