Air Force regroups command's duties
Air Force Space Command will trade its nuclear missiles for cyberspace warfare under an Air Force plan announced Tuesday that could eventually bring more defense jobs to Colorado Springs.
The change follows a three-day meeting of generals in Colorado Springs to hash out the service's future in light of Pentagon concerns over the control of nuclear weapons. The plan announced by Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley would address the nuclear issues by putting atomic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles under a single command reminiscent of the Cold War's Strategic Air Command.
The plan also shelves Air Force ambitions for a separate Air Force Cyber Command, moving the computer warfare mission under Space Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base.
"I am confident that the move of the cyberspace mission to Air Force Space Command allows us to take advantage of cross-domain synergies by combining the cyber and space missions under one command," Space Command boss Gen. C. Robert Kehler said in a statement. "Additionally, Air Force Space Command will work hard to ensure a smooth transition of the nuclear mission as the Air Force builds a command dedicated to maintaining the nuclear mission and culture."
For more than a decade, Space Command has overseen the military's satellites and controlled Minuteman missiles in silos around the West.
Space Command's role, though, has been up in the air since Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered the sweeping review over nuclear security problems earlier this year.
Those problems included missile parts being mistakenly sent overseas and nuclear weapons flown from base to base by accident. Those incidents led to Gates replacing the top civilian and military Air Force bosses.
A Pentagon report released last month proposed putting Air Force nuclear weapons under control of leaders at Peterson Air Force Base and changing the name Space Command to Air Force Strategic Command.
Air Force leaders during the meeting at the Air Force Academy over the weekend picked another path, establishing a nuclear command outside the Space Command structure, and making its long-desired Cyber Command a smaller unit subservient to Space Command.
The meeting of top Air Force brass happens behind closed doors at the academy every fall, with the meeting generally centered around a football game between Air Force and another service academy.
While preliminary decisions were announced Tuesday, detailed plans for the soon-to-be-formed nuclear command and the Cyber Command change weren't released Tuesday.
"We will announce decisions soon because they are crucial steps toward attaining excellence in our nuclear enterprise and revitalization of the nuclear culture across the Air Force," Donley said in an Air Force news release.
Big questions include how many computer workers will wind up in Colorado and where the nuclear command will be headquartered.
Temporarily headquartered in Louisiana, Air Force Cyber Command was established on an interim basis as a way to counter enemy computer attacks and to develop plans to attack enemy computer networks.
Colorado Springs leaders have sought for nearly a year to have Cyber Command headquartered here.
While the city now won't get a separate Cyber Command, moving the Internet warfare mission to Peterson could be a boost for the region's economy, said Brian Binn, president of military affairs for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.
"We're excited about it," Binn said. "Cyberspace is an emerging piece of the Air Force mission."
It also could be a lucrative mission for Colorado Springs because unlike the nuclear missile mission, the cyberspace mission means hoards of civilian computer experts backing up their uniformed colleagues.
"I think this opens up avenues for more aerospace defense work and cyberspace work coming to the Springs," Binn said. "It will spur some new economic activities in the cyberspace world."
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Contact the writer: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com
