LeMay Center publishes new cyberspace operations doctrine

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., recently published the newly developed Air Force Doctrine Document 3-12, "Cyberspace Operations," according to an Air University Public Affairs article published Oct. 14.

The new doctrine document, dated July 15, defines the cyberspace domain and outlines how the Air Force and combatant commands will conduct cyberspace operations.

"The Air Force is ... dedicated to developing and presenting highly skilled forces to joint force commanders, who can deliver decisive effects in, from and through cyberspace," said LeMay Center Commander Maj. Gen. David Fadok. "Our society relies on technology and cyberspace more than ever, and this medium must be secure."

The center's previous commander, now-retired Maj. Gen. Maurice Forsyth, wrote about cyberspace's importance to present-day military operations in the document's foreword.

"Our modern defenses, industrial base and global commerce, as well as that of our nation's enemies, depend on free use of land, sea, air, space and cyberspace," General Forsyth wrote. "Leverage in cyberspace affords influence and control across all other domains."

Cyberspace is one of the Air Force's three core domains, along with air and space. The doctrine document defines cyberspace as "a global domain within the information environment consisting of the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures, including the Internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems and embedded processes and controllers."

The Air Force is currently more likely to face opposition in cyberspace than in its other two domains because enemies can inflict serious harm with relatively little investment.

"We must treat our computers and networks similarly to our aircraft, satellites and missles," Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz worte in a May 2009 Letter to Airmen. "In the past, we've regarded network protection and security as the 'comm guy's job' and as a user inconvenience. This must no longer be the case. Each time you use a networked device, you are on patrol for our nation."

Cyberspace operators face challenges in attributing actions to a particular enemy because the Internet is designed toward anonymity, according to the doctrine document. Threats range from white-hat hackers, who typically reveal systems' vulnerabilities to their owners, to criminal or terrorist organizations and enemy nations.

U.S. Strategic Command is the combatant command responsible for planning and executing cyberspace operations through U.S. Cyber Command, a sub-unified command. Air Force Space Command organizes, trains and equips Airmen for the Cyber Command mission, and 24th Air Force serves as the component numbered Air Force. The Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency provides intelligence capability.

The doctrine document also contains information on the design, planning, execution and assessment process for cyberspace operations. It concludes by emphasizing that every Airman must be "an educated and responsible user of cyberspace capabilities."

"The joint warfighting team, including the Air Force, must lead the way in cyberspace to ensure we maintain a distinct advantage over our adversaries in this contested domain," said General Fadok, a 1982 graduate of the Air Force Academy.

(Information compiled from Air Force News Service and staff reports.)