Internet warfare unit's new home to be decided
Decision expected within 3 weeks
The Air Force is expected to announce within three weeks whether it will move an Internet warfare unit to Colorado Springs.
The city is one of six finalists, including Omaha, Neb., and San Antonio, for housing the 24th Air Force and its operations cell, a 400-airman unit that will defend military computer networks while planning how to attack enemy computers.
Air Force Space Command's Gen. Robert Kehler, who will ultimately oversee the new unit, said the decision could come sooner. Kehler discussed the topic Tuesday during the National Space Symposium at The Broadmoor, as rumors swirled that the Springs and San Antonio were the top picks.
San Antonio may have an edge because it already has Air Force computer units, but Colorado Springs offers its own attractions, including the satellite units that oversee the backbone of the Air Force's computer networks.
The 24th Air Force is expected to play a major role in acquiring new computer systems and hiring consultants to oversee cyber-warfare work. Its new hometown could see a boom in military contractors.
Even if Colorado Springs doesn't get the new unit, it will house a large part of the Air Force's cyber-warfare effort because it will fall under Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base.
The service originally planned to set up a separate Air Force Cyber Command, but that was scuttled last year after a series of problems in oversight of nuclear weapons. Instead, the Air Force is putting its Internet operations under Space Command and moving nuclear missiles under a new command.
The shift for Air Force Space Command means losing about 10,000 airmen nationwide in the missile business and gaining about 7,000 cyber airmen and a large number of contractors to handle the new cyber-warfare duty.
Unless the 24th Air Force is located here, the shift means little change in the number of airmen in the Springs.
The Air Force wants its new cyber operation up and running by fall.
The 24th Air Force would have 200 airmen in its headquarters and another 200 in an operations shop. Much of the 24th Air Force's work would focus on defense and maintaining existing networks, but it would also attempt to shut down enemy computer networks, disrupting their ability to control their military as a prelude to conventional military operations, said Maj. Gen. William Lord.
