Cyber warfare key mission of Springs' new command

Soon to be relieved of its nuclear missiles, Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs is leaping into its new role on the Internet.

The command, which once had enough warheads to level continents, will now oversee computer networks in addition to controlling the Air Force’s constellation of satellites.

It’s an emerging international battlefield, which gained prominence last year when Russian forces blended computer attacks with airpower and ground troops in their invasion of neighboring Georgia.

Right now, Space Command is mastering the art of defense, securing Air Force computer networks from hacker attacks that could disable everything from Web sites to critical communication systems.

“Cyberspace pervades everything,” said Space Command boss Gen. Bob Kehler. “It’s a global domain.” In the general’s mind, all those microcircuits and wires are like a sea carrying commerce and also harboring pirates and enemy navies.

“In this domain we have vandals, we have criminals, we have spies,” he said.

At the headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, planners are mapping out how to train and equip the force that will defend American interests on the Internet. They’ll fall under a new Defense Department command overseeing computer warfare.

“What we know is we must take steps to protect what we do in cyberspace,” Kehler said.

Space Command is a natural home for the computer fighters. The nation’s network of military communication satellites already falls under the command and forms the backbone of the modern computerized war.

Next, the command’s computer-war arm will learn to use cyberspace to defeat enemies. Communication is key on the modern battlefield, and disrupting it can leave an enemy fighting in the 19th century.

With the addition of the computer mission, the command’s intercontinental ballistic missiles were transferred to the Air Force’s new Global Strike Command, so the number of people working at Space Command’s headquarters is unchanged.

But Kehler said the mission could be a boon for Colorado Springs.

The new mission will mean new contractors, consultants and manufacturers will move to town to meet the Air Force’s needs in cyberspace. And the potential for growth in the cyberspace mission is as limitless as the Internet.

It’s happened before in Colorado Springs, which took on the bulk of the military’s space missions in the 1970s and ‘80s. The space work brought major military contractors to town that employ thousands. The city has also become a hub for space technology firms and is home to the largest space trade show in the country, pumping millions into the economy.

“There is a bit of a cottage industry that has grown up around space,” Kehler said.

While computer warfare plans develop, the command isn’t neglecting its work on orbit.

The command is responsible for satellite constellations including the Global Positioning System, crucial to navigation and targeting in Iraq and Afghanistan and of increasing importance to American businesses and residents who use it to track shipments and find their way on roads.

Other satellites provide intelligence and provide warning of incoming missiles.

A challenge for the command is getting enough new satellites into space to replace its aging fleet.

“We have some satellites old enough to vote,” Kehler said.

Several programs to replace aging satellites have been plagued by cost-overruns and delays, including a White House decision to cancel construction of a $15 billion fleet of high-tech communications craft.

But Kehler is confident that satellites on order and some ready to launch cover demands.

And hundreds of airmen at Peterson and at Schriever Air Force Base, on the plains east of the city, work around the clock to maintain the satellites already in orbit.

Airmen in the command understand that American success in Iraq and Afghanistan requires them to do their jobs in Colorado Springs.

“We’re very much mindful of why we’re here,” Kehler said.