Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional) (AFCYBER (P)) was a proposed

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

Major Command Major Command or Major Commands are large formations of the United States Armed Forces. Historically, a Major Command is the highest level of command. Within the United States Army, the acronym MACOM is used for Major Command. Within the United St ...

that existed only in provisional status. On 6 October 2008, the Air Force announced that the command would not be brought into permanent activation, and that the cyber mission would be transferred, with the standup of the Twenty-Fourth Air Force, to

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Overview

The development of AFCYBER was announced by the

Secretary of the Air Force A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

on 2 November 2006. Originally designated to stand up around Summer 2007, but pushed back to late 2008, AFCYBER was planned to draw upon the personnel resources of the 67th Network Warfare Wing as well as other resources of the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

. It was planned to be placed under the command of Major General William T. Lord. Former Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne summarized the mission of AFCYBER:

The aim was to develop a major command that stands alongside Air Force Space Command and
Air Combat Command Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and i ...
as the provider of forces that the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
, combatant commanders and the American people can rely on for preserving the freedom of access and commerce, in air, space and now
cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday re ...
.

On 14 August 2008, the Air Force made a statement about a pause in standing up the AFCYBER command, which was set for 1 October 2008.

The Air Force remains committed to providing full-spectrum cyber capabilities to include global command and control, electronic warfare and network defense. The Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force have considered delaying currently planned actions on Air Force Cyber Command to allow ample time for a comprehensive assessment of all AFCYBER requirements and to synchronize the AFCYBER mission with other key Air Force initiatives. The new Air Force leaders continue to make a fresh assessment of all our efforts to provide our Nation and the joint force the full spectrum of air, space, and cyberspace capabilities.

On 8 October 2008, the Air Force followed up on its previous findings and decided to place AFCYBER as 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 major command (MAJCOM) and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squadrons, and groups.

within

. On Wednesday, 19 August 2009, the 24th Air Force was stood up, following an environmental impact analysis as required by law.

Bases in contention for AFCYBER Headquarters

This is the final list of Air Force bases that were in competition to host the Cyber Command headquarters, listed alphabetically by state: *

Peterson AFB Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

* Scott AFB,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

* Barksdale AFB,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

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 Ai ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

* Lackland AFB, Texas *

Langley AFB Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

On 14 May 2009, the Air Force announced that Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas, "has been selected as headquarters of the 24th Air Force, the Air Force's downgraded version of its provisional Cyber Command." However, it was also reported that "continued separate armed services cyber operations exist under a cloud of uncertainty...in light of recent reports that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is considering creation of a multi-service Cyber Command to be based at Fort Meade, Md."

Proposed Organization

* Twenty-Fourth Air Force, co-located with AFCYBER HQ

Wings

* 67th Network Warfare Wing * 688th Information Operations Wing *

689th Combat Communications Wing The 689th Combat Communications Wing was a 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 5June 2013, the wing wa ...

Groups

TBD

References

External links

24th Air Force Official website
{{USAF Cyber Command Computer security organizations Military units and formations in Texas United States Cyber Command