Tag Archive for: air

Air Force cyber wing looking for new ways to recruit, keep top talent

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Amid a global competition for cyber experts, one Air Force wing is looking at new and different ways to recruit and retain service members with the right know-how.

Attracting and maintaining top talent is becoming even more critical as the Air Force must provide six additional cyber mission force teams on behalf of U.S. Cyber Command.

“I would anticipate CMF growth, continuing through the years. We know we probably don’t have the capacity [that] we likely really need,” Col. Sean Kern, commander of 67th Cyberspace Wing, told DefenseScoop in a December interview.

The cyber mission force began building in 2012, with an end goal of 133 teams. The Department of Defense did not add to that number for several years after those groups reached full operational capability in 2018. Starting with the fiscal 2022 budget, Cybercom was authorized funding to augment the CMF, which consists of the offensive, defensive and support teams that the military branches provide to the command to conduct cyber operations. Now, the plan is to increase the capacity to 147 teams over the next five years or so.

The six additional Air Force teams —a total of 264 airmen spanning two offensive teams, two defensive teams and two support teams — that will be added to the CMF, will be built with a phased approach. The first three will start forming in 2024. They’re scheduled to reach initial operational capability 18 months after establishment and full operational capability 18 months after IOC — setting them up to be fully ready by 2027. The next slate of teams will begin building in 2025, with the expectation that they’ll be fully ready by 2028.

“Imagine already presenting, trying to present 1,715 [personnel and] add 264 in a pretty difficult mission area to bring talent into,” Kern said of his position right now.

However, officials across the DOD have consistently maintained that recruiting new talent for the cyber mission force is not the main problem — it’s retention. With lucrative pay opportunities in the private sector, it has been a struggle to keep the experts the military has spent millions of dollars and several years to train.

Kern is looking at…

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Guam Army National Guard hosts Guam Cybersecurity Summit > Andersen Air Force Base > Features

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ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam —  On Nov. 6-7, 2023, representatives from local and national agencies have visited the University of Guam lecture hall and gymnasium to partake in the 2024 Central Pacific Cybersecurity Summit.

“Over the next two days, we are going to lean on one another, exchange ideas, and use our collective expertise to fortify our island and our regions’ ability to not only respond but to recover from a cybersecurity attack,” said Lou Leon Guerrero, governor of Guam. “Because to simply say it’s a priority is an understatement. It is mission-critical to our island’s defense and our nation’s defense that we get this done.”

The goal is to execute a whole-of-government and community approach by providing opportunities for several different local and national agencies to communicate, exchange and strengthen strategies and ideas that will bolster the different levels of cybersecurity, while also deterring adversaries and promoting integrated deterrence.

“We recognize the vulnerability and weaknesses of our cybersecurity program, so we came up with the Central Pacific Cybersecurity summit to gather all the experts that can help us solidify and prevent future cyber-attacks,” Leon Guerrero said. “We want to protect and make a solid plan of actions to strengthen our cybersecurity and cybersecurity deterrence.”

Agencies such as U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), U.S. Cyber Command (USCC), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), FBI, Guam Homeland and Civil Defense, Guam Office of Technology (OTECH), public utilities, internet service providers, Joint Region Marianas (JRM), Andersen Air Force Base, Marine Corp Base Camp Blaz, U.S. Coast Guard and more attended the summit sharing information and resources they had to offer.

Jennilyn LaBrunda, CISA cybersecurity advisor, discussed the resources available on the CISA website. Adam Dickinson and Robert Schuett of Google Mandiant, discussed the performance of Intelligence Led Security.

“This is just one of many ways that we can combine the efforts of our friends to come up with a unified plan to address every evolving threat of cyber-attacks.” said…

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A-Staff MPU5 Radio Demo > Davis-Monthan Air Force Base > Article View

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DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. —  

Airmen from the 355th Wing A-Staff demonstrated a new concept to communicate efficiently with radios through cloud technology at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Sept. 8, 2023.


In the modern age, means of communicating have been perpetually evolving. The MANET C2 High Mobility Radio is a new way of communication, by connecting to other radios across the planet in real-time through the power of cloud technology utilizing the MPU5 radio.


An example of this new technology is being able to communicate to other installations via radio without having to rely on the use of land line telephones. This demonstrated DM’s agile communications solution in an effort to highlight capabilities that should be standard in future fielded solutions.


This flexibility enables teams to work together efficiently, regardless of their physical location. Cloud data concepts have paved the way in communication technology, supplying individuals in critical positions with the ability to receive and give information instantly relay information.


Utilizing both cellular and satellite internet sources, this structure continuously provides reliability. Without an internet source this structure still allows communication within “line-of-sight”.


This new communication concept demonstrates the 355th Wing’s initiative to excel in the cyber communication and cyber warfare spaces and evolve to the ever-changing fight and furthering the gap between near-peer competitors.



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Northern District of Iowa | Iowa Air National Guardsman Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography

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Kevin Swanson, 35, from Sioux City, Iowa, entered a guilty plea in federal court on May 4, 2023, to possession of child pornography.

In a plea agreement, Swanson admitted that between August 2020, and August 2021, he used an Internet-based, peer-to-peer (P2P) network to knowingly receive visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including depictions involving prepubescent minors who had not reached the age of 12.  Swanson had over 1,168 images and 4 video files of child exploitation materials.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set for a later date after a presentence report is prepared.  Swanson was taken into custody by the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Swanson faces a sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a fine of not more than $250,000, a mandatory special assessment of $100 and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years to life.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Sioux City Police Department, and the Nebraska State Patrol.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 22-4080.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.

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