Twenty-Fourth Air Force / Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER) was a

Numbered Air Force A Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a type of organization in the United States Air Force that is subordinate to a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, major command (MAJCOM) and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squ ...

within the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. The Air Force consolidated its cyberspace combat and support forces into 24 AF. 24 AF was the Air Force component of U.S. Cyber Command. On 11 October 2019, the 24th AF was merged with the 25th AF to form a reactivated 16th Air Force.

Formation

The 24AF was originally intended to be a part of the now-defunct Air Force Cyber Command; however, 24AF became a component of

Air Force Space Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

on 18 August 2009. In August 2008, then-

Air Force Chief of Staff The chief of staff of the Air Force (acronym: CSAF, or AF/CC) is the service chief of the United States Air Force. They are the principal military advisor to the secretary of the Air Force on matter pertaining to the Air Force. They are a mem ...

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz placed a stop order suspending implementation of Air Force Cyber Command, halting personnel assignments and unit activations. On 6 October 2008, following its annual Corona conference, the Air Force announced Air Force Cyber Command activation would not take place, and that a

, 24AF, would gain the cyber warfare mission as part of

. One key element under 24 AF is the Air Force's primary network warfare wing, the 67th Cyberspace Wing, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The new NAF also gained: * The 688th Cyberspace Wing – JBSA-Lackland, Texas * The

689th Combat Communications Wing The 689th Combat Communications Wing was a wing (air force unit), wing of the United States Air Force stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The wing was activated on 9October 2009 as a subordinate unit of Twenty-Fourth Air Force. On 5Jun ...

''(now inactivated)'' –

Robins Air Force Base Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, Georgia, Warner Robins, south-southea ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

* The 624th Operations Center (''taking over duty and personnel of the 608th Air Force Network Operations Center'') – JBSA-Lackland, Texas * Although now administratively aligned under

Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...

, the Air Force Network Integration Center ''(formerly Air Force Communications Agency)'', works closely with 24AF on its mission to build and sustain Air Force networks. Over 14,000 Airmen make up 24 AF. Many of these are in place at other organizations. Air Force units also host cyber specialists from other organizations. Before the 24 AF was activated, the Air Force had announced six possible locations for its headquarters: Barksdale AFB, LA; Lackland AFB, TX; Langley AFB, VA;

Offutt AFB Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the ...

, NE; Peterson AFB, CO; and Scott AFB, IL. On 15 May 2009, Air Force officials announced Lackland as the preferred alternative, and the decision was confirmed on 12 August 2009. The organization officially stood-up on 18 August 2009. On 22 January 2010, 24AF was certified by AFSPC/CC for its Initial Operational Capability. Full Operational Capability was declared on 1 October 2010.

History

In 2014, 24 AF provided the Cyber Mission Force for the Exercise Red Flag for the first time. During U.S. Strategic Command's Exercise Global Lightning 14, 24AF operated as a Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber in support of a combatant commander during a large joint exercise for the first time. Twenty-Fourth Air Force was reassigned to

on 17 July 2018.

Units

* 624th Operations Center, Lackland AFB * 67th Cyberspace Wing, Lackland AFB ** 67th Cyberspace Operations Group, Lackland AFB *** 67th Operations Support Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 91st Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 315th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Ft. Meade *** 352d Network Warfare Squadron, JBPHH *** 390th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB ** 318th Cyberspace Operations Group, Lackland AFB *** 39th Information Operations Squadron,

Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...

*** 90th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 318th Operations Support Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 346th Test Squadron, Lackland AFB ** 567th Cyberspace Operations Group, Scott AFB ***

92d Cyberspace Operations Squadron The 92d Cyberspace Operations Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It was formerly a fighter aircraft, fighter unit. Its last assignment as a fighter unit was with the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England, where it was ...

, Lackland AFB *** 833d Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 834th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 836th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 835th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Scott AFB *** 837th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Scott AFB * 688th Cyberspace Wing, Lackland AFB *** 688th Operations Support Squadron, Lackland AFB ** 5th Combat Communications Group, Robins AFB *** 5th Combat Communications Support Squadron, Robins AFB *** 51st Combat Communications Squadron, Robins AFB *** 52d Combat Communications Squadron, Robins AFB ** 26th Cyberspace Operations Group, Lackland AFB *** 26th Network Operations Squadron,

Maxwell AFB Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...

*** 26th Operations Support Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 33d Network Warfare Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 68th Network Warfare Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 426th Network Warfare Squadron, Lackland AFB ** 38th Cyberspace Engineering Installation Group,

Tinker AFB Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant United States Navy, U.S. Navy and other United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in Oklahoma County, Okl ...

*** 38th Contracting Squadron,

*** 38th Cyberspace Readiness Squadron,

*** 38th Engineering Squadron,

*** 38th Operations Support Squadron,

*** 85th Engineering Installation Squadron, Keesler AFB ** 690th Cyberspace Operations Group, Lackland AFB *** 83d Network Operations Squadron, Langley AFB *** 561st Network Operations Squadron, Peterson AFB *** 690th Intelligence Support Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 690th Network Support Squadron, Lackland AFB *** 690th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, JBPHH *** 691st Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Ramstein AB

List of commanders

References

External links