Positioning the DAFIN for the Future
The Department of the Air Force Information Network, or DAFIN, the Air Force’s globally interconnected network—and the service’s portion of the Department of Defense Information Network—must evolve and be supported by airmen tied to the mission for the service to succeed against near-peer competitors, in a contested warfighting environment.
The process requires further change of both airmen and network capabilities, Air Force leaders said, speaking at AFCEA Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on February 11.
“If we think back to Leadership 101, it is being comfortable with the uncomfortable,” advised Col. Lauren Courchaine, senior military assistant to the undersecretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington. “It's a bit of a scenario that we're living every day, given the threat environment, given the change and the focus on how do we adapt and overcome the various threats that we have, but then also building an enterprise network that we can extend when we need to extend.”
The service must prepare, and quickly, with a looming 2027 deadline of China’s threat of potentially invading Taiwan. “What if you had to jump in the ring with a UFC prize fighter in 2027?” Courchaine asked. “What are the things that we need to be doing today to ensure that we're prepared.”
Part of the Air Force Staff efforts focus on making sure that both the Air Force and the Space Force have what they need to be prepared, including the associated policy, governance and oversight. Leaders also continue to advocate for the necessary funding to support the top-line needs to extend the DAFIN for the service to succeed.
“As we look at extending a network, we all know that the network and the enterprise is a strategic underpinning to all that we have to do, but we've got to be better about explaining the risks associated with not having a network,” she advised. “Or the risks from not being able to extend that to the tactical edge at the time of need.”
Brig. Gen. Joy M. Kaczor, the director of Cyberspace Operations and Warfighter Communications, confirmed that the staff was examining work roles and standards from a mission-focus point of view.
“What I'm really focused on is how do we deliver the policy and guidance oversight so we can organize, train, equip our force to get after those warfighter requirements,” Kaczor noted. “How do we build, operate, secure, defend and extend capabilities for the warfighter? What are the things that we need for our airmen? This is a critical time when there's a lot of change going on.”
What I'm really focused on is how do we deliver the policy and guidance oversight so we can organize, train and equip our force to get after those warfighter requirements.
Col. Joshua Rockhill, commander of the 688th Cyber Wing, sees how the DAFIN has evolved from the early 1990s when there wasn’t much command and control flow or network integration. Several years later, the service added a bit of integration, created network operation centers and began pulling together networks at a base level—and not just functional levels.
“And today, what you're inheriting is really mature,” Rockhill stated. “It is not perfect, not always what we want, but it is a really mature DAFIN that is hyper-integrated more than it's ever been. And if you watch what happens in 16th Air Force today, where General Hensley gets to sort of pull the levers across the [network], whether it be in a war zone or in peacetime, in garrison and so forth. And you have to provide and you have to defend all networks.”
Operators now have command and control flows and situational awareness that enables stronger network operations and visibility. In addition, the commander of the 688th receives so-called ONI briefings everyday about the network. “That did not happen even 10 years ago, and it has exquisite intelligence information,” he said. “It has awareness of where all those domains are.”
For the near future, further advancements will continue to strengthen DAFIN operations, Rockhill continued.
“I think what you're going to see happening over the next few years is a continued evolution and a substantial increase in network terrain awareness and human awareness connected to the missions of the Air Force,” Rockhill offered. “And then maybe a little bit of force development work that we have to do, and to leverage the rest of the force to help us in different ways.”
The Rocky Mountain Cyber Symposium is organized by AFCEA International's Rocky Mountain Chapter. SIGNAL Media is the official media of AFCEA International.
I think what you're going to see happening over the next few years is a continued evolution, and a substantial increase in network terrain awareness and human awareness connected to the missions of the Air Force.
