The Air Force has added about half of the roughly 2,000 people that make up the service’s portion of the Cyber Mission Force, and by the end of the month should have 17 teams at initial operating capability and two teams at full operating capability, the head of Air Forces Cyber Command said at ASC15. “We’re about halfway through the build,” Maj. Gen. Ed Wilson, commander of 24th Air Force and AF Cyber said Tuesday. “We’re beginning to now see the difference those teams are making” in terms of options available, he said. But though the existing cyber force is strong, there are not nearly enough people with cybersecurity skills, said Maj. Gen. James Marrs, who recently left US Cyber Command and now serves as director of intelligence for the Joint Staff. “We need to find a way to generate a predictable and reliable supply of motivated and professional cyber talent,” he said.
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
