MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The Air Force is responsible for fighting and winning in the domains of air, space and cyberspace. The Air Force Cyber College located here is making headway in ensuring Airmen are prepared for cyber warfare.
The Cyber College is responsible for educating Airmen of varying ranks and career backgrounds about the cyber domain, as well as helping create strategic plans for the Air Force.
Though cyber technology is nothing new, the Air Force Cyber College relatively is. The discussion to establish an AF Cyber College arose in 2015 when the Air University Commander at the time, Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, found that the curriculum at Air University was lacking in cyber operational studies.
Today, the college has a steadily growing Total Force team to educate not only AU students, but also Airmen globally, from major commands and numbered air forces to international allies and members of the civilian sector.
The career backgrounds of the cyber college’s instructors and researchers vary just as much as the students they teach. Col. Tony Franks is an Air Force Cyber College instructor, but is a pilot by trade.
“I’m here versus having another traditional cyber officer, because at the Cyber College we are trying to look at this domain from all operational aspects, since cyber affects the entire Air Force,” Franks said.
Currently, the college teaches several mandatory and elective courses for AU, primarily for Air War College and Air Command and Staff College. The college’s development of Airmen for cyber warfare proved effective when their students won first place at the Atlantic Council Cyber 9/12 U.S. competition in 2018 and 2016, second in 2017.
Outside of the AU academic circle, the Air Force Cyber College teaches a mission assurance and defensive course on cyber vulnerabilities twice a month to Airmen around the globe as well as working with the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education on expanding courses available to the enlisted force.
“The reason every Airman needs to know about cyber is because every Airman uses it,” said Franks. “Not every Airman flies airplanes, works on satellites, or is on the battlefield, but every Airman uses computers and telephone lines, every Airman uses cyber as a means of transporting information… Yes, you’re getting your cyber awareness challenge every year, but is there a level of knowledge we need to know beyond that? We argue yes.”
Three to five times out of the year, the Cyber College teaches their curriculum to international partners as well. The Air Force Cyber College partners with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and has also sent cyber experts to countries including Argentina, Philippines and Greece to advise their militaries about cyber in their national and military strategies.
“They are our allies and we need to make sure this is a team effort; we are joint partners in this arena,” said Franks. “They’re helping us, we’re helping them.”
Ensuring allies and U.S. personnel are properly educated in the cyber realm is one of the main priorities of the Air Force’s Cyber College. The rapid growth of this domain has become a standard for the way people work, share information and socialize, making the control of this field much more valuable.
“Everything that you do now involves cyber as a medium to transport information,” said Franks. “People are consuming information through the internet, both classified and unclassified, and so at the end of the day this is a war of information and how fast you can process it. Whoever is going to win is going to have a leading edge of information and process that in their decision making.”