Air Force Begins Training Officers in Cyber War
Photo: U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force is moving to rapidly increase its cyber capabilities by training cyber warriors to provide defensive and offensive cyber capabilities. Airmen in training as cyber warfare officers are learning to provide dynamic defense against cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. Once the art of defense has been mastered, the training will move to the attack.
“In order to understand offense you have to understand defense,” said Lt. Col. Scott Solomon, 333rd Training Squadron commander. “What we are teaching is how to operate and maintain the cyberspace environment.”
Currently, 16 new officers are the enter the 6-month course which was designed with the input of industry, academic and military experts, according the Solomon. The course began in June at Keesler Air Base in La. The Air Force is targeting a graduation rate of around 400 officers trained in cyber war per year.
The Air Force currently has around 3,000 cyber war officers who switched over from jobs in communications back in April. Enlisted personnel already possess a cyber training program and a six-month course for NCOs will open in November.
The officer’s course is broken into two sections, an unclassified and classified section. The unclassified section, lasting 41 days, focuses on basic cyber skills. The classified section deals with sudjects like operations, laws and ethics, battlefield networks and cyber surety.
However, the training program is merely a start to the cyber education of the officers.
“We’re at the same stage as when Wilbur and Orville Wright delivered their first operational plane to the military,” Solomon said.
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