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11 Dec 13. USAF Cyber Command bulks up, slims down. The USAF Cyber Command is bulking up and slimming down at the same time, planning to add a couple thousand airmen to its workforce by 2016 while simplifying its architecture as part of the military’s move to the Joint Information Environment (JIE). Expanding the workforce during tough budgetary times, which is being mirrored at the cyber commands of the other services, attests to the growing importance of cyber operations, said Maj. Gen. James “Kevin” McLaughlin, commander of the 24th Air Force Base and the Air Forces Cyber at Joint Base San Antonio. McLaughlin spoke Wednesday to a ballroom full of industry representatives during AFCEA NOVA’s Air Force IT Day in Vienna, Va. The makeup of the cyber workforce will be made up of mostly uniformed personnel, as opposed to the more mixed civilian, industry and military workforces in other areas, he said, while emphasizing during his talk that “cyber is a domain,” not just a mission or functional area. It also has become something every commander and base needs to concern themselves with, regardless of their primary missions. Whether you’re talking about a weapons systems or a base chapel’s website, he said, everything is connected and therefore a potential target. “Cyber is a team sport,” he said, and collaboration is critical to defending networks, systems and data. McLaughlin outlined the structure of AF Cyber and discussed its evolving role and some of the challenges facing the command. Among the goals is a pared-down architecture with JIE, the Pentagon’s plan for a secure, defensewide information-sharing environment. “JIE is a simplified architecture,” he said, one that the Air Force expects will helpstreamline operations and, significantly, be less expensive. (Source: Defense Systems)
17 Dec 13. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers held a town hall with many of the office’s nearly 200 permanent staff members Monday morning to discuss the moves, which include consolidating the number of offices, retitling some officials and creating a new position focused on oversight of intelligence collection and cyber programs. Preparing to trim 20 percent from its headquarters’ operating budget following last month’s directive from the Secretary of Defense, and adjusting to a post-Iraq/Afghanistan war environment, the Defense Department’s intelligence office is reorganizing, officials announced Monday. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers held a town hall with many of the office’s nearly 200 permanent staff members Monday morning to discuss the moves, which include consolidating the number of offices, retitling some officials and even creating a new position focused on oversight of intelligence collection and cyber programs. Vicker’s principal deputy, Marcel Lettre, said that while the moves didn’t immediately save big money, they would allow for a five year plan to cut 20 percent from the budget in a rational and measured manner. “Overall it’s relatively modest structural changes compared to some of the other parts of OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] that are going to be realigning over time, but we do hope that the changes that are being made will have a high payoff from a strategic standpoint,” Lettre said at a roundtable with reporters Monday. One of the most noticeable and superficial changes is the elimination of the deputy assistant secretary of defense (DASD) title, replaced with the new director for defense intelligence (DDI) title. Joining the three former DASDs will be a new DDI for technical collection and special programs. (Source: Defense News)
09 Dec 13. Holding the number one spot in the world for the second consecutive year, a Northrop Grumman Corporation team of cyber engineers won the overall “grand champion” title in the Defense Cyber C