The Fifth Domain: The Future of Defense

This was written by Jack Mann on Thursday, May 21, 2009, 11:37.

The 24^th Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER) will be based in San Antonio, Texas, as announced last week. The provisional unit will operate under the command of Major General William T. Lord under Air Force Space Command and will operate in concert with the 67^th Network Warfare Wing (67 NWW), the 688^th Information Operations Wing (688 IOW), both headquartered at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, as well as the NSA’s Texas Cryptology Center in San Antonio.

AFCYBER will primarily operate to defend Air Force networks from hostile action, but will also conduct some offensive operations to assess adversaries’ network security. The new command will employ around 400 airmen and civilian contractors, including the commander’s staff and a 24-hour operations center.

Texas, because of a low state tax impact has enjoyed rapid growth in its skilled workforce, and this may have factored into the decision to locate the 24^th Air Force Cyber Command there.